Hime Yuki

@Pirouette @Savato @BladeSS4

Hime easily let go of Tashiro's hand as he tried to get free of her grip so he could follow her at his own pace, the ice "fairy" playfully twirling as she glided across the ground and giggling a little. "Well my plan is to get that scroll in the middle for you, then we'll tackle getting a scroll for myself, but I doubt Rumi and Kyo-Kyo are going to let us go so easily. I hope you're ready for a fight, Tash!" She seemed as joyful and jubilant as ever as she spoke, stuffing her hand into her pouch and scattering a bunch of her ice tags into the air around her and coming to a stop to look back the way they came.

There was a blaze of excitement in her eyes as she caught sight of Rumia's advance. "Tash, keep an eye out for Kyo-Kyo, I bet you could tell from how these two work that she's somewhere around for sure. And hold onto your scroll!" It was quick instruction as Hime charged and moulded chakra within herself, firstly releasing a large pulse of chakra into the immediate area to cause the temperature to rapidly drop and form snow clouds above herself, Tashiro and soon the two cousins once they closed in.

Hime's follow up to this was activating a few of the randomly scattered tags from mere moments ago to create large pillars of ice here and there, with some still waiting on the ground and one of the current pillars half-blocking Rumia's charge. No doubt she'd likely just attempt to charge through and shatter it, but that was no skin off of Hime's back, really.

Finally, with a deep breath and removing a few slivers of ice taken from the closest pillar to form into a large, near transparent ice disc that she attached to her arm she bellowed towards the brute of the familial pair.



The yuki braced herself to take the brunt of the charge, her wings still active with the intent to mitigate as much of Rumia's momentum as was possible before the battle really begun, Hime still had plenty more up her metaphorical sleeves.

With Kamui identifying targets, Tsukiko followed in suit. She made sure to stay behind Sakana, who himself was behind Kamui, as the team advanced through the forest. While their red-haired sensor announced the team had split into two groups, he soon after provided bad news that one of them released a sensing technique of their own. Team Fire was likely to be detected on their approach now. As Sakana picked up the pace and took the lead Tsukiko maintained her speed and instead performed several handseals. "Understood," she remarked as she vanished from sight. Her Hiding with Camouflage Technique was now active, hiding her from the naked eye with no flaws. She figured it was unlikely that the sensor would miss her because of this, but the target that wasn't using a sensory technique would have no idea.

Only after Sakana jumped down to confront Kurin and Jaakuna did Tsukiko finally pick up the pace. In a single leap she sped past Kamui, who would be the only person that could really see her anyways, and landed upon a branch above Sakana within seconds. She wasted no time, however, and made use of his distraction. The wild woman launched herself across the clearing and landed against the trunk of one of the trees behind the two targets. Despite her momentum the impact made no noise as she touched down, though she didn't linger at all before jumping down to the ground a couple meters behind Jaakuna and Kurin. One of the two could sense her, she knew that, but she didn't know which one it was. Surely one of them will react to her presence and the one that doesn't will become her target.

Tsukiko took this moment to memorize the scents of these two. If one were to be sly and attempt an escape she would make sure to be able to track them down without Kamui's assistance. She didn't draw any of her weapons just yet, instead waiting for Kamui and Usagi to arrive on scene for a coordinated effort. That, or she'd be forced to move once whoever was sensing her made an attempt at attacking her. Of course, she could just be overestimating the sensory technique but at such a close range it would be foolish to assume she wasn't on his radar. All she'd need to see is a slight movement and she'd spring forward to attack the one that was clueless. The beginning of a turn or perhaps the motions to perform a handseal. Hell, perhaps the sensor would reveal himself by calling her out. In that case she wouldn't even have to potentially dodge an attack, just move in on the unsuspecting and unprepared foe. In her mind, the true question of what to do next was should I take the scroll first or incapacitate first? The rest of her plan she didn't foresee deviating. The success of her sucker-punch style attack was assured in her eyes. All she needed was a sign to tell her who will be her victim.

Kurin knew something was coming. Four somethings. Well well before they got close enough to exercise any of their plans. In fact, Kurin already had a plan. It was his usual plan for situations like this. Grabbing his scroll, he passed it off to Jaakuna in a flash, pushing his chest and glaring at his ally. If Jaakuna had any sense, he's get the drift in a second. And if he didn't, Kurin's very next words would make it clear. "Run, enemy coming. Use the radio." By the time Team Assholes United would reach them, Jaakuna would most likely have a 10 second head start. Kurin himself stood his ground, knowing that he was going to be the distraction. If they tried to go right for Jaakuna (assuming they had a sensor to track him) Kurin was more than capable of slowing them down. If they stopped to take him on, then they'd end up wasting more time. Kurin could take it.

Narrowing the focus of his forest scan, to conserve his focus, he brought it down more than enough to encompass the other four, and would expand it when they got close to leaving his focus. More than enough to know where they are at all times. But, they didn't need to know that. Without the other two, this fight was lost. But... A losing fight didn't need to mean a mission was lost. With luck, Jaakuna could radio them for help, though with his two scrolls now he could make a direct run to the exit. Denial of assets, may take Team fire a few seconds to catch on. Could always leave them wondering if the two who ditched didn't take their scrolls. Any kind of distraction was a second earned.

He turned to Sakana as soon as the leaf ninja stood on the edge of the forest. "Oh, hello. I apologize, but my ally and I where robbed of our scrolls. Our own allies, Shizuka and Kiku, betrayed us it seemed." He coughed out, hands close together when he did so. At any moment he was ready to form a handseal, to attack or defend as the fire team moved around him. One of them was invisible. He could tell because when his eyes flicked to her location above Sakana he didn't see her. Stealth? Great, she may get cocky about it. If she made a move towards Jaakuna, he'd be moving first. The other two seemed to be standing aside. Going around Kurin would waste their time, and if they tried going directly through him, they'd find that a much harder obstacle. "My partner is such a nervous goose. He's honestly worried you planned to attack him, so he fled on his own. But we're all reasonable ninja here, right?"

He was ready to waste some time before things go serious. Either way, this was going to involve a fight.




ZIP!
Bumu was gone. First chance the fox saw, and she took it. Dashing off into the overgrowth, thankful that nobody would notice a fox with a scroll tied to his back. On one note, neither of his allies seemed to care about the fox reveal. Which was amazing... Kinda in a weird way. At least it was just those uncaring two and two probably confused medical ninja. Guess it was time to plan something... Oh wait, that fat guy was dead. Shivering from ears to tail, he looked back into the small clearing. The duo of medical ninja from earlier where standing around, thinking and discussing about what to do with the half chewed on corpse. Blood still oozed from the corpse, and Bumu felt... gross. There was a long, silent pause as Bumu sat back. He could still smell that salt water that filled the air, and it was... Disgusting. It made the fox sick, and the smell of iron in the air didn't help. In all honesty, Bumu was ashamed.

