---

"That would explain potential interest in the area. Perhaps he is desperately trying to replicate that fairy tale as well. If that is all we have to go on ..."

Not exactly pleased to be working with such a broad field when the objective of this mission was quite precise: Gather whatever they could on Kinsei. Maybe this big bean plant was what he had been using to produce the epidemic, or maybe it was one of his sick experiments. It was still somewhat little to work with though it fit the natural curiosity they were to expect from the New Continent. It was oddly barren beyond this abnormal patch of marshlands. Yuhi's explanation had at least served to enlighten the inspector to a certain degree, and it was received with mild interest.

Blue eyes remained focused on the 'objective', if it truly even was one. Until the genjutsu occurred and Nagi's little experimentation followed suit. Genjutsu confirmed with a slight relapse to reality. Disorientation gone and a clear acknowledgement of her impaired trajectory. Half a second later, and the vertigo-inducing artificial distance was brought back. The Genjutsu had returned and did not seem to be relenting anytime soon.

The next part of her experiment came with the 'taste' of the environment which yielded a new curiosity altogether. The foul air, the agitated and corrupt soil excreting an abnormal amount of energy. Something akin to steam was being belched out of the marshy earth. Being the only true oddity she could sniff out, Nagi concluded that at least SOME part of the bizarre occurrences were due to the unique behavior of the land. This wasn't enough to fully deduce that big plant's influence on the whole territory and how genjutsu was produced from the soil, or what sensory medium was utilized to induce them. Was it through breathing? Smell? Sight? Did it enter through their pores? A lot of questions, all of which based off more conjecture. Nagi did not like to guess and wildly deduce. It felt unprofessional. But in the land of the unknown, it may be the only valid thought process she'd have.

The Shinrikyo did not have to ponder this problem for too long as she could the feel a shift in activity. Sensory wasn't a true option, so detecting the actual abnormal units wasn't a thing, but like most skilled warriors, one could take notice of new presences. Especially when there was a considerable amount focus on you over the rest of the team. Considering sound and sight was completely hampered by the Genjutsu, and likely even more, Nagi could only stand still, defensively. Her black coat serving as a closed veil around her body as her posture remained stiff.

"Kai."

She whispered, freeing herself from the Genjutsu for another half a second. Enough for someone of her level to immediately assess what was going on around her. Circled by wolf-like critters. Two behind her, one pretty close to her flank and two behind her. A herd of dogs collaborating to have a meal. She had also noticed that she had indeed received the bulk of the assault before drowning back into the disorienting genjutsu. Senses were topsy turvy, but that was fine. Wolves were hunters that needed to get close. And Nagi so happened to specialized in this sort of approach.

The first assault would be from a beast behind her, and the one on her flank. The effects of the illusion had made it far too difficult to predict, ending up with her right shoulder bitten with the dog latched onto her and the second one gnawing on her left forearm. Or that' what she thought, until the genjutsu would reveal its effects on the sense of touch as well. Her body staggered in reaction to this, though the inspector was quick to notice the lack of any sort of injury as her healing factor failed to react. Odd.

But then it'd actually occur, the exact sequence of dog attacks, albeit inverted in terms of left and right. Now she felt it, and the pain would shrug off the genjutsu for around the same time as a 'Kai'. It was enough of course. Her right arm was immobilized by one of them, so the left one would do. It was also limited by having the shoulder area compromised, but it wasn't enough to stop Nagi from flexing her elbow and having her hand reach for the nape of the wolf. A small squeeze of her fingers and his head would be successfully disconnected from his now napped spine. Pressure from the jaw halted, allowing the inspector to regain full movement. She did not let go of the now killed off dog, however. No, it was going to be her weapon for today. Pulled over her shoulder and with that fluid would descend the cadaver down like a hammer onto the second creature that had been gnawing her opposing forearm. Needless to say, its spine ended up in a similar start to its lupine brother.

By then, the bizarre ringing echoes were easy to notice for Nagi. Given she was literally swinging one of the animals around like a toy. The following beat down was quick, with the first wolf's body used as her only weapon to pulverize the rest. Finishing with the final one being launched into the air by the sheer force of the blast.

"Always been more of a cat person, anyway."

A small crack of her neck followed the compulsory witty comment, as both her shoulder and forearm started to release a small amount of steam. It was brief, and the wounds were not deep whatsoever given the layers she wore as her apparel. Her dog-toy was still dragged around, its bones and tendons almost completely snapped and broken in their entirety after the ceaseless hammering that followed.

The genjutsu was still active it seemed, even though it shifted to something a bit more 'visible'. Her teammates could now be seen and heard, which would bring Nagi to notice not only the big ugly monstrosity, but some of her teammates just leaving.

"Bringing nerds here before us, what kind of fuckin' i- What in the bloody heavens are you doing?"

Her head turned to face her supposedly fleeing comrades. Yuhi supposed her could diffuse this whole situation by himself and rushed away while Blue boy had been distracted by some flower? It wouldn't be long before he'd vanish by the effects of the Genjutsu or something else. No matter what their logic was, Nagi had been quickly infuriated by this undesired seize of initiative. Teeth gritting, she'd barely notice the giant fucking stone hurled at her direction, and by extension, Izuku's as well.

"Fucking off when a literal piece of shit is emerging ..."

Her still steaming forearm would be violently poked by her opposite hand, causing a certain degree of pain to course through her body. This allowed Nagi to gain a little clarity in this genjutsu so could actually handle this shower of stone without some sort of tomfoolery happening in the process. With her target in sight, she would immediately point her index finger toward the boulder and fire a red laser-like beam. It's strength wasn't enough to fully pierce the whole thing, no. But it dug a neat, clean hole to greet her second, charged shot. Considering whack speed tiers, reacting to a big-ass rock was rather normal. The charged beam would penetrate through the hole and explode once it'd hit the dead-end. The goal was to have the whole thing explode from within, rather than outside, for better results.

"... Oh you all better start hiding, 'cause I am one UNHAPPY Nagi!"

She wailed over her explosion, Nagi's anger-induced voice echoing as loud as the big kaboom, because anime epicness. Debris was easily dispatched and avoided. Nagi Shinrikyo was more interested in showering the mud monster with a barrage of her red beams. Most of them as strong as ninja tools with a 'burning' effect added, with the occasional explosive going along with them. It served to not only blow off steam, but also test the behemoth in general. The damage it took, its reactions, how the mud factor came into play and if the genjutsu was still going to mess with them.

@Hillan @Aeolian @Reflection @Syn

An attendant for the briefing approached the VTOL and Squad 2 as they were boarding in order to depart and briefly eyed each of them up, they gave a low sigh, as if out of mild frustration before speaking. "Unfortunately, Arata Kaguya has fallen ill and wont be joining you on your mission, he wishes you the best of luck and apologizes for any trouble caused." The attendant bowed to the group before making haste to get out of the endless rain, clearly even an umbrella wasn't enough for him to be happy with being outside.

Of course with the news that Arata wasn't on the team anymore the VTOL pilot informed the group that they would be departing immediately now that everyone who was actually going was present.

Within the VTOL with the team was a small assortment of food and medical supplies, as well as some flashlights and a large portable light, just in case the mission lasted long enough for night to come. Any inquisitive souls who kept watch to see where exactly they were headed would spot two of the crafts splitting off in opposing directions, at this point there was nothing of note on the ground to use as a landmark, a couple of dead trees perhaps, maybe a hill or two but nothing significant.
A slight tilt in the passenger cabin told all present that they were starting to veer from the path the rest of the squads were taking, steadily a large hill was coming into view in the distance, the closer the VTOL got the more anyone watching would see that it was no hill.

It was a monumentally-sized dome, segmented glass panels once crystal clear that were now clouded and dark, from here they could see that it was at least a couple of kilometres wide at the base. Fortunately from above it appeared to be intact, once they landed the dome seemed to be impossibly huge for anything to be considered structurally sound yet here it stood, containing goodness knows what.

