To those taking the Wind Scroll challenge, no room awaited them. They were taken to the center of a small forested area, fairly far away from the village. The area had several rocky hills that rose up out of the forest. Even more eyecatching, however, was the dark sky. Beyond that, an extremely loud roar permeated the area, winds whirling heard in the distance. Its source was easy to track, a massive tornado made its way across the woodland. Trees, branches, and all manner of debris orbited it with no problem. What else was inside was impossible to say so much material it left. In its wake, it left a devastated trail, trees stripped of their branches and left barren. The trail itself was circular. It seemed the Tornado had been rampaging across the path for quite some time. Infact, the only area that seemed more or less alright was a large hill of stone, mostly untouched by the tornado. It rose far above the treeline, being the highest point in the area.

In the area, not much else was too much of note. There were a few human tracks away from the tornado, and no forest animals near it. The human footprints, perhaps unsurprisingly, came through the treeline, not on the ground. The odd thing was there was no rain with the dark skies. The tornado was beyond a doubt man made. An observant shinobi might note the tornado's weird behavior. Large objects were launched away from it. Like the tree trunk that came flying straight at the group, but no small shrapnel flew out of it. Whatever small item came inside the tornado stayed there.

The proctor felt there was no need to leave a note, or anything else. They would find the scroll, or they wouldn't. A ninja would see under the underneath... or through chaos in this case.

Ai listened intently, to her teammates requests, and more importantly, to the discussion of everyone around her. The exact reason to chose lightning seemed to be a reason no one else wanted it. One team did, but quickly changed upon the announcement of the new trial. Ai sighed thinking about it. Finally she had an answer.

"Don't worry about lightning. I can protect ya. Didn't want to say anything cause who knows who's listening, but I'm a barrier nin. I'll stop anything getting to your booms. I really want to see the trial, and if we take any other trial we'll be too busy fighting other teams to figure out any puzzle. No one else is taking lightning, been listening. I have to take it because of that."

Ai confidently drew a tag from her pouch, a shield purple translucent shield forming around it for a moment. Ai let it float around her for a moment, before sheathing it. She didn't want to drain too much of the tag's chakra.

"This'll stop anything stopping you."

Smiling, Ai confidently went to turn in the scroll. Lightning was going to be fun. She had more reason to watch it.

At first it didn't seem that way. She found herself in a dark room... a little closer to her new friends than she expected to be.

"Oi, who's on my foot? I at least expect dinner before playing seven minutes of heaven! Well... at least for it not to be in the same closet as Ayame!"

Finally Ai found the knob and stumbled out. She became awe struck almost instantly. The lights, the statue, the ambiance. Reverently, Ai knelt for a small prayer. Standing back up, she suddenly exploded into an array of papers, flying up a level to the stomach of the buddha to rub it. It seemed perfect for luck. Looking around, she noted the drums. With a bit of her lip, she exploded into paper again, reappearing with her team. She seemed alot calmer infront of the buddha.

"So... there are drums everywhere, a few boxes I haven't checked, a huge statue of Buddha, and three levels across this place. Where do we want to start looking for the scroll? Better to think it out than to start looking desperately. That, and I don't want to be in a rush in a room like this... I'm not sure what this has to do with lightning? Lighting, yes, lightning? Not so much. Hmm... Anyone else religious or have any ideas what Buddha here means? It's almost like he's a Shintai almost."

---

---

Looking between the members of her team, Ayame considered what she might do in the upcoming challenge. They had to retrieve a scroll and face some obstacles--presumably--to get it. She supposed her and Ai would be in large part responsible for defending their team as best as she could. Then, in an instant their surroundings changed. It went from an open air stadium to a cramped closet...and...who was that touching her--....

Clearing her throat she exerted chakra, forming a skin tight barrier on herself. Immediately she felt better. A few moments later they managed to extract themselves from the closet. Ayame brushed herself off and dispersed the barrier, smiling a bit at Ai. Her levity in the situation had helped somewhat.

With her cheeks faintly flushed, Ayame glanced around, getting her bearings. The first two things she noticed were that the room was incredibly bright and that most of it was full of what appeared to be a statue of the Buddha. Frowning slightly she glanced around further, seeing two chambers above the one they were currently within. With the drums and boxes it made for a rather strange assortment of things for a challenge.

Frankly, she was somewhat confused.

"I agree with Ai, we shouldn't be in a rush. There doesn't appear to be any kind of time limit, so we ought to think this through thoroughly."

She looked up through the transparent ceiling into the chambers above.

"I'd like to find out what's in the two chambers above us, but first we have to get there I suppose."

Drip... Drip... Bumu seemed rather surprised by their new location. No way out as far as the fox could tell. Except for, the water outside. The dripping water, a salty smell. Something was very wrong. Looking up, that leak started to spring, trailing water down upon them. Not too big, and defiantly not at the point where it couldn't be stopped yet. The fox began to form handseals, leaning forward, and spraying a thick sticky spray of oil. Toad Oil sprayed onto the walls, sticking tightly against the stone. Trailing up to the crack, sealing it tightly at least for a short bit.

"Okay, we've got a water issue." Bumu said, sure they'd only have a minute or so before the oil became useless once more. Just one or two extra minutes to plan. "We're trapped, by water. On all sides." Another twitch. "It's pretty obvious this is a bad situation, so we need to start figuring out a way to breath when this stuff rushes in." Bumu added, seeing a little spray squirt out from the sticky oil. "I can blow the room, but that's just gonna let all the water in at once." This whole mess made her unhappy, and he wanted out now. Small places didn't help her attitude. A splurt of water broke through, landing on his head. She hated this. Like hate hate. A seething hate.



"Ah, the rain village, of course." He smiled, softly at that. Wasn't that just a bunch of muddy huts and sad folk? Then again, what could he say? That was 20 years ago and a lot can change since then. Like coming back from the dead, or finding out TV was a thing. That was what really impressed him about the time jump. But even if the village of rain hadn't changed, there was a grace the village leader held. Almost as if she was a goddess in her own right. If he was still in the market for a wife, he'd have proposed then and there. Right now though some things came first.

