Curse of Kusa - Part 1 [Event]

[An'ei Sekitan]

Houkou just kept moving, already knowing the type of confusion that would come to these kids, since none of them even had an inkling of training from the Academy it seemed. How did these kids graduate without a knowledge of basic formations? The one that makes the creatures doesn’t even know her right from left. Several cowards. A loud mouth that is probably only partially useful. Some fresh shit Chuunin. They are all going to die if they don’t get their shit together, because I’m no babysitter. Reportedly it was clear all the way to the intersection, so Houkou took this opportunity to get one last cigarette in before he would have to be too cautious, become the killer again. Reaching into his jacket pocket, he produced the pack and after a short moment, it was lit and he was allowing the exhale of smoke to leak from the left corner of his mouth. Just what the fuck is Yuri putting me through?

“Listen, I don’t care if you all talk in hushed tones, but if I signal for you to shut up, immediately stop all conversation. If you somehow here something that I don’t once we enter our quadrant, or even before, make it known. No surprise attacks.”

A canal ran along a path they exited on to, wide enough for them all to fit on comfortably without being in each other’s way, and the other end had a similar path that was of equal width and length; the whole thing connected by arching bridges. Houkou was not an archeologist, so his knowledge of the structure and dating of the place was null, eyeballing the abstract motifs on the walls and wondering who bothered to make this garbage. The smell of mold, moss, dust, and a canal that had not seen sunlight in ages filled his nose, pungently, like someone was holding it up to his face; he inhaled his cigarette smoke for a better smell. Lanterns along the walls were lit, illuminating the place decently enough for them to continue, but he had a feeling that wouldn’t be the case the further down they went, which fortunately at least everyone had a way to see in the dark, presumably, or were smart enough to bring a way. Except maybe Ameya…

Finally, they would come up to the crossroads that would lead deeper into the ruins, Tomomi on his right as his assisting front man, Ameya back right, Harue back left, and Inoryu pulling up the rear; he didn’t care about their critters beyond the front runner monsters. This is where it would get serious, and where he could not light another cigarette, so he finished the last of the one in his mouth and burned it to ash with raw Katon. According to Yuri, they were to proceed down the middle passage, which was currently unexplored, and more than likely inhabited by plenty of creatures that went bump in the night; judging from the age of the place.

“Alright,” Houkou would stop before the path they were to take, holding up his right hand and making a fist, the signal to stop, “This is where it gets serious. Try not to die.” Opening his fist so that his fingers were straight and together, he would chop the air twice, the signal to keep moving. Normally he would not do that, but he was curious if these kids had learned even a single thing in the Academy, or was Kusa just allowing anyone with breath in their lungs to become Shinobi. He would enter their quadrant down the path and have a look around, hoping that those monsters were still doing their duty [Observation: 210].

“Ameya, post one of your monsters at the entrance to here as a guard. I don’t want to get cut off or lost.”

With that, it was time to get this exploration on its way.

[Dr. Neuro, RN]

Ameya strolled along behind Houkou (well in the position she was given at least), daydreaming about sleeping. The cave had some dim lighting, which entranced her even further. At this point though, she was curious how her babies were doing. She wasn’t sure if it was intelligent or not, but she let out a whistle to call one of them back for a status report. With even more curiosity, she weaved her hands together quickly and unlocked her Byakugan. She was able to see everything, 360 degrees.

One of her babies promptly came running back to the group and communicated the findings to her (will need Loki to tell me exactly what they found). The big bossy ninja, who was kinda not smart because he was talking about shooting stars earlier, then ordered her to have her baby sit here, posted. Effectively watching their backs and setting a marker. She didn’t understand the order, but she did as she was told. “Stay,” she said. An easy enough command to follow. It literally had to not move. She wished that the shooting star ninja would tell her to stay put, and sleep. That order would be great.

SPOILER: Click to show

Observation 125/125
Byakugan x3 — Battle Ready (d rank handseals to activate)
Keen Sight x2 (+10 insight bonus to Byakugan)
Telescopic Eye x5
Enlightened Byakugan
All-Seeing Eye
Farseeing Eye (ignore observation penalties up to 30 meters. Penalties beyond that are only -5 every 15 meters)

[j]

Tomomi followed Houkou from his side, minding the distance between them so as to not intrude on his personal space. He hadn't mentioned it yet, but surely they'd gotten off on the wrong foot. For now Tomo would just carefully follow orders, and try not to die. His eyes trained forward attentively into the dark space. Perhaps being in the front of the group he'd see something before the rest of them.