The VTOL had landed in front of a building, one small door on the front and windows dotted around here and there as one would expect any old building to be constructed, had it not been for the dome that it was connected to one could mistake it for a person's home. There was something off about the scene, once the VTOL's engines had turned off and come to a full stop there wasn't a sound to be heard from within the building.

Both Tapo and Eita, with their relatively enhanced perceptions when it came to sight, could just about make out something moving through the clouded glass of the dome. There was no way to tell what exactly, but there was something in there that had noticed their arrival.

For now though they were safe enough. "We've been instructed to wait here for you guys to return, we'll keep our lights on and watch the horizon for anything coming your way from out here. So, uhh... Good luck, right?"



What stood between them and the truth of what was inside now was a simple door, it would have no trouble being opened by hand as it wasn't locked and beyond that threshold a wave of stale air would billow out. Inside was an empty lobby, furnished with uniformly boring decor and the occasional water fountain or vending machine, signs at the back of the room pointed off one way that said Laboratory and another labelled Residential

Between the two signs there was a set of reinforced double doors, a sign above it stated Wildlife Reserve.

Really it was quite bland in here, though if anyone were to look at their PDAs they would see that the tracker bug was on the move within the confines of the "Reserve". Anything following this moment was entirely up to whomever decided to take charge, really.

If Erika were to use her sensing technique to find out if anything else was nearby, she'd pick up on a large number of signatures within the dome's limits and the chakra within them was undesirable to say the least, a more suitable phrase would be that they were absolutely disgusting to even feel the presences of such a foreign chakra. It was impossible at the moment to tell what the signatures belonged to, but some of the signatures were smaller and some were larger than the average human's chakra signature.

Miyu Tachibana - Squad 3

Miyu did smile at Homuru's offer. That would be nice. Underneath, she was starting to get a bit stressed at how fast everything was going, but not everything could be planned. There were bound to be surprises, and her village trusted her, just like her teammate's villages trusted them. Her stress spiked as they made their way down the chasm. All the way down the rope Miyu cursed.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit..."

Miyu hadn't mentioned one tiny little thing about herself to her teammates. She might have an item for any situation, but she didn't have but a single small jutsu to her name, so if the rope ended, getting to the bottom would be a little bit difficult. Thankfully, as their was enough rope, though 3/4 kilometers of cursing probably wasn't doing so well. Miyu landed gracefully enough though. She immediately got to work scanning the area. Something bothered her, and she didn't know what it was. It wasn't just rushing into the situation that was doing her in... It felt like she was lacking something. She looked through the metal a bit before it hit. Miyu sat down in a meditative stance for a second.

"Guys, there isn't any natural energy down here. I don't know what that means, but that kinda worries me. I'm sure we'll be fine though, I just might have to rely on you all a little more. I still have my tools though."

Then an earthquake hit, Miyu cursing again to it. What was up with today? New squad, new area, new type of mission, new dangerous environment. Still, just disadvantages, nothing too big yet. Static on her PDA hit, with Miyu sighing.

She pressed the talk button.

"Can't hear you. We can't hear you. Repeat, we an't hear you. Over."

She doubted any would get through, but communication was important. Even lack of it was something to be reported. Just another setback.

"Homuru up front with me in case we need to block the entrance and get out of here sharpish. Tachibana, Uragiri, keep an eye on the entrance as we head in."

Miyu nodded.

"Understood, I'll watch the entrance from our rear. Nothing too bad's happened so far, might as well go all in, I don't fail."

Miyu turned, keeping the light behind them, scanning specifically to the high.

---

He has a bomb on his chest. Koko couldn’t get over that fact, even when they were all silently sitting in the VTOL and the air had a restricted calmness about it. Koko thinks this might be what resignation feels like. She crossed her legs and leant back into her seat, resting her head on her hand and staring out the window. Koko was careful not to let the irritation spread across her face when she continued to ponder over the fact that Sakana is a literal walking bomb.

Though, Koko understands the concept in theory – a big fuck you to whoever kills you, hopefully, but Koko was a close range fighter and if she had to go head to head with an enemy, she’d be the closest to Sakana. This isn’t to take into account that Koko also would not be able to use her airborne poison as it would affect Sakana as well, unless she was willing to show her cards to him. His nasty little explosive really was a gamechanger for Koko – before, she couldn’t care less whether a little friendly fire occurred and some of her foreign teammates inhaled a little bit of her poison. However, if Sakana’s reflexes are dulled, he’s that more likely to get his throat slit and his body obliterated – her with it.

There was no need to panic yet, or at all, really. All Koko needed was a plan. From the corner of her eyes, she regarded her three teammates thoughtfully. Koko hates teams – she works better solo.

Before facing combat situations, Koko needs to find out the radius and power of the seal. Then, if it looks like Sakana is losing, she can jump ship far away enough. For now, she’ll hold back on her use of Jōryū ni Suiei, to prevent his combat from becoming sloppy and his death inevitable. Priority wise, she’ll have to protect Sakana way before she protects the other two – while keeping her distance and letting him die sooner rather than later was the easier situation, it wouldn’t look good on her skills and his seal could come in handy later if there is an enemy they can’t defeat.

Koko’s thoughts were interrupted by the current bane of her existence remarking on the mission. Koko bit her tongue from replying, as she knew whatever would come out would be considered impolite and Koko wasn’t in the mood to expose her cavalier personality to the others. It always caused distrust and wariness towards her when her borderline sociopathic attitude towards other humans is revealed. It’s much easier to fall in line and act like others want her to.

Koko offered an insincere smile to Sakana in answer to his bleak suicide mission statement.

It was while Koko was searching for something socially acceptable and bland to say that the VTOL started to shake. Almost on instinct, chakra burst to Koko’s feet to keep her planted in her spot rather than be tossed around like a ragdoll. Sakana jumped from the VTOL almost immediately, calling for everyone to follow after him. Koko just prayed he didn’t die already, that would be such an inconvenience – though, he would die all the way down there while they’re all the way up here.

Either way, Koko didn’t have much choice but to place her trust in him. While she had some jutsu at her disposal, ninjutsu was always taxing on her reserves and she was reluctant to use it so early on in the mission. Taking a leap of faith – if she really needed to, Koko could pull out a jutsu midair to save her hide – the redhead followed after Sakana.

The air rushed past her ears and her straw hat slipped off her head, the only thing keeping her from losing it was the black string that strained against her neck. The string began bruising her throat and, reluctantly, Koko swiped the hat off her head to grasp it in a death grip. Being strangled by her own hat was a hell of a way to go. The ground approached all too soon and Koko’s pliable body tucked and rolled until she was sitting on Sakana’s platform with her legs stretched out, her face flushed.

The platform began to lower after Shinji’s and Miyako’s landing and Koko took the time to regard her teammates’ health. Shinji seemed to be fine, as well as Miyako, but Sakana had injured his ankle. Without getting up and personal, Koko could tell it wasn’t a break – perhaps a pretty bad sprain at worst, a fracture at best.

Koko studied medicine, only to know how poisons would best effect the body, but she knew the basics. While Koko had the mystical palm technique in her arsenal, she wasn’t confident in using it and she rather not aggravate the injury in the middle of a mission with unknown circumstances. They very well could be in danger right now – fuck, Koko didn’t bring a first aid kit.

“We need to compress that ankle, Sakana, or it’ll get worse.” Koko said loudly, adjusting her hat back on her head. She turned to Miyako, their current designated leader, though Koko uses that term loosely. “We should wrap Sakana’s ankle before we find shelter. Walking will only injure him further and slow us down.”

Koko began to unwrap the bandages around her wrists, for lack of a better current option at the moment. With the bandages in a cluster in her lap, Koko grabbed Sakana’s ankle and began to wrap it quickly and clumsily. She didn’t even bother asking for permission to manhandle him; they were in a tense situation and this needed to be done quickly, before anything else goes wrong. If he protested, Koko ignored it. After she was done, Koko sat back onto her heels and surveyed her work. It wasn’t medic-nin level of neat, but it was satisfactory enough to provide enough compression to prevent further injury.