"Well, I'll have to send you a bundle sometime. You'll love it." Jaakuna said softly. "After all, in the right conditions, even strawberries can grow in the rain. Helps if you remember just how good they can be." He laughed softly, as if he'd just spouted wisdom but his words meant little. But that moment ended quickly...

Some things are obvious, even to Jaakuna. He didn't need to sense the Hokage. After all, old friends like them? That's a whole new kind of sixth sense. But, he didn't say a thing. Instead, he sat there, rather relaxed, a little hunch to his back. The door opened, and he looked up just to see him again. Those eyes met, his grey eyes sparkled, and a smirk forced itself along his lips. Ginsho hadn't changed. Well, not much. Still pretty, still handsome. The lack of an arm didn't do a thing to take away from the man that stood before him. Wisdom from age was a good word to use. And yet, Jaakuna couldn't help but feel a ting of sorrow. How cruel for the world to age him. The Fox Sage felt for a moment that this was what death was really like. Not a glorious battle, but dying slowly and the world could see it.

He began to move, almost by reflex. He stood, a hand reaching out... Then he stopped. No, he couldn't help. He shouldn't help. Be silent... Be weary. He wasn't here to give out hugs and remember the good old days. No... He hated to admit it, but those days where over. From here on, it was war and hell all over again. Still, he bowed, a faithful merchant after all. "Lord Hokage. Thank you for stopping by." He whispered softly, only just enough for Ginsho to catch his words. Sitting back down, he turned his attention to the arena, and it's many cameras.

"The world expands ever so much. And yet the past is hard to get rid of." Jaakuna whispered softly as he watched, making the occasional comment to the two village leaders. Yin-Yang looked rather interesting. A lovely challenge if any. His eyes drifted to one girl, who seemed familiar. He swore he'd seen her before. A mission? Maybe? "Cute kid." He said, head in his hand, turning his attention to lightning. Well, that one looked fun. "Recycling old exams, eh?" He grinned from ear to ear. "Didn't you do something similiar back when you where taking the exams, eh Hokage-sama? I never saw the challenge myself, but I heard rumors."

Then he looked at the water challenge. "Hey, who's that kid?" He said, pointing at the screen, focusing on a foxy looking kid. "What's she... He? I can't tell... But that's my family crest!" He said, pointing again at the screen, to the symbols etched into that coat the kid wore. The Aka family crest was easily recognizable. Well, to him it was.

Thankfully, when they were teleported into the room, Kiku had had her mask on. The full white would've disoriented the poor girl, she instead was sending chakra to all her other senses and assessing the situation based off of her teammates emotions. Hearing the wall open, and her teammates move forward - she let out a softer click and it lightly painted a watercoloured picture of the small hallway. Allowing everyone to go in front of her so she could listen for their footsteps, and just follow suit.

She heard Shizuka's comment about writing down the runes, but of course this girl heard everything - she just lifted up her mask on one side and made a mental note. Her memory was pretty decent, especially from mapping out rooms and really navigating based through memory until she used echolocation again to remap the world in real time. It was interesting living the life of a semi-blind ninja, especially one who forced herself to fight blindly in some small attempt to probably feel adequate enough, or something else subconsciously. Anyways, she had been studying the signs, and then noticed she was alone momentarily as the rest of the group moved forward "What!?" She jumped and quickly jogged forward, proceeding to act as if she didn't just get left behind.

Upon entering the room, this is where Kiku had felt her brightest, when she was on the floor examining it - she could feel the metal make the tiniest sounds. A small squeak escaped her mouth as she was now almost floating the air watching the platform descend quickly under her. No worries, her butt firmly planted on back to the metal platform as they still soared down. Her wildly long purple hair was waving furiously as they continued to soar down. She was sitting with her legs bent and out to the side, her hands planted in front of her on the ground listening for a change. She felt and heard Kurin hit the floor with her, and the Jakuuna as well. Her teammates emotions were all different at the moment, calm, irritated, surprised. She herself was becoming more tense, a small sense of anxiety washed over her at the realization that this was truly the beginning of her exam now.

Her head popped up as if looking at Shizuka, her mask still on, she felt his energy again. This time he wasn't as abrasive, but a different kind of persona was about him. Kiku unsure of exactly what he was doing so close. She gave a small smile, but her lips then pursed upon her given nickname. Kiku then looked back down to the ground, bringing a thumb up to her mask, the second it slid under the material light filled her view and slightly startled her. Her hand immediately withdrawn its move, and went back down to the ground. Her nostrils suddenly filled with a smell that triggered a memory from her visit to Suna. Simple delivery mission from the Academy, nothing notable. But the smell nonetheless stuck itself to that memory firmly.

She sat there on the ground, giving off a few soft clicks and her world painted around her again after they stopped moving. But it wasn't very detailed. The room was so vast that the sound wasn't fully coming back to her, she hadn't really encountered this problem too many times. Upon this moment of realization, and irritation - Shizuka showed himself again, placing himself next to the girl as her fingertips were studying the etchings on the contraption that sent her on her ass. "Here let me try" She raised an eyebrow under her mask, and suddenly her hair was flying straight up in the air again. She almost thought they had fallen again, and this time was rocked back by a force of air. As she fell back, her dress happened to lift and she quickly grabbed at it pushing it back down and sitting on her knees - hiking the dress down farther. Again, her face swelled with red - but it quickly subsided as the room became vastly alive. She thought she'd have to cover her ears for a moment at how loud the sound echoing back to her was. She raised up, still on her knees and smiled, "Whoah," everything was so vastly detailed. Every sound wave had made it ways back to her ears, completely painting the room she was in. She reached over and grabbed the boys arm, "Thank you," giving a small squeeze to his forearm. Suddenly, her hand retracted and she stood up quickly - staring in a particular direction.