Ashamed at not worrying about the resident Akimachi... Worse that this was all her fault. She was the one who told him to join their team. And he was the one who failed to notice the lack of the... That moment flashed into Bumu's eyes again, making him... Sick. It felt meaningless really. This death. And Koma and Kaba, they didn't care. They didn't care about Akimachi, they didn't care about Bumu. They literally left once they decided they had what they wanted. Human... Seemed like out of the whole group, only Bumu took the time to even mourn him. Guess it's ironic how a beast can care more about the lives of others. This... This was wrong, and the fox knew it. Biting into his lip, he began to move away. Until stopping once more. No, everybody deserved a prayer. There, in the bushes, the fox took a deep breath. "May you find peace in the pure land." He whispered softly, claws scrapping along the ground to form a prayer circle. A moment, of peace in this forest of death.

When Bumu was done, he scoffed up the circle. Watching as Akimachi's body was taken away for a proper burial, he watched. Finally, when Bumu was alone, he went back to the forest. Maybe he'd get lucky, find somebody he could con out of a scroll. But his heart was in it anymore. "What a waste this day is."

---

---

It would be a surprise if this team managed to keep itself together - yet, it managed to. A big, wonderful surprise that had kept Usagi firmly suspicious of both Sakana and Tsukiko. Kamui seemed... manipulable, not a manipulator - a strange sensation that kept being a focus for Usagi. Even when they moved, following after Kamui - their sensor-nin - who guided them towards a group of enemies which had apparently separated from one another. Eventually, Tsukiko used a technique that made her entirely invisible to the naked eye. Usagi had no means of tracking her down that way and thus, she felt slightly... unsafe. What if Tsukiko attacked one of them instead of their foe?

Nah. She couldn't possibly be that honorless. Apparently, they were getting close, which prompted Usagi to unsheathe her sword. They had a sensor-nin as well which already knew that they were coming, so it was highly possible that they would run into something... unwanted. Sakana increased his pace and Usagi did the same - she'd land roughly a second after him, as the natural utilization of Wind Step to propel her forward faster gave her a considerable boost in speed. Especially when traveling.

Finally, they meet their opposition. Sakana was blunt - a quick, uncaring statement that they would need their scrolls. Reasonable. The other nin, however, wasn't extremely smart. After brief, useless petty talk, he stated both of their scrolls were stolen by their own teammates and that that his partner was fleeing already. A lie? Or he was just trying to distract them? Either way, Usagi was quick to move ahead of her team, holding her katana in a reverse grip. Her chakra flowed into the sword, increasing it's potency and range - she held it in a reverse grip with her right hand. The left, formed a half fist - with her index and middle finger curled slightly, the thumb open, and the ring and pinkie finger closed. By her stance, a shinobi should tell that she was no stranger to kenjutsu - neither taijutsu.

"How can we possibly know you speak the truth? You better prove it, since as you can see, there is three of us.
And we need the scrolls." Usagi said three because she wasn't entirely sure if Tsukiko was around or not - at any rate, she was already moving straight in Kurin's direction - least she was stopped by one of her teammates.

The moment his hand was let go Tashiro readjusts himself so he can grab his sword if needed. He listened to Hime about her plan but he wasnt sure on why was she going to let him get the free scroll. She could get the scroll for herself and get out then pass this challenge. Not that Tashiro was not grateful but he thought she would want the scroll. It just seemed too easy of an idea to get the scroll when both himself and her could get the scroll as they both are supposed to be up against each other.

Then he hears her talk about how Rumia and Kyoka wouldn't let them go that easily. He was a bit torn about what to do about this. They were just a team with those two and now they were going to fight over the scrolls for this challenge. Part of him wanted to do his best and win this challenge but he wasnt the kind of person that would fight step over a friend to get ahead. The moment Hime started to make ice pillars in trying to slow their pursuers and former teammates down.

Letting out a sigh making a decision to deal with Rumia an Kyoka he puts the scroll in his other hand keeping it in his grasp. With a quick turn around he turns back towards the pursers and starts going head first at them trying to get between the pursuers and Hime. Moving rather weird keeping the scroll out in a way it can be taken. Hime wanted Tashiro to keep his scroll and hold onto it, but Tashiro did make a promise to give the scroll over to Kyoka and he would like to believe he is a man of his word. He was charging towards Rumia and Kyoka just looking like he was attacking but in fact he was leaving the scroll out to grab looking to keep his word and give the scroll he promised over. He was attacking with the flat edge of the blade should his attack hit. He wasnt keeping himself completely undefended if the two girls pursing them didnt see that his scroll was in his hand and easily ready to be taken.

While he wasnt sure what Hime would do after he turned to charge at the two cousins but at this point he figured he looked as if he was going to stop the pursuers. He wasnt sure if she would try to stop him from doing just that or would catch onto his true motives of turning to face the cousins who were coming after them he was going to take the chance.

Ai sat in the corner watching the various cameras. She held a plate of Dangos; she had found the snacks, though from how much she was talking they were hardly getting eaten.

"Wow. So this is this years candidates for Jonin? Not very good are they? I mean, not that I'm that good, but I just want to see interesting things. This is going to make me go to sleep.

Thing that gets me the most is the team formations. Its seems more dangerous to me to stick with a team with questionable objectives than it does to go at it solo. Betrayal is the norm here. I mean, yeah, you're stronger, but you could find you have no scroll at the end rather than one or two. That'll look worse at the end, right? I don't see Fire holding it together.

That, and all the ninja who are convinced this is all about fighting. I'd nail those with the lowest points off the bat, no matter how skilled they are, but that's just my two cents.

I dunno. What do you see in the match Lord Tsuchikage and Hokage? Are their any winners you can see out the gate?"

Despite the chatter, Ai watched one camera in particular. She couldn't help but be glued to it.

Come on Ayame, don't blow this... Please don't team up here...

Shaking her head, Ai tried to refocus. Ayame was a big girl, she'd be fine. Ai'd given her such a large advantage as well. She just hoped it didn't negatively affect the review. Ai was sure she was stealthy in giving away her scroll, but it was several kage watching. Looking at the camera with Ayame in it, she noted a new face approaching. Trouble? Looking at the familiar face, Ai's heart stopped. She recognized the girl. For a second she seemed uncharacteristically scared. She threw a glance back at the Tsuchikage, trembling.

"I-is that Aito? S-she's participating?"