Koko could only hope that they would find more bandages for her to wrap her wrist with later – she felt awfully naked without her wrists protected.

---

"Homuru up front with me in case we need to block the entrance and get out of here sharpish. Tachibana, Uragiri, keep an eye on the entrance as we head in."

Jinzo acknowledged Boshu's order without a word, moving forward cautiously whilst peering into the seemingly endless abyss that was the large, metallic tunnel. He was happy that Boshu had decided to take charge. If it were any of the others, he might not have been able to concentrate fully on the mission, or so he'd thought. The recent earthquake had been somewhat of a wake-up call for him, tearing Jinzo from his thoughts of group cohesion and the earlier exchanges forcing him to focus on the now. This was happening, regardless of first impressions.

As Miyu agreed to watch the rear, Jinzo pushed further forward. So far the mission seemed rather straightforward; follow the signal, which led them deeper into the tunnel. And so deeper he would go, without fear of course. His measured footsteps echoed down the tunnel, making stealth an unlikely option but he tried to remain as silent as he could with each step. Something was bothering him, however. Whilst he hadn't entirely been listening when Miyu had mentioned the lack of Natural Energy, it was something that stuck in his mind now.

"Something seems off." He whispered, opting not to explain further, before carefully moving towards the edge of the tunnel.

Where the metallic floor eventually began to curve upwards to form the wall, Jinzo stopped to place his left palm against it. He closed his eyes for a moment, attempting to knead his chakra into the tunnel itself, before gently speaking. "Onyx Crystal Mirror."

After a moment, the dull grey of the tunnel began to turn to a shimmering black, as a section of the metal around his hand transformed into crystal. The process seemed to take longer than usual but besides that, nothing else was inherently noticeable. Satisfied with his test, Jinzo dispelled the Jutsu, causing the crystallized area to slowly revert back to it's original state.

He then returned back to the front of the group alongside Boshu, giving her a sidewards glance. "I just wanted to check."

Kinzo Uragiri

^{Raijin Dynasties | Chunin | Squad 3}

---

The briefing had passed by relatively quickly for Kinzo. The presenter had been matter of fact and straight to the point with the information that the assembled shinobi needed in order to successfully carry out their missions. He knew that for some the fact that they were not the only team tracking their target would create either a sense of competition or disappointment. Neither were felt within him, it didn’t matter that his squad was not the only one with these mission parameters. The only thing of importance was that the mission is completed as well as the overarching goal. Finding the man who betrayed the entirety of the Elemental Nations and find information on the plague he had unleashed.

With the conclusion of the briefing Kinzo joined the rest of his squad as they headed towards their assigned VTOL. As Miyu spoke to him he gave her a slight smile and nodded his head, she took off fast enough that he didn’t have much of a chance to reply verbally. Not that he had much to say in response to that anyway. Instead he continued at his normal pace until he finally was within arms reach of the aircraft.

He settled into one of the seats, glancing towards Miyu as they looked over their supplies. It made sense she would busy herself with such an activity. As she had told them, she had something for every occasion. It only stood to reason that she would want to ensure that they were as well supplied as they possibly could be.

---

The flight took less time than he had anticipated, though this wasn’t a shock given that he was still growing accustomed to the high levels of technology he was experiencing. Prior to leaving the Dynasties on this mission he had known they weren’t as advanced as the other nations but he never imagined just how extreme the difference was. Even the briefing had proved this as they hadn’t been able to acquire any additional intel from the attack in the Dynasties due to how backwater they were.

His attention was pulled towards Boshu as she spoke to the squad, a quick nod was his response to let her know he had heard. He had no issue that she was taking control. They needed a leader and it certainly wasn’t going to be him. It wouldn’t have mattered if it was one of the other two either. Even if Miyu was younger than him she was still a higher rank.

Kinzo waited patiently as the other three began rappelling down until he finally began his own descent, following close behind the third squad member out of the VTOL. While climbing down the crevice he occasionally shifted to using only a single hand, the other brushing against the strange blend between natural rock and those metals and stone appearing to have been altered by someone. It was a curiosity, but there was nothing he could glean from it and for the time unimportant to the mission at large.

Once they were all on the ground he took a moment to take in the surroundings. Aside from the fact that even more of the area seemed to have been crafted for a purpose the only thing of note was a tunnel at the far side from his squad. He was grateful when Boshu issued the command for him and Miyu to remain outside. He had a couple of shorter ranged techniques but in the tunnel he would risk harming his comrades. Out here with the Kiri nin he could let loose without nearly as much concern if it became needed.

Again his thoughts were interrupted as the ground shook beneath him. He quickly channeled chakra to his feet to ensure he remained stable and once the earthquake passed he looked at his squadmates to see their condition. As everyone was alright he focused on the task at hand once more.

With Miyu covering the entrance they had entered from he turned his focus toward the tunnel. If anything happened he knew it would be on him to ensure that Boshu and Homuru were not flanked from this side. While the two Iwa Jonin were beginning to head towards the tunnel he closed the distance a bit so that he was halfway between the entrance to the tunnel and Miyu.

---

With the quake passed, the worst that would have occurred would be some dust befalling our heroes. They were fine. Their caution was wise as well, given how even with a flare there wouldn't seem to be an end to this 'tunnel'. Outside there would be nothing coming either other than the subtle buzzing of the hovering VTOL patiently waiting for the now disconnected squad. All they could do now is move forward and follow the tracker signal that indicated forward. The distance remained vague as signals seemed to be hampered in this area.

Natural energy wasn't completely absent, but it's lacking nature was very much noticeable. The more they progressed, the more they'd feel colder. It wasn't all that natural either, given the absence of wind and the insulating nature of deep structures such as these. Something was wrong here, an oppressive feeling that couldn't be shaken off. One that'd prompt each participant of this mission to look over their shoulders from time to time. They were not at their place, here.

It would be with Homuru's initiative that something would actually take place. His crystallization ability was applied to the surrounding environment, finding itself harder to utilize on the metals but still successful. However, as he covered a certain area of the tunnel with his chakra and thus transformed it, both Boshu and Homuru would hear the most subtle of creases. Something, somewhere inside the walls had moved in reaction to the crystal ability. And then another cracking, and another. The next one could be heard by the other two who had taken some distance to cover their backs.

And then it'd give out. The metallic floor beneath Boshu and Homuru would 'break' and cause them both to immediately fall. The speed in which this occurred would leave one wondering whether or not the piece of metal under their feet had not been removable in the first place. The duo wouldn't really need any sort of cool comeback, however, as they'd reach a solid floor eight meters under the now collapsed ceiling. A dusty, rubble-filled mess was left in the crash's wake. They were still in the dark, but as the dust would clear, they could see a few sets of blue lights on panels in various spots of the 'room'.



The more the group inspected, the more they would notice the relevant details. Rows of tracks dominated the particularly large room, with spaces at the edges that were about a meter high, designed for walking. On a couple of rows, offline vehicles that resembled trains, which they could deduce would resemble some prototypes and creations designed for non-shinobi. The design would heavily resemble some sort of hi-tech type of train, similar to a TGV to give some perspective. The squad's vision could easily adapt to the lightly illuminated sector they had fallen in.

On the areas seemingly designed as walking spaces, away from the rails, there'd be a few metallic benches with bulletin board-like structures near them. Traces of ripped off papers remained on said flat structures though with only a couple of stray piece of papers folded and covered in dirt at the corner of that specific section.

The rails all exited through one side of the room, and each exit was sealed by a metallic door. Except for one, which was completely and utterly destroyed, leaving a huge, gaping hole surrounded by boulders and rocks. The hole was completely pitch black and led nowhere in particular. Perhaps a lead, but as they would look at their PDA's, they'd notice that the 'bug' was actually nearby with more details provided in terms of distance.