Kiku began walking away from her team, she made a quick hand sign "Kusarijutsu," she mumbled - extending her hands outward palms facing the ground and fingers outstretched. Two identical daggers rose from the ground, and long chains followed suit. Kiku turned her face back to her teammates, her demeanor had changed - a small hot faint wind blew lifting her hair slowly. "There's...beings..though I don't believe they're alive. I cannot myself sense any chakra," She looked to Kurin, and then towards the directions of the beings, "Can you? I believe they're just....statues maybe...." Going on her own intuition, she began to slowly walk in that direction, the chains of her daggers dragging on the ground behind her. Kiku stopped for a moment, her head turning around as she navigated the room painted in her mind. Shizuka's sonic wave had perfectly detailed this room for her, she could easily lift her mask and see it for herself - but this gave it a new depth. The falling ruins, and dusted symbols intrigued her greatly. She waited on her team to assess her question about the statue's by mentally examining the room herself, standing perfectly still as she moved in her mind.

She could hear the others moving forward, and stayed in her spot. Something was bothering her, and it was probably the rather large golem that was standing beyond all the smaller ones she was apprehensive about. Her face was in the direction of the rather large being, studying the area around it. It hit her like Shizuka's gust of air."Wait!" Kiku called out, and raised one of the daggers tips to the Golem's lifted arm, "Look...." Her hand lowered, the sound of the chain readjusting on the ground, "It's arm is raised". Her tone had become more serious, and she was far more short - now entering her logical phase as she usually did during missions.

^{@Reflection@Syn}

"Uh-huh. Right, four. Fine. I reckon he COULD make a smoll spot fer you, lil' boi. S'long as you shake on it with Kyoka 'course.", He heard this from Rumia he was going to comment about this but he had very little time to do so before the exam started. Tashiro listened to the voice unable to pick up where the voice was coming from. He heard the following about sacrificing two people for two others of their team would have to go on.

"Well, giving us a tough choice at the get go. Making us choose who is going to sacrifice themselves for the others could go on. If three people go into either of those one rooms we would forfeit. This is tricky do we sacrifice a two teammates in order two can go on. What happens if all four of us choose to go one direction? Also what would happen if we did nothing?. What if we stay here for the full five minutes. We dont choose to go forward or choose to sacrifice anyone. I think both rooms stay pretty much even if nobody in either one. Yin and Yang and what not. If we do nothing it stays balanced. Whoever was speaking never said anything about what if we dont leave. The only things we know is that if two of us go into one door they go on, the other two fail the exam. If only one of us enters one of the room we all fail the same is if three of use goes into a room. So I think who hold up here for five minutes to see what happens as we weren't given any details if we stay here and not choose." Tashrio stops speaking what he thought and his idea about the situation for a moment to give the girls an idea that he was having about this test.

Tashrio look at the three girls then says after a moment after he stopped talking before, "Unless either of you three think we all should go down one of the two paths together. So thoughts?" Tashiro asks looking to see what the others thought of his idea of just staying their for five minutes or if any of them had anything else to add to this. Tashiro wasnt about to force any decision, if he had to he would have walked into the sacrifice door without question but he wasnt sure if that would actually affect the over all decision of if they were going to fail or not. Tashiro thought this was a bit weird and was suspecting some sort of deception from the proctor but he wasnt sure so he didn't say so right out. Tashiro was going to wait to see what the girls were going to do before actually do anything.

---

Nothing.

This was most definitely a ghost town. No, ruins of a city long forgotten by history. The unique architecture and design of the humanoid edifices would leave the whole team at a loss as to what they could possibly be inspired from. Their sensory abilities would yield nothing but the depressing prospect that they were very much alone in this desolate place. Not even a spec of movement or even chakra of any form of wildlife other than the meager existence of desert plants growing at the very edges of the domed ruins.

With sensory abilities bearing little to not fruits, and the cold realization that they were completely in the dark, the team had no other choice but to follow Shizuka's suggestion: Following the only semblance of a path. The rails were metallic, and in good shape compared to what they were surrounded by. Although clear signs of frequent use could be detected sporadically. It seemed they were maintained whenever they were still used, with portions newer than others, with less dents and the such. They led through curves and bridges, none of them being trapped in any way. No, there was also a distinct lack of weapons or even tools. As if the place had been completely picked clean.

Finally, the rails would lead to one of the big, stone walls that served as boundaries on this isolated city. As they closed in, it was visible those who could actually see that it led deep in there with an opening large enough to welcome much larger entities. However this entrance would pale in comparison to the conspicuous nature of the two humanoid golems standing on each side of it, facing each other in a parallel manner and each raising a stylized double ax diagonally at the opposing direction. It looked almost as if these sculpted weapons were 'clashing'. The golems were almost identical to the one that they had crossed before, sans the weapon. They stood solemn, as if they were more than decorations, but guardians, guiding those worthy into whatever this cavern held.

Once at the dark cavern's entrance, where the rail's path continued, the more observant of our protagonists could very well notice the first piece of culture left somewhat intact by whatever had inhabited this area before. Perhaps defended by these crossed, stone axes for they would only be able to get a proper angle for it once a certain distance. The piece of art was rather sober, and interpretation impossible. But with a keen enough eye, they could very well notice the inscriptions carved onto the art, blending in perfectly with the representation.

Two languages could be detected. One that they all knew and was commonly spoken in the shinobi world, and one far more similar to the glyphs they had previously seen.



Phonzite, a metal coveted by renown blacksmith. A renown ore refined to make the best of tools. It is said that the Sage of the Six Paths used such a metal to craft one of his legendary tools. The team had no other choice by to march into the dark tunnel, in which the rails guided them through. There, with their vision adaption and perhaps a little initiative to illuminate the area, they'd start to notice this black ore protruding from the earth, distinguishing itself from the other rocks.

Impure Phonzite, the cheaper, highly mined byproduct of the real deal. It'd become evident that they had been sent into a mining facility, one big enough to house an entire settlement of people with their own culture and livelihood. The walk wouldn't be too long until they'd finally see light, however.