There was a reason Ai's name was so similiar. She had sort of stolen it. Aito had always been a role model growing up. Her sister's best friend, a beautiful artist, who was strong, free, and, most of all, kind. That, and it was honestly entertaining watching her and Ayame fight, both with kunai and with words. Ai used to imagine getting praised by her. What now? It was a problem Ai hadn't thought of ever since she'd had her name remain MIA. Looking back at the screen, Ai just gentle slapped herself, whispering.

_{"Get over it, Ai. Kazue's dead. All the friends she knew are gone too... "}

She turned to the Tsuchikage, a bubbly smile on her face once again.

"I'm sorry about that outburst Lord Tsuchikage. So, tell me, what do you think of the various chunnin?"

She finally shut up as she shoved several Dango into her mouth.

@Yoshua171
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Kaito slowly opened his eyes. His right hand was still clutching a kunai. He was so high on drugs he hardly felt a thing, and his head was more than a little dizzy. Regaining a sense of self, he started to put the room together. He was in a hospital bed, and that meant...

"DAMNIT!"

Kaito slammed the kunai into a table by him. It meant he'd lost to that Hyuga jackass. The self-righteous, frankly moronic, Hyuga. After all that speech of him stealing what he needed, here Kaito was, without enough. Clenching his teeth he swiped at blurry eyes.

"I'll show that egotistical maniac not to look down on me. Next time I see him, HE IS DEAD!"

It was about that time he noticed two things. A) Shouting with broken ribs was a terrible idea. B) The leader of the Hidden Rain was in his room, Yogensha.

Bowing even as a coughing fit took over, Kaito immediately felt regret. Hacking up a lung, he finally was able to get a breath.

"My lady, what brings you here? I'd rather see you at a victory party over seeing you ... here. How can I be of service? Apologies about that outburst. Afterall, if I'm ever going to take your job, I'd better be as perfect as you are."

Looking for something, anything to wipe the blood off his hands, he noticed a TV on in the room. It sounded like an announcer for the forest of death.

"My lady, where's Sayuri? One of us had better damn-da-ang well passed. Tch. I'm not going to excuse my match. Next person I fight I'm assuming won't have magically appearing wire up his sleeve. And if he does, I'll hang him by it. In any case, where is she?"

@Odin@Write

---

Yogensha had moved herself to the room where Kaito would be healed after his failure to secure victory or even a draw. For a moment it had seemed like there would be a draw, but Kaito had somehow passed out in one of the last stages of the fight. At least, that was the explanation she was offered by the proctor. It would have sufficed - she had never had much faith that Kaito would succeed in this test. Shinobi like him were better off testing their skills away from the public eye in an area where they could craft the environment to their liking and fight from the shadows. At least... that was her idea regarding the boy. It was a disservice to him to think of it, but truly, he had not stood a chance in an arena where the environment was carefully orchestrated to benefit only those who favored the direct approach to a fight. An oversight of the Hokage, in her eyes. The game was rigged from the start.

It was also little surprising that Kaito had an outburst. It wasn't the fact that he had lost, it seemed, that troubled him. It was how he had lost, and more importantly, to who. She smiled as she stood at the window, overlooking the peaceful outside of Konohagakure. A stark contrast to the violence that was now going to occur just outside it's walls. How ironic for one of the most idyllic villages to have an aptly name 'forest of death' right outside it. Nobody seemed to question it. For good measure, perhaps.

It was only then Kaito seemed to have noticed her, and he quickly responded by apologizing and offering his services. She did not reply - instead, she took a moment to mill over his outburst. “Kaito,” she said slowly, in between his apologies and offer and his question about her assistant. “You would do well to apply your anger in more efficient places. The mind is a vessel as you know - the knowledge of the Sage fills it. The mind is also the precarious balance, the yin-yang we apply in our physical being, our ninjutsu, it must be the same in our head, the balance of yin.. against yang. The sole purpose of it is to balance us in our lives, as I understand it. There must be anger, surely, but that means there must be something to counter-balance that.”

She glanced out the window a moment longer before turning around and looking to Kaito. Her smile had disappeared, and her face was contorted into a stern, serious look. “What is your counter balance?” Mental, psychological equilibrium were just as important to her as a shinobi's comfort in battle. Kaito had proven the latter - even in a fight, he had remained calm. But, this anger she saw in him, she would need to ensure that it was applied in the right direction.

She did not, however, raise her voice. Instead, she sought to understand and learn from Kaito. If his allegation that she was perfect was correct, then she would not learn anything from him anymore, and could only seek to learn from the Sage. She knew this to be untrue, but did not correct him. Such a vision of his leader could always be used to push him in the right direction, to lead by example, from the front, and not from a desk in the back. “What have you learned?” The sharing of wisdom was intended for her to understand his perspectives better, to understand what had aggravated him and what pushed him further. She would not correct him, she would not tell him her own lessons she'd drawn from his fight. Instead.. when he answered, she would nod at him understandingly, and accept his visions as his own. She had, after all, a deeper understanding that every person is their own and must learn on their own.

She turned to the window again and looked outside, glancing at the green of the trees. A sight she would never see in Amegakure. But she did not feel jealous. She felt homesick. “Sayuri will not be participating. She did not care to enroll, and although that is her own choice, I have my doubts I would have allowed her to enroll either.” The reasoning for this was more complicated than her belief that she was unready. Quite the contrary. Sayuri was more than ready, and she was confident that Sayuri would've done well. Perhaps too well - that was also her reasoning for being against her enrollment. But she did not tell him this, and her perfect composure meant that he could not have guessed it, no matter how shrewd the boy was. Which he was, she knew, but not shrewd enough. There was nothing shameful there, either, as very few people were shrewd enough to understand Yogensha's through thoughts and reasonings.

“She will be here shortly, but since she was signed in as my assistant and not a shinobi, there may have been complications with her papers. I am unaware of it as of this moment, but knowing Sayuri, she will find her way. She always does.” Sayuri's way was usually different from her own, that much was true too. But she understood Sayuri, or at least thought she did. It was better to leave her be and let her figure things out on her own.

Unbeknownst to her, Kaito and Sayuri would become very important to the village later in time. But now.. they were just regular shinobi to her. One was a promising student who had just failed and learned some valuable lessons. The other an assistant and protege who seemed more occupied with finding her own way than serving the village at times.

---

Sayuri bounded through the empty Konoha streets searching for her favourite restaurant, she intended on picking up a small treat for Kaito and the Amekage. She had watched her teammate lose his fight, Byakugan activated and all. She saw the mistakes both combatants made but she still thought her teammate was going to overcome his opponent. She sighed, that loss probably did two things to Kaito.

He was probably going to lose it and try to fight the boy again at some point. His ego had most likely already rebounded and he was going to be even surer of himself after he got out of the medical ward. The Amekage had gone to visit Kaito, she supposed she should do the same. After all they were a team still.