Despite his intense focus, he couldn't help but feel slightly annoyed by the rest of the group, which didn't seem too focused on the task ahead of them. Despite Tomomi not wanting to be there, he still felt obligated to seriously participate in the mission given to them. Now wasn't the moment to let your mind wander and get killed. Were these people really supposed to be stronger than him? His feet fell silently upon the paved floor, erasing nearly any noise from his usually noisy straw sandals.

Finally, they arrived at the entrance to their quadrant of the space. Houkou halted their advances with a gesture, and then before reinforcing the seriousness of the situation, he gestured for them to continue moving. Tomo hadn't seen the gesture before, but his intentions were clear. Onward they went.

SPOILER: Click to show

Byakugan x6 [10 meter telescopic]
Observation 260+30+30, 320
Stealth 125
solid regard - immune to fear.

neko bo beko , DJ Loki , Inoryu , An'ei Sekitan , Dr. Neuro, RN

[neko bo beko]

Although Houkou assures them he doesn't mind if they make small talk, Harue doesn't feel like right now was the best time to make conversation. Maintaining the apparent formation, Harue moves with their small group through the rank corridor. She tries not to hear the sound of their collective footsteps, instead focusing on the noises that might come from outside of her sight range. Harue knew they'd arrived at the end of the beginning when Houkou's smoke goes up in flames. She perks when he speaks, eyes turning to the back of his head as he raises a fist. She stops suddenly, but continues moving with them when it's time.

Moving into their quadrant wasn't nearly as eerie as she'd been anticipating, but it wasn't lighthearted either. She scans their left field, keeping her red eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary, or the auras of any souls that might be invisible to the party. Idly, in the back of her mind, she wonders how the rest of the exploration teams were doing and what they'd managed to uncover so far, and if what this team would find would be any better or worse.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

active -
eyes of the planes
soul guard
solid regard
shadow walker: hide in plain sight

skills -
observation 81
investigation 100

Harue's Notes

SPOILER: Click to show

harue - 10 smoke pellets, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 clear nausea leyden, radio (channel 5) 4 vivre tags (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to yuri, 1 to and from tomomi)

houkou - 2 healing hands leyden, 6 vivre tags (4 half) (1 from harue, 1 from tomo, 1 from inoryu, 1 from ameya)

tomomi - 1 healing hands leyden, 2 cleanse spirit leydens, compass, radio, 3 vivre card (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to harue, 1 from harue)

inoryu - 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse nausea leyden, 1 cleanse spirit leyden, 1 lightning leyden, 1 vivre tag (to houkou)

ameya - 1 lightning leyden, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse paralysis leyden, 7 vivre tags(?) (1 to houkou)

[Inoryu]

   Practicing taijutsu in the Yasashii Kusa dojo had taught Inoryu to treat all of his senses as equally important. This allows him to be in a permanent heightened awareness. Accompanied with the odors was the sound of running water, and Inoryu would observe the running water and take note of the water's direction with his baseplate compass. By determining North and noting the water and the direction it runs, Inoryu may be able to navigate these passages. He would keep his compass baseplate in his hand and keep tabs on it and the direction of the water indefinitely. As to not sacrifice his situational awareness, he would check the compass every few minutes, and keep mental notes of the water's direction.       

    As the unit moved along, Inoryu was bombarded with different smells. The thick odors of tabacco, mold, moss, and dust fogged the corridor. Houkou signaled to halt, a signal that retained some nostalgia from his academy days, and warned them of impending danger from that point on. He chopped two fingers in the air forward, another signal he learned from the ninja academy, and he would advace with the unit as one while silently keeping the rear seven meters behind the vanguard. The assault on his nose was bearable and he would gladly suffer an odor if it meant his sense of smell could alert him to danger or clues to the environment. His sense of touch was so heightened that he could sense air pressure as well.  
   
     The sound of a whistle quickly obscured the sound of steps. Inoryu observed Ameya call forth one of her dogs and watched the interaction casually. He watched without dismissing any of his senses to the environment around him. He would do his best to understand the communication between Ameya and her dog. The dog came from the front so it appeared Ameya was taking a status report. She also weaved her fingers and activated a jutsu, though Inoryu couldn't see which. 

    The chuunin commander called forth the sleepy girl to order one of her dogs to guard an entrance and Inoryu realized Houkou could use them as navigational markers. Inoryu was impressed with Houkou's strategic thinking and was very interested in learning that aspect of what Houkou had to offer. Already Inoryu was becoming wiser by the second as he quickly absorbed the lesson. The Kusakage's directive for him was to learn as much as he could from Houkou, but he hadn't realized he would be learning stuff that aligned with his interests, already he was hungry to learn more. After reading Ameya's communication with her dog and watching her post one of them to guard an entrance, Inoryu would take note of the direction of the water with his compass as well as the direction the unit was moving while moving as silent as a shadow. 