What they would stumble upon would be none other than turntable for railways. One directly connecting the rails they had been following to six other paths. Two were completely shut down by immense rock slides, and seemed to be supporting even more massive rubble above it. Perhaps not the best idea to dig through. While the others had metallic doors all sealing them. And speaking of which, once our protagonists all in the circular room, they would be suddenly locked in by another of these metal doors. They could try to break them, but it seemed they were designed to withstand particularly strong blows. Added to that, they'd notice the foundation of the area was old, brittle and certainly not reliable. Perhaps avoiding big impacts would be the best?

The floor was also metallic, preventing any digging under, as such initiative would often create problems in the earth's structure, and be an unnecessary safety hazard! But beyond that, they would notice just on the right of the largest door, the one opposite to the one they came from, would have an hourglass set over some strange mechanism. And just their luck, said hourglass would flip over, once a click would be heard a few moments after the sealing of the room. The unnerving silence of this empty mine would be constantly disturbed by the slowly increasing amount of sand now dripping from the hourglass.

Further investigation of this red-flag inducing mechanism would reveal what was very obviously a switch connected to the Turntable, and the hourglass itself. A button, with a peculiar V-Like Symbol. A small line of instructions was to be found right under said conspicuous switch. Once again, there were to iterations of this scripture.



And just as they could even begin to assess the situation, they would feel the slightest of tremors under their feet, and the cracks on the ceiling ever so branching out, as the hourglass kept its pace.

---

Before Koibito could give his answer on what scroll he wanted, the Hokage spoke up again. Then he was in this room. Now while their was some sort of explanation from it and probably a clear view of when it was going on, Koibito didn't see it and it would make sense. Before he was teleported into this room, he gave out one of his new ten second yawns. Not that he was being bored by the Hokage, but just tired like the usual. Well with his ears popping and the sound of the yawn also blocking his ears then his eyes being shut. Their was no way to know that he was teleported. Of course until he ended up in this white room with Kyo speaking up.

He was happy about the confidence Kyo had for his team. The Uchiha did always end up on top. That's why their Clan was held up so highly. Although it was strange to hear some discontent for the so called 'no-name Earth Shinobi'. Especially when he always had some no-name shinobi at his side. Regardless, Koibito was first to speak up.


"Honestly we all have our Clan's affinity for Fire, right? Well why don't we just go for wind as it compliments our Fire and we are only enhanced by it? I personally, as some of you know, use both." Koibito said confidently. Before focusing on Senna. "Well I'm not sure what Senna's strengths are. If you wouldn't mind telling us?"

Kurin stumbled forward, caught off guard by the burst of wind. But, this was honestly good as it managed to spread his spores down the tunnel, drifting ahead of them as the team began the second part of their mission. The whole place felt... Oddly enough... Alive. To Kurin anyway. The cracks that funneled air into the tunnel was like a breath, sharp and shallow. The winding tunnels felt like blood veins. Though maybe he was projecting. Him and nature got along well. Thankfully, his radios still worked. Tossing the short range transceiver's between each of the group. "If we manage to get split up, these will help." Kurin said, wanting to keep an eye on everything.

Always the academy boy. He couldn't help it. Neat and tidy, keeping his attention on everybody. Those in need always knew that no matter how hard it got, Kurin would step in to take the burden off their backs. Right now though, they where all neck deep underground, with the possibility that half the team just wasn't set up to fight in such tight areas. Kurin it seemed was pushing double duty now.

Yet, he couldn't help but feel an ominous edge as his eyes drifted to the sign. Fear the Worm. Well, that was either very direct, or a complete red herring. Until further notice, the team would be working under the assumption that a giant worm could very well collapse the area around them in a moment. The tunnels themselves seemed rather weak, so simply because a cave in would be the worst he began to forge handseals. Wooden posts began to sprout along the sealing and walls, holding the ceiling up and restoring some of the aged supports. Each time he made sure to give a wide birth to the precious metal. Even the cheap stuff that would otherwise be useless. If there was a danger tied to mining it, he'd hate to set it off.

Now, for the challenge. Or at least the first major obstacle. He continued to fortify the area, using his wood jutsu to form a layering over the roof. If they had to start blasting the door, he wanted to make sure the team wouldn't be caved in. At least he had one major advantage in this challenge. Even if figuring it out would take a while. Brainteasers, of course.

"To review..." Kurin began, already investigating. "We have a ticking timer, the possibility of a worm, and a door. Which may or may not be opened by this button talking about distress." Pretty simple lay-man's terms. The cryptic nature of the whole challenge seemed rather blunt. Mostly following a set path and doing the thing that was expected. Well, if that was the case, he might as well keep his eyes open.
"Either this switch is a certain fail state, or it'll help us continue further down the road. Shizuka, would you like the honors?" Kurin said, turning his attention to rest of the environment. If anything changed when the switch was flipped, he wanted to be the first to see it.

Gisho Omawarisan

---

Yogensha allowed the courteous action of kissing her hand, it was rather pale and soft as if she had never once stricken an object with her skin, flawless. Ginsho rose to his feet as Yogensha spoke softly of politics and semantics. “I try to track the weather as best I can, all the responsibilities of the Village and maybe even the world and here I am just looking at the sky. Ah as you wish your highness I didn’t mean to bring such unscrupulous topics up at an event like this, my apologies.” Ginsho suddenly felt a familiar aura, it was full of tranquility and familiarity, but not the same he was accustomed to. “As you wish, I do agree Konohakgure exudes an air of homeliness and pleasantries. I’m not so sure Iwagkaure shares our views on this, as I saw most of the chunin found us rather unsavory. Nevertheless I wonder where that old bastard is, he owes me a drink from the first mission we had together.” Ginsho chuckled as that was the first time he had paired up with a ninja from another village. The nostalgia of the good old days with nothing but innocence left a tinge of regret on his tongue.