She quickly made her way to where Amekage-Sama and Kaito were waiting and knocked on the door.

“Enter.” One of them said as she rolled the door open carrying a few sticks of dangos, bundled like a bouquet.

“For the lady,” she said handing the Kage her two dango sticks. “And the gentleman.” She finished handing three to Kaito. She knew he could get grumpy, but only a fool would turn down free food. She sat down on the foot of the bed, carefully avoiding her teammate’s feet, adjusting her robes as she did. She glanced out the window in the direction of the ongoing competition, listening to the broadcast. It seemed this year’s candidates were fairly capable.

“You fought well.” She offered, adopting a more serious tone. It was not out of pity but genuine respect. The boy was an incredibly combatant, even more so than she was. But luck played a part in every fight and this time she believed it wasn’t on his side.

“Still, it’s good you get knocked around every once in a while, makes the path to betterment much clearer.”

Ready... Deep breaths. You can do this. After all, you'd done this before. Remember Iwagakure? The war was just starting to get into swing. That poor ANBU hadn't it felt it now, just like that guy hadn't all those years ago. There was even a body this time, since he only needed the disguise for a small window. At least the family had something to mourn this time. But he doubted anybody would really care at this point. Things where going to change faster and faster.

Two minutes ago, Jaakuna Aka had sliced the throat of a man from behind. For his uniform of course. He honestly had his pick, so it was more a matter of personal preference when he opted to kill the guy with the fox mask instead of the wolf mask. The body was dumped into a dumpster, the smell would hide it for now. Adjusting the mask on his face, the fox ninja gazed across the streets of konoha. It was all so different, and yet nothing seemed to change. It was... So nostalgic. Looking carefully, he could see the ramen shop he'd eaten at for years. There was the place where he fought Ginsho in public. That building was still abandoned apparently. Oh look, there was the place he proposed to his first wife. Well, no time to get all touchy feelie. Time to get busy. He had his orders. It was time to stop wasting time. Time... Weird. You just want to waste it all at times. STOP THIS! FOCUS WHY CAN'T YOU FOCUS!?

Looking across the way, he saw another clone of his in a turtle mask. Poor sucker couldn't find a fox mask. Guess they all couldn't be that lucky. They'd been clever, avoiding Namine's senses, since she was the only one who actually could track him at this point. The fox sage was on the move, as time was ticking closer and closer to mission start time. All at once, several ANBU could be seen looking out at a single point in the distance. Probably confusing one or two onlookers in the process. But as they watched into the distance, the plume of fire and an explosion could be seen echoing off in the distance.

Two minutes ago... The Kage Booth
Foxes are tricky. Sly creatures. In fact, they where statistically the most tricky things in all the world. So it's a wonder nobody tried checking for bombs. Oh yeah, did we forget to mention the bombs? While he had fidgeted, chatted, and wasted time, the clone of Jaakuna Aka who had snuck in earlier hadn't just been trying to relive the good ol' days. In fact, Namine's arrival was a blessing to Jaakuna. Her arrival succeeded in being the ultimate distraction to the party. So much so that nobody would notice the explosive tags that Jaakuna had placed a bomb. Specifically, one in the sofa. The powder filled tags, tied to a timer... A classic trick if there ever was one.



There was a brief moment where everything was quiet. A single loud ticking, filled the air, the only warning all occupants had. The explosion could be seen a mile or so off, highlighting the moment in a frenzy. Citizens who witnessed the explosion panicked. A cart was overturned, and from Jaakuna's numerous vantage points he could see shinobi running around trying to figure out what was going on. This was just part one... It was up to others to accomplish part two now.

Inside the Kage office, stuff was tossed about. Fire clinging to the ceiling and walls, the glass shattered, and probably a few bones of those caught off guard. Even worse for some who may as well be dead, judging by the piece of metal now sticking out of the head of one of poor chunnin who had been there to help the kages. Blood leaked from the hole in his head, splattering to the ground as the force had pinned his head to a wall. Shrapnel sailed through the air, with the food table having smashed right through the window, glass showering everybody outside. Acrid smoke poured out of the building, pouring up into the air, a hellish landscape for the kages to have stumbled upon. Smoke choking their lungs, burning their eyes, and the panic around them as the guard on the other side struggled to open the door. Only for a bit of the ceiling to collapse, locking him out and the Kages in. They had to act fast to survive this attempt on all their lives.

Below the Kage suite, the observation room was in chaos. The ceiling above the room where others had gathered began to buckle. They'd have enough warning as a bit of the ceiling broke and flattened one of the unwitting shinobi watching the matches. Blood gushed from his body as stone smashed down onto his fragile human body. Bits of brain gushing out and drenching the glass of the observation deck. The ensuing chaos resulted in the loss of sudden life, and the disaster only began to echo through the building as it buckled under it's own weight.

From a distance, Jaakuna and his many clones just watched. Until one, probably the leader looked away. Gesturing to the others, they spread out, either moving towards the distressed kages, or away to different parts of the village. The attack had begun, and as the clones moved around, distress flooded the village. The hospital exploded, reports claiming there was a member of anbu there, just watching before he exploded like a bomb. A town office, a restaurant. Chaos flooded in, and Konoha was officially under attack.

The Medical Wing, where Yogensha was berating her students was one such location. The ceiling began to crack above them as one of the clones detonated from above, and another from below. The supports of the room began to crack, folding and snapping. Debris crashed down, smashing down and pinning one of the medical staff to the floor, blood gushing from her mouth. Stone buckled above the Amekage's head, showering the room in dust, thick and blinding as the building collapsed around them. A large stone fell from its support, making the deadly trip right towards Yogensha and her students.

---

Yogensha stared out the window, even as Sayuri entered and offered her the dangoes. Yogensha politely declined, finding herself without appetite today. However, what piqued her interest were Sayuri's words. She was right, of course. It was good to be knocked around from time to time. “No victory without loss, just as there is no happiness without sadness,” she added, finding herself nodding slightly at the remark. She turned around and was almost prepared to leave and leave these two to their business, when sudden explosions in the distance caught her ear. She stood solemnly, her mind racing faster than anyone else's could have probably kept up with. She weighed every single decision in her mind carefully. Then, she looked to Sayuri. “Get Kaito out of bed. We are leaving.”

The plans were solid - no reason to hang around, after all, and she would be ignoring her duties as the leader of Amegakure if she declined to save her students first. The kage's would understand, surely. The plans were, however, thrown into disarray rather rapidly, with the sudden explosions underneath and above her throwing her off momentarily.