At the center of this 'Terminal', attached to an intact part of the area's ceiling, would be a sort of control center surrounded by tinted glass. Accessible either by jumping or through a set of light-metal stairs nearby. The team could notice a blue colored light flashing within, strong enough to be visible behind the darkened glass. The PDA's radar was pointing at that very direction. The objective was quite clear at this point.

Still, this station would not be exempt from the unnerving sensations they had been served when they first entered the tunnel. If anything, it got worse. The complete and utter lack of any sort of presence, as minuscule as it may be, beyond their own, likely added to the stress factor of this situation.

Should they rise up and enter this somewhat narrow room that overwatched the whole 'station', they'd find an integrated computer which was the source of the flashing light. Next to the monitor, a deceased bug. The one that had been emitting the signal. The screen itself displayed characters foreign to the Shinobi, however one option in particular resembled very much the language they spoke. 'Return'. The others had some resemblance as well, as if they were some sort of very distant dialect of the Shinobi Continent's main communication means.

They could fiddle with the machine if they wished, perhaps it'd be insightful? But in the end, this seemed to be their current goal and they had to figure it out before some el- ...

Another, weaker tremor.

As Yuhi fluttered off towards the tree, he’d find the opening hidden carefully by some near-dead leaves, conveniently placed at the bottom part of the tree to allow for easy access. Once Yuhi entered the tree, however, he’d be met with a sight that didn’t quite match any known information about any god-tree, ever. The tree was completely black inside, the walls covered with a tar like substance. Branches grew from the walls inwards towards another wall, spiralling up the length of the tree to allow Yuhi to move upwards. There was really no other way to proceed, because the moment he stepped foot inside, the tree closed behind him, the bark closing him into the tree with no exit in sight. Was it a mistake to come here? Probably. You’d have to be some kind of braindead to run off into an unknown god-tree… of immeasurable power… an object so powerful that space shinobi lust after it… on your own, with no team to back you up… Well, braindead, or really really brave. Regardless, there was only one thing to do – push onwards!

Similarly, Soryu seemed to have just made a grave mistake, one he’d likely not repeat if offered the chance. Upon touching the plant, his eyes would be forced wide open and he’d throw his head back into his neck, staring into the sky. To anyone looking at it, he’d seem slightly troubled in the mental department perhaps, but in truth Soryu was no longer in control of his body. Whatever this was, it was trying to connect with his nerve systems, as if the plant was trying to take control of him and his body. To some degree it was successful, though the resistance Soryu was no doubt going to offer put a quick stop to that, and while Soryu battled with the plant for control of his own body, images flashed before his eyes while he peered into the endless abyss of the sky.

There were no people or voices, or anything similarly sinister in these images. Rather, they were sort of… soothing. With a calm pace his mind would seem to leave his body, though in reality it was just the temporary realization that Soryu was literally a thousand things at once, and a great nothing in comparison. It’d hurt – just a little bit, a throbbing pain and sudden jab into his brain, like a kunai being jabbed there, but not resulting in the death that’d most likely follow after that. And then his mind completely disconnected and he travelled through a nerve system that ran deep under the swamp-jungle. Mentally, that is. Physically, he was still sitting there, seemingly ignoring the fact that his comrades were fighting a giant mud monster while he stared into the sky for no good reason. The images were very, very confusing to Soryu, there would be no doubt about that, as a human’s mind simply wasn’t made to suddenly become part of a hivemind-like nerve system. But there was one thing that was very distinct and easy to see…

A shower of stone debris, not large enough to hurt but large enough to be bothersome, then hurled over Soryu, as the very comrade he seemed to be ignoring destroyed the large stone boulder thrown at them. Nagi’s attempt at destroying the boulder had been successful – very much so, as her genjutsu-avoidance had allowed her to see that the boulder wasn’t even coming from directly in front, but rather slightly to the right. A realization that could’ve meant life or death.

When she shot off her lasers however, the creature disappeared, almost as if he was body flickering all over the place, seemingly getting closer before appearing slightly further away. The small amount of lasers that did hit the creature seemed to go largely ignored. Mud didn’t burn well, and the pieces of mud that were scraped off simply regenerated. It seemed like Nagi had met her match, and then some. A creature that, just like her, shrugged off damage like that.

Suddenly the creature stood in front of both Nagi and Tsubaki, appearing literally out of nowhere. From the way the genjutsu worked, it would’ve been very reasonable to assume that at least one of the four team members would’ve been able to see this attack coming if they’d maintained a proper spread. But at that point, only Tsubaki and Nagi were there – and so, the mud monster slipped through the cracks in their proverbial armour, and raised it’s gigantic mud fist into the air, before swinging it from left to right.

The sudden appearance paired with it’s weirdly fast speed meant that it was a guaranteed hit, and the giant mud fist simply smacked them out of the way like they were playthings. But it didn’t hit them in the side, no. That’d have been too easy. The genjutsu made it seem like the creature was in front, but the fact that they were hit in the back dictated otherwise. Luckily for both Tsubaki and Nagi, the mud monster was simply playing with them while Soryu was off picking flowers and Yuhi was exploring his new treehouse. The hit wasn’t too hard, and simply batted them into the distance, headed for some trees at a high speed – but if they were to put some effort into it, they could minimize the damage and avoid taking even more if they landed on their feet.

The monster waited, didn’t attack at all. It almost seemed to be taunting them, waiting for them to make a move, any move. And with only two shinobi present to fight it – any move could be a wrong move.

Soryu could see it clearly now – another opening into the god-tree. The plants that were secreting the gas were all connected to the god-tree, confirming to Soryu what was only a wild speculation to his partner, Yuhi. And there was more – this entire jungle, from the trees to these weird plants to the wildlife that roamed around here. It was all connected to the god-tree somehow, either through the roots of the plants, to a faint signal in the wildlife’s heads. And the mud-monster? It was connected to the god-tree as well, with a very strong connection residing directly in it’s chest. And although it seemed somewhat unbelievable, there was a similar energy coming from within the tree, an energy which was not possessed by a mud monster and was entirely free for the taking. Was this a famous chakra-fruit?

Once he’d seen the opening to the god-tree, the god-tree’s nerve system seemed to realize he was an intruder, and ‘kicked him out’, severing the connection between itself and the plant Soryu had grabbed, causing the plant to instantly deteriorate – if he were wise, he’d pocket it for some kind of analysis by one of those science-y looking fellows. Now he knew where he could go, the choice was more where he would go. Help his friends, offer them a chance to at least play even with this mud-monster? Or find the source of the problem deep in the god-tree?

“Who is this?” was the first thing Yuhi heard when he stepped into the main chamber of the tree. “I see. How interesting.” Slowly, the wall he’d stepped through closed, and if he was quick, he’d be able to make it out, avoiding getting locked into the tree. But, to put it bluntly, Yuhi wasn’t fast enough. By the time the wall began closing he was already under the influence of some sort of hallucinant drug, or another genjutsu – one he wouldn’t be able to dispel. It dulled the senses and his vision would begin to blur. “It will be fortuitous…” the voice continued, before it became slightly distorted.

“I’ve come to seek your blessing, Yuhi,” another voice now spoke. This one was clearly younger, but equally distorted as it neared the end of it’s sentence, and it too drowned out eventually. Yuhi wouldn’t see images – and the realization of what these sentences were referencing likely hadn’t set in yet. “I wish to represent… knowledge. Knowledge. Knowledge.” The voice began to boom as it repeated that word a few times, before it faded, distorted and disappeared again. “Do you require… knowledge… from me before I leave?” By now, if Yuhi had understood what these sentences were trying to reference, he’d realize that they were very far from what had actually been said.