“You spoil me with your praise your greatness, I expected to see more of your students here. Or have you deemed this exam a little too brutish for your tastes?” Ginsho joked before he could feel the aura of the room being swayed toward the inclusion of the fox boy. It must have been good reflexes or a sixth sense that moved Ginsho’s body before his mind even processed the situation. With the movement of the fox boy Ginsho swayed gracefully aside to keep himself out of the immediate range of the strange man. A hand gestured outwards in order to receive a hand shake, but just as quickly receded back to his body. Ginsho a little puzzled almost stuck his hand out in response, but realized it was the arm that had vanished from his control. Instead the young boy bowed, as in good faith and manners Ginsho bowed in return. “The pleasure is mine, please. Old habits die hard, I apologize for moving, my body acts on its own from time. I guess that’s what saved me from losing more than just this arm. Or well stub now. If only there was anyone left of the sage bloodline to restore my arm.” Ginsho motioned his tiny stump that barely poked out of his garb.

“The past can be rewritten is we do better and take upon ourselves to act with morality and as the new faces of shinobi that we should all try to strive for. While countless tragedies have transpired we can only help by rebuilding and moving forward. The past took with it more than just my arm, it took my comrades and that’s something that I can’t get rid of.” Ginsho said, where most people would choke up, he met this sorrow with his tenacious attitude. Surprised at the attentive nature of this young boy, he could only hope but to indulge him, “Ah why yes, it was a slight revision of the original. The rumors you heard are just rumors, yet the exam was in an early stage where there was only one room and multiple ninja vying for different scrolls in one area.” Ginsho couldn’t scratch this itching suspicion that he knew this random stranger. Pressing through his next words Ginsho was about to ask before he heard the outcry over his family crest. ”Could it be? No there’s no way.” “Hey, what did you say your name was young one?” the itch finally about to be scratched.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Shizuka Ichimi

---

The further the trio walked the more it seemed they were making headway. The rails they had been treading along turned into walls, but not just one, several. They were finally at an opening that seemed like a connection to another man made structure. Shizuka’s eyes finally adjusting to the ever changing ambience of light could make out an entrance that matched the parameters of the first golem they say. “Huh must be where these things used to live and work.” Shizuka talking to himself all the meanwhile being able to be heard by cloud eyes and maybe sticky. But his eyes flared open when he noticed the door was a mere distraction to the appendages that surrounded it. Two golems near identical to the one they saw before, but they were not facing or pointing in the direction of their next pathway. Rather they faced each other and adorned in their hands were two axes. Shizuka upon studying as a child was familiar with this archetype and set up for protecting or warding off travelers from treasure or death. Both were usually intertwined.

“Kiku, Kurin, Remember the runes from the top of this place? I see them again. I need you two to figure out what they mean. You both are smarter than me when it comes to things like that.” Shizuka was very observant and his eye was matched by none other, maybe it was an inherent passive to his ruby colored eyes that glimmered with radiance and beauty. Shizuka made his way to the inscriptions that caught his eyes. With a snap of a finger an eruption of flame jumped to the tips of his fingers full of life. Blowing away the dust and grime with his forceful wind he panned his finger over the inscriptions so the light would illuminate the inscriptions for Kurin and Shizuka to see. For Kiku he simply kept a circulating wind infused in the indents of the inscription so she could read it with her own vision . Shizuka was lost in his exploration he didn’t realize that Kurin had handed him a radio in case they got lost. Shrugging Shizuka threw the radio against the rock before it exploded into its base components. If he needed to find his teammates he could just do it with his wind.

It seemed Shizuka and Kurin were both extremely intelligent, but their approaches to situations differed dramatically. Something Kiku would soon put together, it was ultimately her decision who she would follow or perhaps she would be able to make the two come together somehow. That adventure was reserved for her only. Fan'shuo. Blessed with infinite resources and life. Our founders, the rejected, reveled in the Phonzite. And the world grew to envy them and their focus. The Winds and Earth would come to regret their transgressions. We of Fan'Shuo are proud, but not foolish as they were. We shall bless them as we were blessed. For we fear the Worm. While Shizuka pondered what this text meant he saw that Kurin had developed a fetish for stabilizing their environment. Shizuka didn’t really care as much as Kurin as it didn’t make his list of priorities and it wasted time, but it was funny to see the stick boy shuffle around. From what he gathered of Kurin it seemed the stick in his butt made him a literal thinker and cautionary, a combination that seemed too rigid and filled with weaknesses. There might have been a worm but at this stage it seemed unlikely.

The trio pressed on until they had made headway with the discovery of light. Shizuka flicked the flames away and took in his surroundings. An old rail station for the cultivation of this rare metal. The doors behind them closed as they did when they arrived so there was no exit anymore, if they were to fail whatever this was, they would die here, their only hope being the door that lied ahead with the hourglass below it. The hourglass activated and began to tick just like the mouth of the Senju. “Whatever” Shizuka said bluntly ignoring most of what Kurin said before he made his way to the button mechanism and slapping it with his hand. “If this was just a trick and it’s going to activate a collapse we have to do our best to try and remain whole. Cloudy eyes listen to the floor and vibrations and tell Kurin what he needs to build so we don’t die. I’ll make an air dome for us. If we do die, at least I don’t have to pay to be buried.” Shizuka could find humor in even the most inconvenient of times. Holding out his hands and carefully spinning a large expanse of highly condensed spinning wind swallowed up the team and held ready to pulverize any small debris that was about to fall onto them. “Stay close to me if you want to be at the strongest part of protection.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kaba stared aimlessly as his new comrade, Bumu, plucked the rest of his team's members. As he began to quickly handle the introductions and possibly discuss strategy, suddenly they were thrust into their challenge. Kaba figured the exams would not wait and give the prospective Jonin an early advantage. It was fine, Kaba wouldn't be shaken by a sudden change in surrounding. As they appeared in a room, Kaba immediately began looking around as if his head were a turnstile. 'DRIP' As he tried to analyze their situation, a droplet of water made contact from above with his foot.