Rather quickly, she formed handseals and then with a rapid move glanced up and prepared herself to catch the heavy block of concrete and steel that was about to crush her and her students. It was a block at such a size that no man could aspire to catch, much less a woman that looked about as fragile as the gracious and well-kept Yogensha. The medical personnel in the room looked at her in shock as they noticed she prepared to catch the block, and perhaps even Kaito himself would've found this strange. Most people had never been subject to her hiden technique after all. “ASURA NO TEISAI!” she yelled, just when the block of concrete hit her hands. She stood for a moment, holding the block up, protecting her own students while near the door a medical assistant was crushed by another block of concrete, gasping for air as the block weighed down heavily on her.

Yogensha would've liked to help her, but it was too late, and to give up now would mean the death of her students. A decision that would've been unforgivable by the Sage of the Six Paths.

She buckled under the weight and for a moment it seemed like she would not be able to keep it up, when a new arm appeared from her back, and moved up against the block of concrete. Her kimono made a ripping sound as yet another arm sprouted from her back and moved to the block and when it touched the block, she went from standing slightly kneeled to standing fully upright. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep it up forever, however, so she urged Sayuri and Kaito to hurry and leave the room, just like the nurses were rushing out. Once Kaito and Sayuri had cleared the area, she would throw the concrete block backwards with a tremendous force, and have it land in the corner of the room, breaking it in two.

Her extra arms retracted into her body again as she deactivated her body. “Kaito,” she politely said, “if anyone asks, you had a fever dream and your leader grew two extra arms. This never really happened. Understood?” Yes, surely, it would be better to keep her hiden an actual hidden technique, to push out at the best of times. She'd been almost entirely sure that nobody had been watching either, her shrewd and quick mind having checked for lurking eyes prior to activating her technique. She had to cover herself from all angles, after all.

With a quick movement she threw off the kimono revealing her standard Amegakure garb, and laid the kimono down over the concrete in such a way that the rebar from the reinforced concrete punctured the two holes her extra arms had made in the kimono. It was better to just act like the rebar itself had made those holes, than have anyone ask questions about it. It seemed that Yogensha was not just shrewd, calm and kind, she was also very careful not to alarm anyone to her capabilities. A trait that had served her well in the past and, hopefully, continued to do so.

Once everything had been laid out carefully like a puzzle for anyone that entered the room to figure out, she left the room alongside Sayuri and Kaito. She had originally intended to leave the medical facility right away and return to Amegakure in a rapid tempo, but as they passed room 206 on the way to the stairwell, something caused her to stop. “One moment,” she calmly informed her students, as she slid the door open. Inside she'd find a woman with blonde hair, and an Iwagakure uniform. She squinted with her eyes momentarily before recognizing her as a girl she'd seen on the screens in the observation deck. “Excuse me,” Yogensha spoke up, “but we are under attack. I am Yogensha of the Hidden Rain, though I don't expect you to know of me.” Yogensha bowed politely, much lower than would've been expected of her as a leader. Even in precarious situations like these, she seemed to maintain an air of calm, collectiveness and good etiquette. Purely looking at her face, you would never even have been able to tell that they were under attack.

“With the pleasantries aside, it would serve you well to come along and evacuate this facility. Feel free to follow me until we meet some other shinobi from Iwagakure.”

---

Sayuri nodded as the Amekage agreed with her, and before she was finished with the movement her ears were ringing and the Amekage was supporting a concrete pillar with both of her hands. She utilized her hiden technique and Sayuri swallowed a bit of fear. She was first shown that technique in complete secrecy. She was never to reveal it to anyone, let alone know about it in general. But it had been a wonderful tool for training against. It was a tool that was unrivaled in training a prodigy’s Taijutsu and Byakugan simultaneously.

Seeing it now, here like this made it clear to Sayuri that this was officially real. She grabbed Kaito and helped the young boy to his feet. She scanned the area and hurried out of the quickly collapsing room, following Yogensha’s lead. As the elder Amegakure Kunoichi let go of the pillar and prepared the scene of the crime. Impaling her kimono on rebar.

She glanced back at Sayuri and nodded at the girl.

“My lady, I’ll find a route to the nearest defensible point.” There were many specifications that would be necessary, cover, water, and preferably far from the village as it was as of yet the epicenter of the attacks.

“Byakugan.” She uttered calmly, as if in a trace. Veins extended from her temples towards her eyes, her vision immediately expanded as her perspective widened to include everything within a twelve kilometer radius. The streets were in panic and chaos, if a fight broke out there they wouldn’t be able to get away in the panic of civilians and Yogensha’s technique would most likely be revealed. So the rooftops. The nearest location that offered coverage from the village with potential for water was the Forest of Death. She could see just about half of the forest from their current position. That meant they were twelve kilometers between them and safety.

She deactivated her Byakugan scanning around for anyone who may’ve witnessed her use it. But there wasn’t anyone in sight and Yogensha was ready to depart. She helped Kaito out of the room, but found the boy had a fine time getting around by himself for the most part. Still she offered herself for support as clearly the area was not stable.

“My lady, we can proceed on the rooftops to the outskirts of the village, take the main road to the Forest of Death where we can find a defensible location, should that be the course of action you’d like to take.” She said, not looking directly at the Kage but scanning the area for enemies.

They continued on towards their newest recruit a blonde girl that was also in the medical wing. Sayuri did not pay much heed to the girl. She was being groomed since she had met the Yogensha to be her personal guard, she was going to do that job from this point forward. While the Kage bowed to the girl in the room, Sayuri made sure that no one would be able to get to her back awaiting the new girl to join them or not.

She glanced to Kaito and nodded, they knew when it was time to act. Kaito was a proud young man but he wasn’t stupid by any means. He knew that this was a situation that would require her to act should she be required. Kaito was injured, she leaned him against the wall and assumed a stance that would allow her to act should she be required to.

---

---

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."

---

---

---

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.

---

---

---

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.



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?

---

---

---

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.

---

---

Even Kamui couldn't help but frown as the two teams approached each other, deeply displeased by no one but two facts: Kurin seemingly sent his other teammate away - for it was quite the peaceful exchange when seem by Kamui's abnormally keen sensor technique - and the annoying bird that he previously detected seemingly vanished... Or not. It didn't take even 3 seconds for Kamui's abnormal sensory technique to detect that the Hawk didn't simply flicker out of his range - for that thought would be truly absurd, considering that even his actual restricted range still covered a radius of at least 800 meters (about a tenth of his current maximum) - but simply changed into a different and fairly minimal being, pretty much confirming Kamui's guess: "it" was most certainly another one of the exam's participants.