SPOILER: Click to show

Selective Invisibility (Will Save = 28)
Rank: "C"
Skill: GenJutsu
Effect: As Invisibility, except the user may allow certain creatures to see them. These creatures must be chosen at the time of performing.
Special: "Handseals"
Drawback: ---
Description: Affects anyone who sees the target. The user is able to perform this technique on the target they touch. The duration of this technique lasts for 5 minutes per class level. This technique may be negated. As Invisibility, except the user may allow certain creatures to see them. These creatures must be chosen at the time of performing.
Limit: Must know the Glamour Perception. Must know Invisibility.

Observation - 164

Stealth (glamour; 25 minutes) - 495

Nameru (To Taste) 
Rank: C
Skill: Taijutsu
Effect: The user, through the sharpening of their five senses and an instinctual knowledge of flow, becomes aware of their surroundings and capable of defending against attacks.
Special: --
Drawback: Can only be learned up to your current Character Rank.
Description: The user strives to expand their senses, taking in data from all five senses and treating each of them as equally important.Through a combination of peripheral vision, hearing, and measurement of air pressure changes, the user becomes capable of perceiving threats around them and reacting accordingly. At E rank, the user can only perceive such threats as traps or projectiles. However, at the following levels, the user becomes capable of perceiving strikes from a foe of an equal level to the rank they have learned. Therefore, a B rank ninja could strike a C rank user of this technique and the user would not be able to perceive them via this technique and lose the majority of the benefits, though their dodging would benefit from the heightened awareness nonetheless. The user may only learn this technique up to their character’s rank. Thus, a C rank character could only learn up to the C rank version of Nameru. Nameru is limited to threats within twenty meters of the foe, as anything that doesn’t enter that radius is beyond the senses of a human to perceive. However, threats are perceivable once they enter that range.
Limit: Must learn from a Gintsuki no Seikou Mai Master. Must know Hyouuryuu Yuki (Drifting Snow).

[DJ Loki]

Chapter 1: Road to Nowhere

Yuri watched as the group went inside and then sighed. Was was half hoping that Haure would stay, it was going to be so boring up here by herself. Well she guess she wasn't here by herself, but she hardly counted the lazy lion as good company. She sighed as he took her seat and began the jot down everything that she was getting from the different parties that were down there. As the information came in Yuri spoke over the radio once again for all the groups to hear,

"Remember, report everything that you see. EVERYTHING! No detail is too small. I also may be able to provide support based on information gathered by other groups. So the more information we have to work with the better." Yuri then leaned back and looked at the three radios she had in front of her face, each one connected to the different groups down in this forgotten area under the old Capital.

------------------------------------

The group themselves, once they made their way to their quadrant they found that it wasn't much of a quadrant. It was not nearly as large as Yuri had made it seem. When they walked in they saw nothing but a sharp shift in architecture, as in there wasn't any. It was a cave room, with a hole in the middle of it. In that whole they saw water, or what seemed to be water. This liquid had a strange glow to it. Even with the powerful doujutsu's in the room, they would not be able to peer through the water. They could see a strange energy flowing from the glow liquid, however, it was not chakra or Soul energy. Those who could sense chakra and souls alike, could feel the energy coming off of it, but it was neither.

This was a strange yet tranquil energy, that hummed from the surface. There was no where else to go in this room, just this pool of strange liquid, filled foreign energy.

[An'ei Sekitan]

Houkou stood several feet from the pool of liquid, his eyes upon it, curious about the power that it held within it. There seemed to be no other directions for which they could travel within this room either, just a deadend and a pool, along with a complete lack of architecture. Oddly enough, the waterway that was only a bit back stopped and vanished, either flowing beneath this room, or completely becoming nonexistent. His thoughts on the matter were interrupted when his mask began to transmit, that same voice coming through on all radios so that none would miss the message it seemed. All of the details huh? Alright. But first a test.

Once he was sure the message was over, he would turn toward Ameya, a plan formulating in his mind on how to identify this liquid without harming any of them in the process. “Ameya, I will need one of your creations,” he began, giving the pool a sidelong glance, “Have it enter that pool please, while another creation of yours holds onto it. It has to go in face first to tell us what it sees, got it?” With that, Houkou would press the communication button on the mask, transmitting the message back to Yuri.

“Something unusual here. First off, the architecture has completely vanished and we are inside a cave. It’s decent sized, all stone, and basically normal except for a strange viscous pool in the center. Giving off energy of some kind and I can’t see through it. Ameya will have her creatures take a look and see if it is deadly or not.” Shutting down the communication line, Houkou would turn to the whole team. “I’m not sure what to expect out of this, so everyone out of the room for now while Ameya’s creations investigate the pool.” He would usher them back out of the room for the moment for their safety.