Kaba swiftly looked upwards and located the leak from which the water fell from. There appeared to be several leaks, but one was more prominent than the other and that leak began to expand. It seemed Bumu had read Kaba's mind in that very moment and sprung into action to seal the leak before the pressure caused the ceiling to collapse. Deciding to not waste time himself, Kaba clapped once and pushed both palms outwards in front of him. A rectangular barrier formed around the makeshift team. It wasn't a matter on if the ceiling would cave, but when. The barrier would undoubtedly protect the group from being injured from falling debris, and of course from being drowned. But they were in an unpredictable environment, mostly ignorant to the situation in front of them. "Way to be on your feet, fox. I'm not sure where we possibly could be but being directly under water is not ideal. Eventually we might become surrounded but this barrier should hold as long as we aren't too deep in a large body of water." Kaba looked around again and located a door off in the short distance. He pointed to it to alert his comrades. "If we are indeed flooded, we would have at least a few minutes of oxygen thanks to this barrier. I see a door...we could attempt to open it but a part of me feels as if that's too simple. There could easily be water on the other side that'd wash us away. Or another option could be to just wait until the ceiling caves, and pray that we aren't too deep underwater to make it to the top. I can reinforce the barrier with no issue but my chakra isn't endless and I anticipate that I'll need it for later. Any other ideas...?" Kaba waited to see if any other of his team members would chime in as time quickly ticked away.

While some caravans would have their kage at the lead, the caravan from Iwagakure was quite different, with the Tsuchikage's procession more near the end. While his retainers, the elders, and his many assistants and Public Relations advisers had pleaded with him to lead the caravan, the Tsuchikage had declined, explaining that this event was for their proud to-be-Jounin shinobi. They should be the focus, and it was they who needed to arrive first anyways. Of course, the advisers had eventually given up trying to convince him otherwise, and had even stopped complaining about it at some point.

That wasn't the problem though....

---

One of the many guards for the Tsuchikage's fancy wagon had been marching along, when his commander bid him to make sure that 'Nazomeku-sama, be checked on to see if he needed anything at all.' Bowing his head to the man, the shinobi walked to the back of the wagon and knocked on the wooden portions of it in an attempt to arouse the kage's attention. When there was no response he knocked louder and spoke as well.

"Tsuchikage-sama, is there anything that we can get you? Refreshments, pastries...a meal, tea perhaps?"

No response. Not even the stirring of someone roused from sleep.

Frowning, the shinobi glanced at around and, seeing the coast clear, hopped onto the back of the wagon and opened the 'door' in the back. What met him sent a shock of panic through his entire body, and he stumbled off of the wagon. One of his fellow nin catching him, giving him a strange look, the shinobi turned to him and said words that everyone who had ever dealt with the Tsuchikage dreaded hearing.

"He's gone!"

---

---

---

Having ditched the caravan several hours ago, the Tsuchikage had found his way to the village among the throng of chuunin, yet none of them had noticed his presence. When they'd entered and the Iwagakure nin had been merged with the crowd of the city, he had disappeared further in. From afar he had heard the Hokage's speech, with a small grin on his face.

He had even watched the to-be-jounin decide on teams. He was proud of them and would have liked to continue watching. Of course, he had other matters to which he must attend, and so he departed. Before he would make his way to where he knew the Hokage and Amekage would meet, he stopped at some of the most famous restaurants in the city, including Ichiraku Ramen.

It was pretty good, and cheap too. Certainly an establishment he'd visit again if he could help it...and he could.

Finally, when he'd eaten, and drank his fill, Yatsu headed in the direction of the meeting room. He would be fashionably late, of course, but that was just as well. He was not known for being punctual or being much of a traditionalist at that.

Speaking of which, he'd had a marvelous idea for an entrance planned, but being so full, he'd decided against it. He would have used a few of his techniques to tunnel under the exact location of the room, and then rise up out of the earth all at once to appear amongst the kage. Instead he simply entered the building normally made his way to the room, knocked on the door, and then entered a moment after. A friendly close-eyed smile on his face, he bowed his head to his old friend and the Amekage; all the while his hands hidden in the wide sleeves as he held them together before him.

"You know, Gisho, it's not nice to speak ill of friends behind their backs," he quipped with that same signature smile as he opened his eyes. Though, in all honesty, he was getting to be an old bastard these days.

Glancing the way of the Amekage he bowed his head to her respectfully, though he did not kneel or kiss her hand as Gisho had it was clear that he acknowledged her position and gave her the appropriate greeting.

"Well met, Yogensha-sama. I'm pleased to see you join us for this little gathering. It is always nice to have a more feminine touch added to things." His smile never faltered as he made his way to a seat, and then took it, giving her plenty of space.

Glancing up he noticed the screen and his eyes lit up. "How wonderful. Gisho, did you set this up? Brilliant. I did want to see how the young shinobi did in this new event you've cooked up. So accommodating," he said, shaking his head even as he retrieved a small flask from his kimono and took a small drink. He offered it up to Gisho and the Amekage, just in case she might want to try some of the sake from little ol' Iwagakure.

It was his favorite brew.

His offer made, Yatsu turned his eyes to the other fellow in the room, and what a strange one they were too. However, he said nothing, for Gisho had asked the question for him.

How convenient.

The purple themed Kunoichi was amidst her own thoughts. Following her teammates along, but also moving through the place in her own head. Clicking as they walked, sending out more and more waves that were reverberating off of each other and continuously feeding back. They followed the rails, only to lightly come back to her - it meant the room was getting vast as they walked on. She moved both daggers to one hand, as Kurin handed her something. Kiku lifted one side of her mask up, staring at the contraption she'd only handled a few times before "What..?" The less than technologically advanced Kunoichi stared peculiarly at the device. Jumping at the sound of Shizuka throwing his, she grumbled at his move and proceeded to attach the device to the top of her boot and continue moving forward. As they continued on, she made a click again when the room opened up, this one louder than before as she could tell it opened up upon the sound of their footsteps not coming back to her as quickly, or at all. She heard her blonde haired teammates comment, and nodded in agreement. She this time put her hands towards the statue and let out a snap, ringing a little louder than her tongue would. Thankfully, she had inscribed the signs and such from earlier to her short term memory, and it was fairly easy to decipher as she pulled from there.