By the time of the explosion, Kamui was already too focused in his task of surveying the small fly - for he pretty much guessed that Tsukiko, with all her animalistic persona, would choose to hunt the running shinobi - to pay attention to anything other than the carefully planned movements of the now human formed shinobi, maintaining the same emotionless face as always when he registeted the overwhelming noise and blinding light - after all, loosing the attention in the battle was too much of a beginner's mistake when an enemy was literally in front of his eyes.

As such, by the time the other Shinobi flicked away to attain a better position - taking the opportunity to pull one of his prepared Kunai - Kamui was already more than prepared and definitely pissed to the point where he didn't care about wasting chakra to humiliate the other party - for the way the other shinobi acted, carefully seeting his tools as if certain that no one would see him, definitively acted to hurt the pride of Kamui, who was regarded as a genius since the start of his shinobi career - instantly manifesting the only thing he could use to deal with this situation while the rest of his team was taking care of something else, activating his most bothersome - and most certainlt strongest - technique: Adamantine Attacking Chains.

It took roughly 2 seconds for 2 rough looking chains to shoot from his back, the first one moving to systematically intercept the Kunai who were sent towards the group - quite the easy task for Kamui, who accompanied the whole process of setting the weapons and thus already had a more than clear view of their trajectory, easily calculating how he should move the chain to block the projectiles in despite of their overwhelming speed - and the second one shooting towards the Shinobi who had set the tools, aiming to deliever a direct blow while the other party was still distracted and thinking that his attempt of confusing the battling group acted as he expected - though Kamui himself highly doubted that his confusion would take more than a moment, holding little to no faith in his capacity of ending the battle with a single blow.

@Write @Odin @Ganryu

Koma had eventually, with guidance from some medical-nin, made her way to Konohagakure's hospital. She was seen to briefly by medical staff present to treat her injuries with more than some bandages, which had soaked up a fair amount of blood by the time she actually arrived.
Her now properly treated side throbbed as she quietly sat and began to work on repairing her cloak, her uniform could wait for a while all things considered, but her cloak was an important part of how she operated as a kunoichi so it had to be restored. Otherwise Koma's belongings were all neatly set on the bedside table next to her, neatly tucked away into one of the pouches she'd managed to repair before moving onto her cloak.

Right now the girl was tired, shaky and more or less coming down from the surge of adrenaline that had kept her going for the best part of their test, part of her just wanted to sleep but she wasn't planning to rest until everything was over, or until she couldn't keep herself awake any longer.
It seemed that the former would definitely be the deciding factor on when she slept though as a blast shook the building, along with multiple other explosions within Konohagakure in it's entirety.

Koma was as unaware of what had caused the blasts as everyone else was, but she was already donning her half-repaired cloak when Yogensha, Amegakure's own kage, poked her head in and advised accompanying her out of the hospital. "I understand." Was all she said as she began to follow behind the Ame-nin that were there, she was a bit slower than she had liked to be due to pain but she certainly did her best to maintain pace with them.

With luck they'd hopefully run into some familiar faces soon, she'd at least feel a bit more comfortable if she more or less knew the people she was with. And hopefully the other Iwa-nin were either still in the forest or out of harms way.

---

Āito watched as Ayame quietly approached her and silenced the thousands of different thoughts running through her mind all at once. She awkwardly smiled at Āito and the quiet girl glanced away, blushing slightly before her entire body was struck from behind by a shockwave. The sound followed soon after, there was no doubt about it. That was a bomb.

“Actually, never mind, 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.” Her friend said.

Āito’s ears rang ever so quietly as the thunderclap of the explosion passed over her and undoubtedly resonated towards everyone else in the forest. Ayame immediately motioned for Āito to follow her as she headed for the observational building, but there was no time for that. Besides, an attack of this size was clearly a sign that this would not be a singular explosion, and sure enough a secondary shockwave made its way over them.

“Fūinjutsu: Bijutsukan.” Āito’s lips delicately muttered as her shirt’s sleeves slid down her arms making way for the phoenix animating itself from her back. It grew to a size large enough to carry both of the girls, perhaps even a third. It flapped its beautiful swirled wings, red and oranges flowed around its body as it waited for the girls to mount it. This left Aito with only two snakes and a catfish left on her person. She was most certainly in a poorly defensible state, she decided while they flew to the observational tower she would have to replenish her techniques, even if it would leave her with only three quarters of her chakra afterwards.

As Ayame and Āito got onto the bird Āito pulled her scroll from her pouch and immediately got to work painting a dragon to replenish the one she had used during the Exams. Once she had finished she cast the sealing technique on the dragon in order to seal it on her shoulder and chest as she usually did. But since her Phoenix was currently being used she could not paint a replacement. So instead she painted a Nue to go on her back where the Phoenix usually did. Sealing it as well. She could feel the effect of the painting on her chakra levels.

She knew that this was a dangerous expenditure considering they were in the middle of a warzone. But she rolled her scroll back up and placed it in her pouch, glancing at Ayame. Whoever this Ai was, she clearly meant a lot to her friend. She was shaking like a leaf in a rainstorm, though her eyes only read as composed. Still, the body had a much harder time lying. Āito gently grabbed Ayame’s hand, steadying it and gave it a small squeeze. Words were not necessary, nor would they help.

So she watched the tower closely as she approached, scanning for this ‘Ai’ or the Tsuchikage.

---

“Shizuka,” Sakana repeated after Kurin. “Kiku.” Those would be important names to remember, in case he'd ever have to work with them. Apparently, they turned on their heels and ran at the first opportunity, leaving behind them team. And with the scrolls, even. “I have to wonder how you let that happen, since you're not wounded at all.” It was peculiar and slightly suspicious, so Sakana had no quarrel with leaving him to Usagi. Better to clean him up than to simply ignore him. In fact, he almost opted to help her, and was about to perform Hien, to make his two knives even more dangerous. But something came in the way - something unexpected that he expected would halt Usagi just as well as it halted Sakana.

In the flash of an instant, things happened, and Sakana's eyes visibly moved left to right, his discernible and obvious yellow pupils in the black eyes being all but subtle. His mind worked quickly, analyzing what had happened, and then spotting the chains coming from behind - Kamui, no doubt - and towards a tree. He didn't waste a moment, making his conclusions quickly with the assumption that Kamui would not act without reason. Reason being for that was that Sakana could only presume that Kamui was expert at his job of being a sensory nin. In the flash of an instant, Sakana sheathed his two knives and performed a series of handseals, inhaling deeply in the process. “Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!” he proclaimed before exhaling, spewing forth a highly condensed stream of fire from his mouth towards the tree that the chains had moved towards.