“I only ask that you understand, my child, and that you behave… knowledge!” Where the sentences had previously made sense, to a degree, they were beginning to make less and less sense, and ultimately over a period of a multitude of minutes began devolving into literal gibberish. One returning variable was the mentioning of knowledge. His vision turned from blurry to a bright light, and before Yuhi could even think to react, he threw his head back into his neck forcibly, similar to what had happened to Soryu. He didn’t even get a chance to fight it – he was too close to the source of this all and the power was too overwhelming. It didn’t matter anyway. Unlike Soryu, Yuhi wasn’t burglarizing his way into the neural network. He was an invited guest, a guest of honor even.

It was quite clear now where the god-tree had gotten all the fragmented sentences from, as it seemed that this particular genjutsu or drug was linking him to the tree itself, if only slightly. But now that he was entirely linked into the tree, he began seeing the same as Soryu – the entire network of the tree. It covered literal kilometres, growing from it’s roots a little bit every day. The wildlife was more vast than imagined, spanning the same length as the jungle – and unlike Soryu, who hadn’t been allowed to see it, Yuhi got a glimpse at how the ecosystem targeted intruders.

In front of him, Yuhi could now see a strange figure – clearly human, but wearing clothing unlike any he’d ever seen before. The vision was brief, not allowing Yuhi to completely see whatever this person was doing or wearing, but long enough to see his dark silhouette light up from within once he crossed into the jungle. Chakra. And then he was gone, mauled by some variation of wildlife. The body sank into the swamp and Yuhi could see the chakra flowing from the body through the roots of the various trees towards the god-tree, which siphoned it up and used it to create more wildlife, more jungle.

Any spat of chakra that entered the vicinity of the jungle was tracked and killed. It was a genius self defence, in a way. If left unchecked, this tree would one day consume the entire earth. Given how big the spread was, it seemed it was already well on it’s way to do just that. More importantly, Yuhi now knew how the god-tree tracked it’s targets. And that in it’s own self-built eco system. Remarkable.

Once he’d come to that realization, he too was removed from the neural network. Once he came back to his senses, he was no longer being afflicted by this genjutsu, so whatever had been causing it was either gone or had chosen to let him go. Now that Yuhi knew how they were being targeted, he could go help his team – or could he? There was no way out. It was slightly ironic, perhaps. Yuhi had the answers, but because he abandoned his team to ‘solve the situation’, he’d inevitably doomed them. All the wisdom in the world couldn’t help you if you didn’t know how, or weren’t able to apply it.

In the distance, in the wall, however, was a small crevice – not large enough to move through or even see through, but it was large enough to see that it could open. The question was, what would trigger it to open?

---

Tension was in the air, the gale wind has unsettled and irritated its surroundings much like any strong wind. Eita was the first to appear disturbed and with a deep glower to his persona as Shizuka made his dazzling entrance. The tumble weed of a man or bug or whatever the heck he was reached out to Shizuka’s hand as if he was a parent reprimanding a small child as not to touch. Shizuka obviously went blank as his expression shifted in confusion, "hmm why is this strange man touching me?” Quite the irony since Shizuka was giving anxiety to the bugs inside of the coat the strange man wore. Shizuka listened to the man speak, he was clearly articulate in his speech patterns and what he had to say was interesting, but the more he spoke the more Shizuka was less inclined to listen. All he heard was mammoth beetle before Eita’s voice transformed into static. “Oro?” Shizuka hearing his name being called, “Yes! Yes! That’s me! I don’t have any gifts either, but my air can be helpful. Just you wait and see” The young boy opening his palm and creating a small cyclone in his hand.

“Hmm?” another voice called out his name, this voice was much softer and filled with warmth, the type only a mother or maternal figure could nurture. The cyclone subsided as his deep ruby red eyes caught the reflection of the light allowing them to burn bright in the face of the pale Yamanaka. “Radiant huh? I’ll take that as a good thing. You look like the other Yamanaka’s from home, why aren’t you in Konoha? Did you get lost? I get lost sometimes, but I just follow wherever the wind takes me” her words were wasted on Shizuka, although he was apt enough to understand them, he wasn’t one for being a walking thesaurus. “You talk funny” Shizuka said bluntly, noting the sudden change in ambience within the blue eyed kunoichi, before he could question the sudden shift, the final member of their squad to be had arrived, Tapo Hanabiro. Another familiar face, one that was still a resident of Konoha, Shizuka had remember his face if nothing else. “Hey Tapo! It’s me Shizuka. Good to see you again, I didn’t know the Hokage sent both of us here. This should be a cinch.”

With their introductions out of the way, it was time for them to start their mission. While the normal shinobi would become worried or pumped with adrenaline, Shizuka was ultimately carefree. Any opportunity for new experiences were a gift to Shizuka, even if those opportunities came with peril and high risk low reward. A soldier who was fearless in the face of death and relaxed was the perfect soldier indeed. Smile on the battlefield. Shizuka raced on board first as he wanted to start things off right, unfortunately they were notified their fifth member was unable to make the voyage with the rest of them. Pouting in disappointment Shizuka only fell sadness for a hot minute before he was back to his chipper attitude. Once on the aircraft, Shizuka couldn’t help but fidget with all the tools they had supplied for the trip. He flickered the flashlights on and off, pretending that he would tell a ghost story as he wiggled his hands in an eerie manner towards the eccentric bug man.

Once they veered off to their own direction Shizuka plastered his face against the window. Dead trees and one or two small hills came into view, before they were obscured by a massive dome coming into view. The dome wasn’t able to be seen through, blocked by accumulation of a dense fog, one could only image had been eroding the clarity over the years. Touchdown. The VTOL was a matter of meters away from what looked to be an ordinary building that acted as the gateway into the dome. Shizuka tasted the stale air and sighed, why was there never any fun air wherever he went? The air was always gross when it came to missions and this one was no different. “Sooo uhhhh, I can go first and take point. Once we get inside the dome I can use my wind to blow away the dense fog or at least keep it at bay so we can see. I may not be able to see as well as you guys, but if there’s air then I can feel everything within it. What do y’all think?” Shizuka’s demeanor shifted to one that was more serious, a reprieve none of his teammates would expect. The young shinobi fingered the air as his index finger traced a miniscule circle rapidly. A small stream of air would slide through the keyhole and sketch the inside layout for Shizuka. “I don’t feel anything” whether that meant it was safe or a trap was still unbeknownst to the group.

@Savato
Again, Tsubaki was mostly silent as he observed the mud creature. He knew he couldn't trust his eyes, just like when they were attacked by the wolves, so his plan was to do exactly what he did then, and wait to see if he could get it to come to him. Back with the wolves, it had been pretty simple. Wait for them to get within a couple of metres of him and then bludgeon them to death with his staff. Easy peasy!

The mud monster was a little smarter, and just threw a rock at them. He barely had time to react however before Nagi got pissed, shooting lasers at both the boulder and the monster itself, and while the rock did explode, the mud man barely seemed phased, flickering around the battlefield.

"I don't think you're doing anything, Nagi!" He called out, sounding almost lazy, as he watched more mud simply fall back into the places where it had been blasted away. However, despite his tone, he was also on edge, all of his senses focusing on trying to catch the creature when it inevitably flickered into close range.

And then, like he expected, it appeared directly in front of him, and he began to jump back and form hand signs.

Which was when he got hit in the back, sending him flying forwards. While initially stunned, he quickly recovered, seeing the trees he was currently flying towards and realising he needed a way to land safely. Thinking at a mile a minute, he summoned a shadow clone, throwing it to the ground a little ways ahead of him. As soon as it hit the ground, it used Earth Flow Wave to summon a wave of mud to catch him. It hurt, but he managed to manoeuvre himself to land on his feet, keeping it from being too bad. Seeing that Nagi had also been thrown by the creatures swings, he had the clone manipulate the wave to catch her as well, while he used Hidden Mole to try and make her landing softer, in the unlikely scenario that she didn't land on her feet.

It was at this point that he had an idea. His chakra nature was earth, after all, so maybe he'd be able to tell where it was by focusing on the vibrations in the earth when it stepped. And then, he remembered Nagi's lasers, and the seeds of a plan began to take shape.