"Fan'shuo. Blessed with infinite resources and life.
Our founders, the rejected, reveled in the Phonzite. And the world grew to envy them and their focus.
The Winds and Earth would come to regret their transgressions.
We of Fan'Shuo are proud, but not foolish as they were. We shall bless them as we were blessed.
For we fear the Worm."

She said, and crossed her arms - the chains clashing against each other as she moved her hands under herself. A click hit her ears, the sound of something shutting. Her head scanning the room, as if she was looking through her mask. Then turned it back to the rest of the inscriptions.

"To the Uncertain and Distressed
Activate the Switch
And Remember your Focus"

Her attention changed to her teammates, noticing a shift in the atmosphere in the room. Between her roommates, and the start of the hourglass. "What?!" She exclaimed, and then looked from Kurin to Shizuka, seeing a slight power struggle. Both having their own ideas, she kept silent for the moment. "What if that switch lets out that worm?" This was more of a mutter to herself as she assessed the situation. "How about you're defense in case of a worm or anything for that matter, Jaakuna" motioning to the vast cavern they were in, "It seems we have enough air now for fire, I'll listen as Shizuka said, Kurin you ready yourself to stabilize the platform as Shizuka said, and Shizuka you hit the switch and we all gather around you in case of a possible rock collapse". She pointed up to the roof, hearing the cracks spread through upon the hourglass flipping. Alerting her teammates to that now impending threat, in case they hadn't noticed. She bent down, and set her daggers down, placing her palms down sending chakra to them - "This place is moving as that hourglass does, and hitting the switch can go a number of ways...I think that covers all perameters,". She stated firmly, also deciding she was taking the median path between the two's ideas and collaborating them. Even if they ignored her idea, she was going to continue listening to the room move - it was really all she could hear at the moment.

_{@Syn@Altered Tundra@Reflection}

Koma Hitsugi

@Reflection @BladeX @Syn

Before she knew it, Koma had been grabbed and pulled off towards a group by some stranger she hadn't noticed... Mostly because whomever it was happened to be behind her, she let out a muted cry of surprise and confusion before she managed to gather her bearings, but then confusion overwhelmed her again as her and the team she'd been pulled into were transported.

There was nothing more that she could be other than the personification of bewilderment until she heard the dripping and looked up to see that both of her new companions had taken the initiative in terms of trying to prevent the leak from worsening... Delaying the inevitable, but it was a good way to give them some time to think, for sure. Koma rapidly tapped her tample a few times as she begun to think. "There's no... clear way to do this, really. We've got to find the water scroll and we have not idea just how large the expanse of water is outside of the Room, right?"

She looked to the leak at the top, then at the door as it began to leak too. "You two can swim, right? I believe it will either be on an island somewhere on the surface or in fact the source of the water itself, maybe from above... Maybe from below. All we can do is let the water in and work with what we've got from there." It wasn't helpful advice, but it was certainly the simplest way to figure out just where they had to go. Seconds later she looked to Kaba and pointed at his barrier. "Wait... Can you make specific shapes with your barriers? I might have an idea of how to quickly get to the surface if you can, you'll just need to be okay with a bit of a breeze. From there once we're on the surface we'll just need to control our chakra well enough depending on the weather out there to walk on the surface."

Koma wasn't sure about her idea, in all honesty, but it was better than nothing... It was either stay in here and drown once the water destroyed the room, or go with a half-baked plan and have a shot at getting out of there, right?

As the disembodied god voice spoke, Kyoka paced around the inquisitively, passively listening to the instructions of their challenge. In truth, Kyoka was more interested in the intricacies of the challenge that they were in at the moment. The voice was a nice touch as Kyoka considered the different ways they might have done it and wondered why did they decide on one or the other. More importantly, where exactly were they? A pure white room in the middle of somewhere? A mansion? Nowhere? Was this just a Genjutsu? Whatever the case, Kyoka had to run experiments and five minutes was not a lot of time.

By the time the voice had finished, Kyoka was already standing in between the doors facing the wall. She tapped at the wall and then knocked placing her ear up to the wall to try and hear if it was hollow or not. Still not satisfied with the evidence gained, she leaned forward and licked a line across the wall and considering her very acidic spit, it should melt anything it came into contact with unless the test was specifically designed around not escaping the room and being stuck with the choice presented.

As Kyoka listened to her saliva sizzle on the wall, she turned to see Rumia almost make a crucial mistake. "..! Wa-!" Kyoka began her yelp before suddenly stopping as she noticed Rumia halt. A sign of relief came form Kyoka's mouth as she rubbed her forward trying to relax. It was too soon to consider anything. They had five minutes for a conclusion... A conclusion and not a decision, huh...

Kyoka quietly considered the commentary of her teammates including the newbie that joined their team. They would have to get acquainted later. Yuki had the right idea. Blind obedience to the task was certainly dooming all four of them to failure. This was supposed to be a challenge, not a task.

The new boy offered his pence which was similar to Yuki's, raising the valid point of there was no stated consequence if they don't choose only if they enter the doors. Furthermore, the dictation of the god voice had left a lot of room for open interpretation. In order to successfully advance, only two people may enter either room. Was she over thinking or was this meant to be taken at face value? "Don't surmise nuttin' yet, folks. I reckon dis a game to dem fellas and we ain't suppose to use dem doors at all. But y'all heard dat der voice. In orda' to pass, ONLY two may enta'. So maybe we ain't suppose to lay aroun' ere."

SHIT! It was Tsuchikage! The fox ninja smiled, though there was a twitch to his actions. The hokage may fall for his disguise, but that damn Tsuchik-! Wait... That wasn't the other guy... Jaakuna sniffed the air for a moment, defaintly not the guy he knew. but then again, the tsuchikage could have been replaced since then. He just kinda expected the old crew to still be kicking. Guess that's what happens when you lay underground for a whole two decades. People move on. Way to make the freshly young-fied Jaakuna feel old, you assholes. Could be worse though, at least everybody seemed to get along. He gave Yatsu a bow, as it was the respectable thing to do.