Although he was only using a limited amount of chakra, it should be clear that Sakana was not playing games at that moment. The limited amount of chakra, however, did mean that the attack was not as powerful as it could have been had he maxed out the chakra input. Rather, the fire connected with the tree and lit it on fire near instantaneously, as the fire spread in a wide angle as was customary for great fire annihilation. There was room for escape, surely, but with the way the fire spread, simply moving to a different tree would not cover the escape this time, because they too would be scorched and lit ablaze soon enough.

When Sakana was convinced that it had been enough, he released the final handseal and returned to a ready position, facing towards Kurin as the fire continued to burn in the direction that Koutaku had been in. “I guess your teammate returned, after all. We could've been reasonable. Instead you tried to double cross us.” Now, it should be realized, that there was no way for Sakana to know that the person he had just attacked was in fact not Jaakuna, nor Kiku, nor Shizuka. He simply was lead to assume that it was just another teammate of this guy.

With the fire raging in the forest, it also meant that a pillar of smoke would soon rise up above them, almost like an invitation card for the other teams that said 'come get us here'. They'd have to act fast if they were to avoid that trouble. It seemed that, in the midst of combat, the sound of the explosion in the distance towards Konohagakure were less obvious than to those in more silent areas of the forest.

---

Ginsho was quite wary of the proposition made by the Tsuchikage regarding taking down the great evil known as seijuro. There were two things that stood in the way of this endeavor. Primarily, while Kazayatsu was a good friend, Ginsho was unsure of the man as a whole. Being very saintly didn’t tarnish his ability to read people and to know when he was going to be played. But most importantly the last time he faced the evil puppet master with the three legendary Sanin, he let his guard down and let his best friend die in order to save his worthless life. The memory was still encapsulated in his mind, “I appreciate the sentiment, Lord Tsuchikage, but I’ll have to respectfully decline. I have unfinished business with this monster and I need to accomplish it alone. I know how foolish it sounds, but I have not let these odd sum years go without necessary evolution in my abilities” a sudden glimmer coated his eyes revealing a slight flicker of indomitable strength.

“Yes let’s go, but I would like you two to watch over the exam while I hunt him down. For the children’s sake.” Before they could do anything, their planning had been interrupted by the interjection of a new guest. The young Kunoichi from the Hidden Rock had entered the observation deck with them, it seemed she had enough of the test and withdrew early to watch and enjoy the hospitality. Ginsho a bit thrown off guard couldn’t help but to feel a little pressured to shoo her away with such a task at hand. “Hmmm? Ahh yes….well I’d like to say all the ninjas partaking in the second portion of the exam are winners in their own right, as are you and the rest of the ninja who decided to withdraw. A perfect ninja isn’t made over night. I assure you all your values and morals will be tested and assessed when the time comes, the opportunity to become Jonin with it.” Ginsho was good at feigning ignorance and speaking courteously when cornered, his poker face would win him enough hands in poker.

“Now if you excus---“ The hokage only managing to begin his sentence when an eerily dangerous feeling curtailing his speech patterns. Quickly without second thought, Ginsho moved into Namine before putting his singular palm up in the appearance of prayer. A large explosion rocked the entire foundations of the observatory room engulfing the area around it including the medical wing Yogensha had traveled to. A massive (think urahara’s bankai) human like archangel appeared with its beautiful white wings wrapped around Namine and Ginsho with its beautifully master crafted shield etched with a large cross. The force of the explosion had still rang through his ears creating white noise, the same noise he was familiar with when he first lost his arm in an explosion on the battlefield. His phantom pain once again ravenously biting into his nerves.

Undoing his prayer the angel seemed to fade away into a glimmer of sparkles before completely dissipating. Ginsho was finally able to see the aftermath of the explosion; the limp body of a chunin who had suffered a metal pole burrowed inside his head. It was a gruesome scene, enough for someone who was green behind the ears to puke and turn tail. Unfortunately, Ginsho was all too close to the sultry dance of war and death, his body stank of it. “Namine go with Kazayatsu, find anyone who’s hurt, find the Amekage. I have unfinished business.” Ginsho turned to a weak wall and with the point of a finger a golden holy light shot out and vaporized the wall. Sprinting through, Ginsho was gone into the forest of death, his focus now on finding the monster who did this.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---

The Jonin exam had gone on for far too long, it seemed like the young shinobi we’re out of their neck of the woods. Some of them were injured from the previous exam and now with the ushering in of combat with each other it was just too perfect of a scene for them to pass up. The explosion was the signal and stage two was about to begin. Good thing that sly fox had kept his end of the bargain, he was waning in his loyalty and a half assessed ninja since his rebirth. Regardless it was time for the predators to go hunting. One shadowy figure appeared at the entrance of the forest, while the other had set himself up on the other side. The explosion had already engulfed most of the forest area towards the north so there was plenty of chaos and confusion to keep them all distracted.



A wall of thousands of sharks surrounded the outer circle of the 10 km forest raining down on the land below ensnaring anyone caught in the fall out. Elsewhere one could see a man with the daunting stature of 6 feet and 11 inches spewing copious amounts of water from his mouth creating crushing waves at an attempt to cover the whole area before him. Although this was no regular man, this was Sano of the Blood Mist, not a man, but a shark. On the opposite ends of the forest Havoc was hovering quite comfortably in the air for all to see. A not so incredibly large man just floating with an umbrella keeping him perched up top. The sharks collided with the earth before he made his descent close to the forest floor. With one hand Havoc released an explosive repulsive force destroying the earth and pulverizing the trees around him in a 4 km radius before he made landfall ready for the fun to begin.

---

Ai listened carefully to the Tsuchikage's gratitude at the peace they were enjoying. She supposed it was true. The Hokage also chipped in, though his words seemed a bit more absentminded. Still, the fact she got a response from either of the two rather than a swift boot was more than a little reassuring. Not that Ai had a hint of nervousness. Ai did what she wanted, and that was the end of it. She had no clan she was loyal to, and she WANTED to serve her village, so there was no one she was really compelled by.

Still, Ai's whimsical nature didn't mean she didn't care, and the next few seconds cemented it. The building exploded, and it was only by her Tsuchikage that she was saved. Looking outside the rock protection, she saw a chunnin brutally killed, and was immediately dizzy. Stumbling, she immediately jumped to orders. She didn't need a repeat of her actions. Ayame was someone she wanted to see anyways. Especially in this chaos. But Aito... but Ayame... but, but...Orders, right. Still, dizzily looking back, she stared at the Tsuchikage's eyes.

"Now I owe you two favors. Don't go kicking the bucket before I get to pay them back now!"

And Ai was gone in a flurry of papers. There was no time to dally more than that. It was a weird feeling, it felt like she was scattered into many different pieces. It had taken Ai a while to get used to the feeling, but now it felt like she was unbound. She wasn't a horrified chunnin in the middle of battle, she was paper, just paper.