"Nagi, how hot can your lasers get?" He asked, his brow creased in tension. "Because I don't know for sure, but with my clones help, I might be able to trap it in earth walls. If I can do that and leave a tiny opening, and you can get enough heat inside, it might work like a kiln. We might be able to bake it until it hardens too much to move."

Boshu Sen'Yo

---

Underground place with some dead trains, legit

Boshu's expression stiffened as she heard Miyu's advice on the lack of natural energy down here. In a place that felt so artificial it would definitely make sense for there to be less, but not a complete void of it, for sure. As concerning as the news was they weren't about to turn tail and leave just because it felt so cold down here... Wait when did it get cold? Even with her relatively wear gear on there was a chill she couldn't quite shake.
An invasive sense of dread was creeping it's way up her spine, of course this kind of sensation also served to rile the huntress up in response, but even that was steadily being diminished by the atmosphere just in this tunnel.

There were no qualms with Homuru testing the area to see how receptive to their chakra it was, taking visual note of the fact that it was essentially weakened.

Though whilst he was doing it, she was sure she heard something moving outside the tunnel, like an interested party was observing them as they ventured deeper.

"You hear-" She began to say, interrupted by the first of many cracking sounds just before the ground beneath them gave way. For a moment Boshu was surprised, barely letting out a small noise of shock before she more or less safely landed inside the expansive room that was a huge point of interest.

"You okay?" Without a thought she first looked to Homuru as she brought out her flashlight and pointed it up, looking at the hole that had just been made and shining her light through it in order to show the other two where they'd gone, calling up at the same time. "What's the situation up there? Come to the edge of the hole I'm lighting up and let yourselves down, we'll make a plan for extraction as we go, but I'll need you down here in case any of us encounter some hostiles. If you think it might be too dangerous then see what you can do from up there."
Typically she had a good grasp for ensuring a group's safety, she'd shown enough officials how hunting was done after all, so she'd try to make sure this was as safe as possible for the tag-alongs.

All the while their surroundings provided some interesting sights, blue hues illuminating the area and showing what could be considered things of importance, as well as a big fucking hole where a large door used to be. Refreshingly, fighting things bigger than her was Boshu's primary field of work.

A cursory glance at the PDA at least brought a small amount of relief, until considering the next part of her initial concerns. If their target was here for an extended time, he could have set traps up within such a simple location to delay, kill or even capture any pursuers.
"Our target is here, maybe he managed to drop the bug here and continue on, or he somehow slept through all the noise we just made." It felt appropriate to add that tid-bit, if either of them had any intention of leaving now would be the time to dangle the carrot of a completed mission in front of them.
During any time spent waiting for Miyu and Kinzo to come down she'd look over the room once more, lots of tracks going the same way, huge hole in the wall, a board with bits of seemingly torn paper on it. A fairly large machine that looked similar to some of the work she'd seen being made on mass civilian transport, though she couldn't recall what they'd named it.

There was little time for wonder though, she had to focus on finding that tracker and properly following the guide of her PDA told her where to look, it looked reminiscent of the spectator seats of an arena in the way it overlooked the whole expanse of the room.
The faint blinking light up there definitely gave away that something important had to be there, moreso with the tracker bug's signal coming from the same place.

"Everyone, when you're ready follow me. I'm going to take a look up there, where our mark seems to be, be wary of any signs of movement." With that said she'd be rather quick to ascend the metal steps and get into the control room, prepared at any point to introduce her bow to something's face if it tried to jump out at her.

Fortunately nothing did and she found herself looking at the computer screen, the dead bug and the foreign symbology all over the technological interface. Some of it seemed similar and one word was as easy to read as a picture book, but the rest of it didn't make any sense to her. She wasn't going to touch anything until someone was sure of what the "return" function would actually do, as she wasn't much of a translator.

Once the others had joined her she'd glance back at them, Homuru wasn't an intelligence officer so she doubted he would be able to figure the language out either so she looked to Kinzo and Miyu. "Are either of you any good with languages? If so can I leave this with you? I'll keep a watch out for anything coming from that hole in the wall. Be ready for a fight just in case."

As if to emphasise her warning about a fight, the next tremor occurred and Boshu remained unshaken by it, if something was coming their way that could cause tremors with it's movement she'd need something big to take it down.

With her bow already out, Boshu drew a scroll from the ones strapped to her leg and opened it enough to draw out three explosive charges, then stowing the scroll back where it came from before collecting three arrows from her quiver and clipping a charge to the shaft of each one.
Two of her arrows would be firmly held in her hand whilst she nocked the first arrow, ready to draw and fire it if something came after them, the other two arrows were for if it kept moving after that.

"If we can I want to trap anything that comes for us, how quickly do you think your mirror will fully deploy, based on your test earlier?" She quietly asked her fellow tiger, taking a glance his way as she spoke.

---

She missed something the size of a barn. Or mostly. The genjutsu made it hard to even notice the potential damage she had inflicted, which would be regenerated anyway. It healed and they'd catch on, albeit barely. This prompted the inspector to grit her teeth in frustration, which could only be fueled by the remarks of her 'Genin' colleague. Blue eyes shifted to his direction, fury burning so hot in them that even the genjutsu wouldn't hide it.

"Oh really? Thank you, for your insight, CLOUD."

Her pointed index finger turned to his direction, though would shift its aim downwards at the last minute, firing a red beam near his feet. Hopefully the Genjutsu didn't mess with them again. The murky earth would pop as a reaction, prompting some mud sludge to splash around.

"And this, did it h-"

The experience of having five Genjutsu wolves on her paid off to an extent. Her reflexes in this environment was honed a bit more than the others. After all, she got gnawed at twice by these critters. It most certainly wasn't enough to actually evade or properly dodge, but her one-eighty spin in order to do some sort of improvised cross-block wouldn't be inconceivable to perform. Considering the size of the beast, it would have been relatively vain anyway other than sponging damage from some core vital areas. Except her head. Yeah, that could be lopped off rather easily at that split moment. And her neck.

Propelled backwards, though the dummy-strike was quite obvious once she processed it in mid-air. That thing was heavy, it was clear by its movements and the way the punch was delivered. Perhaps some of the mud-like aspects of its physiology could weaken the delivery of its assaults but there was something else. It just didn't seem serious there. With her palm, she'd project a small amount of chakra that serve as a means to propel herself downwards and recover before she'd have to eat Izuku's mud. Not that'd it change much, given how her coat was now covered in the stuff.

Gloved hands would rub a piece of the sludge that had covered her body upon impact. The chief inspector examined it for a moment, looking for anything abnormal about it, whether it'd be a call of concern for her or a potential exploit against the beast. Whether there'd be something or not, Nagi had another thing in mind that she wished to try out.

"You want to seal it, cloud? Do you think your earth jutsu will work properly in the swamps? If so ... Get in position. I may have an ability that could turn this thing into more tangible earth."

She cracked her neck with a light tilt to the left.

"I have one thing to examine. Use this time to prepare. And keep moving."

Being one to apply her own advice, Nagi proceeded to speed-walk in a circular manner, strafing around the beast. Considering the genjutsu was active, most of her senses couldn't be trusted. Most except the sense of touch. As a result, a small, pinkie-wide tentacle would emerge from her shoulder blade without penetrating through her layers of clothes and instead slither through her arm and forearm until it'd sneak under her glove. The left one. Wrapping itself around the finger it was similar in size to, it'd commence pending it and snapping the tendons of the first joint.

"Tch."

It was painful, and even a monster like Nagi couldn't just ignore it. There was a surge of adrenaline with the wolves. But here? She needed to focus and calm down to have a more posed perspective. The pain was basically double-edged if her theory was true. The genjutsu had dispelled when she had inflicted herself pain, but returned not too long after. If she could progressively injure herself, starting with messing up her pinkie, and then maybe the other, she'd manage to remain in a constant state of awareness. Or at least gain some ground over the genjutsu without being utterly messed up by its effects.