His next action though wasn't really respectable. As he took the outstretched drink the Tsuchikage was offering up, and took a sip. Oh how long it had been since he'd had the brews of Iwagakure. All those tastes and rich flav- Wait... Did the Hokage just ask him a question? His attention turned to Gisho, and a shiver ran up his spine. SHIT!
“Hey, what did you say your name was young one?”
"Tasty!" Jaakuna said, a little panic in his voice. "Ah, sorry." He replied quickly, passing the tsuchikage's drink back. "The drink, really tasty. But, you can call me Tatsu." His smile twitched. "Tastu Aka. Oldest living son of Jaakuna Aka. My mother and I recieved news recently about my father's grave, and we went to check. Just got back today, figured I'd stop by encase you heard and rumors." He laughed, hoping that they all believed his lies. Not that they had proof he wasn't. "Just a thunderstorm broke one of the posts. Nothing you should be worried about."

"But, onto more... Pleasant topics." He said, quickly trying to shuffle past the issue. "My father talked highly of you. When he was around. Is it true you and he fought the Seven Swordsman of the Mist? His stories tended to embellish a bit, as he claimed to have defeated four of them before having to save you." That bit was at least a little true. There was no big dramatic life saving, just Jaakuna one up'ing his friend. "But, you know, he was always away on missions. I bet he'd give anything to be here right now. And if he was, I bet he'd be proud of what you made." Focus Jaakuna. Gisho won't look too hard at this kind of stuff if he feels like he'd be honoring a dead friend. Disgusting... Here he was, lying to a friend because of Seijuro Nandate... He reached to his own heart, clutching it softly. "Ah... Sorry. A little heartburn from the drink."

"Hmm, that's simple enough. I think I understand what your thinking may be... Propulsion?" As they conversed, Kaba turned his gaze back towards the leak. Bumu's makeshift sealant had began to give way. It was only a matter of time before they were surrounded by water. Kaba necessarily didn't like being around water, as he wasn't the best swimmer or even interested in swimming itself. Once the room flooded he knew the nerves would start to creep in. "We maybe have 30 seconds before the floodgates open. Let's get out of this as soon as possible!"

Date smiled at Kyo's comments, agreeing that with three of his clansmen they could fail in their goal no matter what it was. He was gonna respond to his statements but the Hokage spoke to them again and everyone was silenced. Date honestly wanted to do the Wind scroll simply because it seemed like there was not that much of a challenge when it came to wind. When the Hokage's second walked forward,bowed and did his jutsu Date thought nothing of it, that was until the bright lights, glowing circles and the confirmation that he had been given the Wind Test.

When Date's vision recovered from the bright light he could see the trees that surrounded him and his teammates. Not much stood out to him at first glance except the sound of fast wind, then moments later he could hear the Hokage's melodic voice come out of the forest as if he was the forest itself. He explained the bare minimum about the different test but nothing about the wind test in particular. In fact as he looked around curiously there was no indication what this test was about or how they might complete it. The only thing Date could assume about the situation was that needed to get a better understanding of their situation. He looked at Kyo, Koibito, and Senna and smiled. "I think we should find higher ground, you guys have any idea what we are looking for?" Date could assume or even out in more effort to get more information but this was a team activity and right now he was feeling lazy.

---

Kiku could feel it particularly well, the vibrations ever growing in intensity and frequency. It'd be easy to correlate it to the hourglass' expired time, though that remained to be verified. These tremors were quick to become quite noticeable, with the metal on their feet channeling this movement for their stance to be affected by it as well. Sand and dust spilled from the ever growing fissures on the ceiling and walls, an dire indicator that they were going against some sort of countdown.

The first big initiative would be by Kurin with the manipulation of his Mokuton. An attempt to erect a more stable set of pillars to form their own, more reliable foundation. Unfortunately, the metallic floor would prevent the sprout of any life from that level, and could only be conjured through the walls. While it did offer some relief to the bulk that would befall them, they'd come to notice just how much larger the cracks on the walls would be. The foundation of this room was far more brittle and vulnerable than they could anticipate. In the hopes to slow this process down, the young Senju would inadvertently accelerate their doom, while also slowing it. Basically, no real progress had been made.

However, they could still hope to prevent a rock slide, right? Kurin would, through his wood style and earth affinities, grasp just how bad their situation really was. They hadn't been too deep underground, and yet the mass of earth above them was of a weight he could never hope to sustain. It'd become all the more clear at they were, in fact, right under a mountain, and its structure had long since been compromised by something. Unless they had some Perfect Susano'o somewhere, the boy's Mokuton would be far too weak to protect them from a catastrophe.

In the midst of the chaos, Shizuka would take the reigns. Pressing the button under the hourglass seemed to be the best solution he could come up with. Smacking it would cause a large thud to be heard all around them. The vibrations would halt once this was done, offering perhaps a little respite for the team. But this would only last as long as it would take for the hourglass to flip over and start again. One careful observer could notice that all the sand would have been transferred to the top in spite of the amount of time that had passed previously. And then, the small vibrations would resume. Was this only a retardant?

With the only lighting they'd have coming from various, bright runes on the walls and floor, they would be brought to notice one of the artistic representations carved on the wall. Kurin's Mokuton had brought quite some good, actually, as it purged the debris and accumulated sands from the walls, and allows the group to absorb what the natives once conveyed through them.



Surrounding this detailed illustration, they could see rows of mostly damaged, but still distinct representations of golems serving as tools for the strange individuals represented in the carvings. A few humanoids looked relatively normal, but a large number were given extra limbs and odd statures. The closer they were to the main, large canvas, the more they'd notice weapons being represented, and those same multiple-limb individuals turn on each other, and even oppose the golems as seen above.

More and more, they would feel the vibrations intensify as they had did before. With smalls pebbles randomly befalling the squad. They better hurry, for even with the wood and vines, there was space for big chunks to become hazards.