Finding Ayame and Aito hadn't been too difficult, which was great as Ai didn't have the best chakra reserve at the best of time. She started to form together on the tail end of the bird. Before she even finished gathering she spoke.

"We're under attack! They just attacked the kages. Oh yeah, Tsuchikage said to stay away." Ai wthen rapped herself around Ayame, "Ayame! I'm so glad to see you're alright!" She then offered a hand to Aito from the hug. "I'm Ai Kabe, nice to meet you."

Before she could address the elephant in the room, Aito a sharknado appeared. Ai had seen a movie like it before, but seeing it as a ninja was terrifying. None of her jutsu could stop large area ninjutsu. Normally Ai just darted too fast to be hit with them. She yelled.

"Ayame, Aito! Shark at 12 o'clock."



Kaito grimmaced at his leader's lesson. It was utterly embarrassing having her here with him. She should be celebrating his triumphs, not teaching him in defeat. Still, she was commanding enough to demand an answer. Biting his lip, he obliged.

"What I learned is to hit faster. Not being quick on my feet was my main problem. I should have commanded him to drop weapons and retreat, not to give up. Tch. Freakin' Hyu-"

And Sayuri was here too. Kaito flushed red (though he didn't refuse the dango), and wore a snarl, but he politely bowed before the two. Still, at least they'd come. Kaito was less mad at them(though being terrified of the Amekage, he couldn't be 'mad'), and more at himself. He took a deep breath.

"Well, trust me, I won't be embarrassing us again. A shadow really doesn't do well in the limelight I suppose, but I had to try it, just once. I'll earn the Jonin rank the old fashion way. And-"

Suddenly the room exploded. Kaito's life flashed before his eyes. In a rather quick motion, the Amekage protected him, and Sayuri had him out of bed. It looked like she'd grown two extra arms. It was a technique he'd never seen or heard of.

Interesting, so the Hidden Rain has hidden techniques too. I'll be sure to add to them.

As she asked him to forget what he saw, a grin flashed on his face despite the situation.

"What never happened? I just woke up after all."

Kaito still moved to the best of his abilities, dashing through the collapsing hospital. He snarled at the corpse of a nurse as they passed. It was hard to tell. Wasn't like he was particularly attached to morals, but attacking a hospital? There wasn't even a point in it other than cruelty, and that made for a poor reason. A ninja should be efficient. Whoever this was was inefficient. They picked up another ninja on their way out, Kaito was at least happy they were curt.

AS they made their way out, Kaito stopped to lean against a wall, Sayuri helping him to it. His lungs were on fire.

"Amekage, if I might be so bold, please take that ninja with you rather than me. I'm not too mobile at the moment. Still, genjutsu tends to work no matter the condition of the body. Of course, your wish is my command, but please let me stay. I have the oddest feeling you'll manage, milady."

He groaned a bit. Son of a .... Kaito was definitely regretting a few things right now. Kaito had just assumed pure skill would win out, and it was more worth his time to work on his jutsu than study obscure enemy jutsu on the offchance they had it. He really regretted it right now. He glanced at Sayuri.

"And, Sayuri, after this, fill me in on your eye."

---

Yogensha's mind calculated every single option presented to her by her protege and assistant and within a second had an answer ready. Her speed of thinking was “None of Amegakure's students are in the forest of death. I don't think it is a coincidence that whoever attacked us decided to do it on this day. Whoever or whatever is behind this, they are surely to be found in that forest too. Although charging towards the danger seems like a fine idea any other day of the week, I think we should pass just this once.”

Shrewd as she may have been, she was not entirely stupid. She would not throw her life away in favour of the Tsuchikage or Hokage either. In fact, under the same circumstances she would've escaped the fight to retreat and re-arrange her thoughts to formulate a new strategy. It seemed that that was out of the question now that they had picked up an Iwagakure nin as backup. Though Yogensha was calculating and cold when needed due to her pragmatic approach to leadership, she was not so cruel as to leave this new girl to her fate as they ran away back to Amegakure. “Sayuri, map a route to the highest point in this village. I want to feel the same breeze I can feel when I stand atop my residence in Amegakure.”

It was the truth, although Sayuri would have troubles finding a building that reached as high as her own residence. Amegakure was renowned for it's tall buildings and towers that seemed to reach into the sky endlessly, with smoke bellowing from each and every one of them as the industry roared. Yogensha's residence was the highest of them all - an apt vantage point, and a good place to meditate. But, the tallest building would have to suffice. It mattered very little that neither the Tsuchikage or the Hokage were going to be at that precise building.

They would prepare to leave, with the team being a topnotch team of Amegakure nin and a stand-in Iwagakure nin. But Kaito had a different idea, it seemed, as he proposed to stay behind. Of course, normally, she would have denied such a request. It was unthinkable for her to abandon her students in the face of a threat. But Kaito was right - he was limited in his mobility and there were places where he would've been better off. She glanced away from the group, diverting her eyes as she weighed the options, before looking back. She sighed deeply before speaking up about his suggestion. “If the Sage of the Six Paths wills it. Very well. But I will ask you to divert your attention to a new goal I am setting for you.”

She paused, either for dramatic effect or to decide on how to word things. Even when the hospital was, quite literally, crumbling around her, she still seemed to find times to word things eloquently or in a motivational manner. Then, her voice boomed. “I hereby declare this hospital to be part of Amegakure! I am annexing this hospital!” Her eyes turned serious, and she looked at Kaito as if she was imparting him with a mission that would either safe or destroy Amegakure. “Remember the Amegakure code. In the defense of Amegakure we give everything. The defense of this hospital is now your sole purpose!” She was right - the utmost loyalty and sacrifice was expected from Amegakure shinobi in the defense of their land, their country, their people. And now she had officially ordained the hospital as part of Amegakure, effectively annexing it. Normally, an act of war. Now, a sign of preparedness to defend the innocent people that were stuck in the hospital. Effectively, Kaito was now ordained to give everything, even his life, to defend this 'piece of Amegakure.'

She gave a firm, astute nod at the boy, before turning around and heading for the hole at the far end of the hallway. Sayuri and Koma were expected to follow, and then Sayuri would be given charge of leading them through a safe path to the highest point of the city. “Sayuri,” Yogensha spoke to her, hushing her voice slightly as she surveyed the area around them. Her eyes spoke of alertness, though her body spoke calm and peace. “Make sure to avoid places where we might be ambushed. I get the feeling that whoever did this will probably hang around. And if you can locate the Tsuchikage or other Iwagakure nin...” She glanced back at Koma, who was a bit away from her and Sayuri, before continuing.. “Please inform our friend here to their location. She deserves to fight side by side with her fellow Iwagakure nin.”