Regeneration was limited for the time being. The longer the pain lasted, the better. All the while Nagi made sure to keep up with Izuku's earth abilities, taking notice that it was once again quite odd that a Genin would not only know a large-scale earth technique such as the mudslide, but also cloning? Something she could only really conjure a bastardized version of? This was interesting indeed. So much so, it'd probably even distract her from her current experiment. That golem could certainly capitalize on that.

---

Jinzo coughed a few times to clear his lungs as the dust settled around both him and Boshu. The fall hadn't been a massive one, but he was definitely caught unawares by it. Not to mention the fact that he'd landed awkwardly on his left hip, making any immediate movement somewhat painful as his body's nervous system protested against Jinzo's apparent lack of care for its well being. There would almost certainly be a bruise but he could tell that would be the worst of it. 'Nothing to really complain about then.' He thought to himself, wincing slightly as he pushed himself to his feet. Once he'd finally regained his composure, Jinzo looked around for his team mate who had actually already recovered and was checking out their new surroundings, which included shouting up at the hole they'd made in the ceiling. Miyu and Kinzo were still in the tunnel it seemed. He was still regaining his bearings when Boshu mentioned something about their target. That was when he finally decided to take out his own PDA for the first time. He was met with the disappointing sight of several cracks spiderwebbed across the glass screen. "Well, shit." He said aloud.

"Everyone, when you're ready follow me. I'm going to take a look up there, where our mark seems to be, be wary of any signs of movement." Whilst Jinzo was lamenting the damage to his newly issued PDA, Boshu appeared to have found their target located in what seemed like a large control room overlooking the entire space they were now in. Looking around, he could see various platforms and strange, locomotive machines, similar to the trains they had back home but noticeably different in design. Piecing together all of the bits of information in his mind, Jinzo quickly deduced that this was some kind of terminal; a singular meeting point for several trains to congregate to allow for easier travel to other places that were unreachable on one set of tracks. He'd seen one before on a mission in the capital city of Sunagakure. Satisfied with the room, Jinzo followed behind Boshu silently, making his way up the metallic steps just as she had, his right hand laid cautiously on one of his many kunai he kept hidden on his person. Stepping in the room behind his comrade, Jinzo was met with a bright, flashing light and a some sort of systems control panel. He recalled the broken screen of his PDA, technology wasn't really his forte apparently.

"My PDA is out of commission it would seem." He stated, somewhat annoyed. "You can thank the fall for that. A such, I don't think I should be the one to touch the computer." Besides, now that they'd located the tracking bug, Jinzo's attention was drawn towards the sufficiently large hole in one of the doors through which one of the many rows of tracks ran. He regarded it through the tinted-glass window of the control room. It had definitely been forced open from the inside, though he was unable to see any clear signs of an explosion. Whatever had created the hole had to have been quite monstrous to be able to cause that much damage to a metallic structure of that size, not to mention the thickness. Peering around the vast terminal, he could see all the other doors remained closed and relatively untouched. Whatever had broken through was definitely being kept in here, or so he deduced.

Another tremor kicked his reflexes into overdrive. Jinzo crouched slightly, reducing his center of gravity and bracing himself for whatever came next. He noticed Boshu preparing herself for a fight too. Her readiness matching his own made him feel more at ease with their current situation. The earlier throbbing pain in his hip had died down to a faint burning sensation, his body already starting to produce adrenaline. "If we can, I want to trap anything that comes for us. How quickly do you think your mirror will fully deploy, based on your test earlier?" It would seem that she was on the same wavelength as he. It felt like something was approaching, something big.

"Not quick enough, if I'm correct in imagining the size of this thing." He responded at first, then continued, "I'm not sure if it has anything to do with the lack of natural energy in this place, but my jutsu definitely seems to hindered by something. If we're going for containing, however, I might have something better in mind than my mirror but I'll need time in order to cast the jutsu."

After the last bit of conversation had been completed back at the Great Hall, Team 2 had finally set forth on their ominous adventure. Mystery awaited them as they boarded the VTOL, an aircraft Erika was all too familiar with considering they were the technology of Sunagakure. She felt a since of pride as she stepped onto the aircraft, seating herself snugly next to Shizuka once the high-tech mechanism had taken off. She felt she would have to look out for him it seemed. She wasn't certain whether or not he understood the gravity of this mission. Not to mention, despite her faith in Heiwa and the destiny that had been set forth for each of them, she couldn't help but wonder about her God's plan and why a chunin was sent on such a perilous mission as this.

She watched him carefully as he fidgeted with the equipment on-board. For a teenager, he was so child-like. Was this the typical behavior of a Konoha adolescent she wondered. Nonetheless, she took a bit of the time on the aircraft to read The Book of Heiwa, the large ancient looking tome sitting firmly on her lap as the VTOL zoomed through the sky along with the other aircraft's before eventually veering off in it's own direction for a location, yet unknown. Erika glided her hands over each word of text that she read, speaking some of them aloud and others mumbled quietly to herself as though in deep thought.

One verse in particular stood out to her, as she suddenly read it aloud for all her teammates on board to hear, "There is a point where we must trust in what has since been ascertained, to give us peace and credence in thou with which we have yet to discover." After reading this, Erika waited for no responses from her compatriots, and simply gave them each a gentle glance before she continued on reading silently in her book. Though she was typically one to go on and on about her readings and her faith, she found herself particularly pensive during the ride.

It wasn't until a large object had intruded upon her peripherals, that she finally looked up from her tome and looked out the window towards the monumental structure before them. It was a massive dome of sorts, it's interior obstructed by a mysterious dark fog. Before the craft had even settled down next to the Dome's connecting building, a slight pain came to her mind. Erika winced slightly as the unusual sensation briefly struck her cranium.

As they ejected from the aircraft and entered into the building that connected to the Dome, Erika couldn't help but look around, taking in the details of the the building that seemingly protected them from the mysterious dangers that awaited them. She listened to Shizuka as he explained that he may be able to feeling something within the air. "Sublime. Relay your findings once they come to you", she said to Shizuka. He found nothing. A slight disappointment, but she felt it was now her time to use something a bit more advanced.

"Hmmm...I shall take a gander Shizuka. My spirit has felt a slight disturbance since we arrived." As a Sensor-nin of Sunagakure, it was about time she put her capabilities to good use.

Closing her eyes, and placing her fingertips to her temples, Erika focused her chakra on the inner dwellings of the dome. Her expression fidgeted as she experienced a much heavier version of the sensation she was only slightly picking up on before. It was more grotesque and vile than she realized. "How dark..." she began ominously, her eyes still closed and focused on what lied before them, "I'm sensing a number of figures within the dome. They seem to be still at this present moment, but their chakra signatures are the likes of which I have never felt before. Vile..." She gave out a soft gasp and collapsed to her knees, seemingly weighed down by the chakra she had just had the displeasure of sensing.

Erika glared at the door before them, that sinister energy she felt from within she just couldn't shake.

"Evil awaits us..."

The blue-haired shinobi didn't even have a moment to react or say something witty after he picked up the strange plant. His brain received so much information all at once, surely something the human body couldn't handle for very long. And luckily for him it didn't last very long, only a few seconds in total. As he snapped back to reality he fell to his knees, dropped his kunai knife, and brought his now-free hand up to his head. Did I just see what the tree was seeing? he wondered, looking down at the bulb in his hand. Noticeably it had deteriorated all of a sudden, but it didn't completely decompose so he could still complete the objective of returning it to the scientist. But at the same time he needed a brief moment to process all the information he just received from the damn thing.

This problem is a lot bigger than we initially thought. This thing's roots go beyond the surface biome. Must've been for kilometers. The wolves, the plants, that mud monster... all connected. The genjutsu we are under comes from these plants that are hidden about. Removing them all in any form of timely manner is impossible. Think... As Soryu stood back up from his knees he stored the plant in an empty pouch of his pants and retrieved the kunai he dropped. His eyes wandered over to the tree, precisely to where he saw the way in just a moment prior. Noticeably it wasn't the way Yuhi went in, so that meant his teammate's guess was wrong and he wasn't actually heading to the source of the problem (short of some good fortune). His eyes drifted back to the fight between the rest of the team and the monster. He watched as it shrugged off damage and seemed to regenerate from Nagi's attacks. That thing isn't going to go down. Not from normal attacks. But it does have a vital area... With his bearings gathered, his thoughts clear, and his senses fully restored, Soryu had come to his conclusion on what to do. Yuhi may be lost and in danger in the tree, Nagi and Izuku are fighting a monster that won't die...

I have to kill this tree.

Soryu drew one of his explosive-tipped arrows from his quiver and two of the strange explosive tags that Yuhi had given him, wrapping them around the shaft of the arrow just underneath the tip. The arrow would explode on impact and that explosion should detonate the new tags as well for an even bigger boom, or so Soryu figured. He began running towards the God-Tree as he removed his bow from his back again and notched the arrow. Dead center, dead center, dead center, dead center... he reminded himself over and over as he leapt into the air and drew the string back. Dead center... Soryu took his aim at the monster. At this current range he was at surely he wouldn't miss, or if so it would be by a very small margin due to wind pressure or any of his teammates techniques interfering with the shot somehow. But Soryu hadn't forgotten the biggest thing that would hinder his accuracy and he took a page out of Nagi's playbook to solve it. "Kai." For a very brief moment, perhaps not even a full second, everything became clear to him. Where his teammates actually stood, where the monster actually stood, the distance to target, the trajectories of his teammates attacks. And in that brief flash of clarity he adjusted his aim to where it truly needed to be. And then he released the string.

Unless the monster changed course from its current motion, either by anticipating the arrow or otherwise, then Soryu's aim would be true and the arrow would strike where he saw the creature's chakra source in his visions. Whether the resulting explosions would do lasting damage or just be regenerated, Soryu had no way to know. He figured that it would at least stun the creature significantly, but he's already assumed wrong so far on this mission and his hopes weren't very high. But he knew this was the best he could provide to Nagi and Izuku right now. They didn't know but if he joined them in fighting it directly then all three of them would sooner die of exhaustion than destroy it. And he knew that Yuhi couldn't be in the right part of the tree because he saw its heart and Yuhi wasn't there, nor did he enter through the same path Soryu saw. He wished that he could call out to Nagi and Izuku and let them know his plan in detail. But the Tree would hear him. He had to let them figure his plan out by guesswork. Unlikely they'd just assume he knew as much as he did because they'd have no way to tell of what he learned, but perhaps they at least wouldn't hate him for his efforts.

Let's just hope this literal plant isn't smart enough to be luring me into a trap, he thought to himself as he landed next to the opening in the God-Tree. Without any further hesitation he rushed inside, wasting no time to examine the massive plant or properly scan his surroundings. After all, he already knows the way. Unless it had hidden any further defenses from its own consciousness, Soryu knew that there was nothing else between him and the source of it all: the powerful chakra he had seen.

---

Well, at least he knew one thing for sure. The Konoha shinobi managed to be a degree of blindingly optimistic that made Eita feel... More than a tad uncomfortable. It was just, that lack of personal space and pleasant ignorance. Naturally their interactions didn't end there, as they were all in a small vessel, and Eita had to watch Shizuka's poor attempts at shadow puppets. Which Eita clearly outdid in every moment as he raised his own flashlight, and the metal-devouring insects stored in his body floated about just enough to create intricate shapes. Like... The symbol of the Empire of Stone. Or an anatomically correct heart. Or a even better puppy. "Woof Woof."

Landing, it took a minute for Eita to soak the whole environment in. The entire structure seemed too gigantic to really understand, but at the very least he knew something. There was something in that dome, and he didn't want to go in without checking first. "Once we check the other areas, I can send my insects through the lock, and have them check the area." Eita quipped in, adjusting his coat as he did so. After all, while he could check, probably better than this konoha shinobi, but until the team was ready, he wasn't about to just risk letting out whatever was in there. Mostly because going into that dome seemed to be the most dangerous idea, and the other areas while no better, were at the very least something to start with.

"Tapo and I can go into the Residental area. Shizuka, Erika, are you two comfortable going into the lab?" Eita smiled at the two of them, since a residental area would be great for his insects. After all, he could use them to undo any locks in his path. "I'll send some of my insects your way as well, so they can break any locks you need them too, alright?"

@Hillan @Aeolian @Reflection @Syn

A brief glance around the lobby would reveal nothing new as the group got their bearings, though Erika's insight into the dome's inhabitants would certainly be something to worry about. Eita's decision-making in splitting the team into two and having both areas searched at once would prove to cut down on how long it would take to search the entire facility, a smart call for the sake of time-saving for sure as time was an uncertain resource.

Each pair would venture off on their own to discover whatever each section had for them to discover, for better or for worse.

The rain crashed around the team, Miyako taking notice to Sakana's ankle - but it appeared Koko was already in the lead of taking care of it. She wasn't a medical ninja anyways, she wouldn't have been able to do much but recite some information she had read and retained from some medical book. Though, she could think of a few things she kept to herself and turned her attention over to Shinji. Who was taking initiative in trying to find refuge from the downfall of rain. "Good job," Whether he thought he was doing this out of his own will, or subconsciously from Miyako's previous suggestion - the small pat on the back would suffice. Looking towards the house - at first glance looked to be abandoned and withered away from years of lack of attention. Her focused on all the clones as they scoured the place, if something were inside it possibly would have already attacked one, or a clone would hopefully of already sensed it. She didn't want to go to the this perfectly placed abandoned house next to their crash site, it was what horror movies were made of. But, they needed to get out of the rain, regroup, and depart farther into the unknown. "Lets move forward to the house, dry off, and plan from there". Grabbing the bottom of Kimono that was becoming heavier and heavier from the rain, she was the first to move forward towards the housed.

The closer she got the more it seemed like a decent idea - but she should know better than to judge a book by its cover. The rain seemed to of cleaned any immediate dust from the outside, but it was still tattered and torn, small pieces of rubble laid around it, but no fresh marks or signs of new arrivals. Climbing up the steps to the front door, Miyako looked behind her to see three figures in the rain behind her, it seemed despite if it was a good idea or not - her team was following her. Good. She could already tell that later one it may be hard to manage everyone as they all were headstrong in doing what they felt necessary. But she was more a guide on this trip, not the enforcer of rules. What rules do you play by in the unknown anyways? Reaching the door, Miyako peered inside a window to see....nothing. It was dark in the first room - which to her was a good sign of it still being abandoned. Though the trip further inside may reveal a different outcome. Dropping the bottoms of her Kimono, and reaching inside the sleeves she revealed her two bladed fans that went with her whole gothic girl aesthetic. Black my eyes and slight my wrists kind shit, yanno? Anyways, the sound of them opening up was comparable to that of her katana unsheathing - a nice and light metal against metal sound. It always sent a small chill through her, as she anticipated anything that was to come. Slowly, the door pushed open with the force of one fan - keeping the other ready for a quick strike if need be. Nothing. Bleak. Dark. Her eyes squinted fiercely as she tried to see into the dark, the clouds outside bore no extra sunlight to help her see inside. Taking the first few steps inside, she kept her fans ready in front of her as her head snapped back to see that her team was close behind.

"It appears to be safe..." She called out to them, then looking to Shinji - "Did your clones find anything from the outside? She came back to the doorway, standing and waiting for each team member to enter. Her gaze focused out on the land that lay beneath the house - her eyes shifting to the smoldering wreck that was their VTOL only moments ago. Smoke rising high in the air, she could only hope that whatever or whoever was around would assume nobody survived the wreck and pick through the wreckage than move on. One could only hope.