[Inoryu]

    Inoryu had gotten straight to work as he entered into the cave room, snapping three pictures with his camera vision goggles; one of the cave room overall and the others a closer look at the peculiar liquid pool . In the picture, Inoryu did well to capture the strange properties of the liquid such as the peculiar glow and not being able to peer into it. Inoryu had never seen anything like it. He was curious to find out what other properties the liquid had but honestly wouldn't know how to go about research. Nor did he have a container to collect a sample unless he sacrificed his water bottle. He would rather keep his water bottle that was filled with drinkable water since it is a vital resource and it wasn't difficult to find the cave room from the entrance of the complex.

    Inoryu had no special talent to perceive the unique energy of the liquid, but after the group was ordered to exit the cave room, he attached a surveillance spike near the entrance looking into the cave so he could watch and record Ameya's investigation. Outside of the cave room and in supposed safety, he set down his main pack and turned on the handheld surveillance monitor which came to life instantaneously. He connected the handheld surveillance monitor to the universal I/O port of the holodisk so the data would immediately be stored into the holodisk as it was processed live. He was relieved that he had configured all of his surveillance spikes to the hand handheld monitor at home soon after he purchased the items. He would watch the events unfold with an insatiable thirst for knowledge.

SPOILER: Click to show

-Three pictures taken (One of the cave room, two of the liquid and its strange properties)
-Live feed being recorded of Ameya's investigation

[neko bo beko]

Stepping into their quadrant was like stepping into a new territory entirely. It completely betrayed the buildup to this area, the barren walls looking as though this small pocket was carved out specifically for this pool of strange liquid to rest in. The hum resonating silently from it was distracting, to say the least, and Harue finds herself staring pointedly at the pool of water and even taking a few steps closer to the edge while Houkou looks around. She peers into the water, finding that it only reflects her face and doesn't reveal the bottom of the hole. Harue twists up her face. She moves her hand to her pocket, where the radio is, after Yuri's voice erupts from it, asking them not to forget any detail. Harue considers, briefly, what the other side of this pool could hold. If this entire room is their entire quadrant, the pinkette has a feeling this pool of liquid is more than just water. It appears to be unattached to the water from the previous areas, and it led Harue to believe that this was a separate body of liquid all together and could perhaps even be an entry way to the rest of their designated exploration space.

The pinkette looks up when Houkou addresses Ameya, asking for one of her babies to look into the pool. Harue frowns, tilting her head and glancing over her shoulder at the large man as he addresses Yuri through his mask. She moves her hand away from her radio; he'd beaten her to relaying the information. As he speaks, Harue looks back at the water and has the overwhelming urge to trace her fingers over the surface, drawn to the power emitting from it. Though she could feel the intense vibe it gave off, Harue couldn't recognize it. 

Suddenly, they're being ushered back out of their quadrant, left to stand at the mouth of the cave to watch from the sidelines as babies do the dirty work. Pulling out her radio, Harue held her thumb over the button and took a few steps back into the corridor, to speak at least somewhat privately into the radio. "Um.. Lady Yuri? That pool in there.. I don't know if it's water, it glows and seems to resonate or hum, but I can't hear it. It seems to be a separate entity of... liquid, from the rest of the water in this place." She didn't want to call it water. "I think it's a gateway," Harue tacks on before replacing the radio in her pocket. She wanders back to the small group, only a few steps away, and peers back into the mouth of the cave to see how they've progressed.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

active -
eyes of the planes
soul guard
solid regard
shadow walker: hide in plain sight

skills -
observation 81
investigation 100

Harue's Notes

SPOILER: Click to show

harue - 10 smoke pellets, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 clear nausea leyden, radio (channel 5) 4 vivre tags (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to yuri, 1 to and from tomomi)

houkou - 2 healing hands leyden, 6 vivre tags (4 half) (1 from harue, 1 from tomo, 1 from inoryu, 1 from ameya)

tomomi - 1 healing hands leyden, 2 cleanse spirit leydens, compass, radio, 3 vivre card (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to harue, 1 from harue)

inoryu - 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse nausea leyden, 1 cleanse spirit leyden, 1 lightning leyden, 1 vivre tag (to houkou)

ameya - 1 lightning leyden, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse paralysis leyden, 7 vivre tags(?) (1 to houkou)

[Dr. Neuro, RN]

Ameya followed Houkou into the cavern, sticking with the formation given. She let out a big yawn as the other three investigated the pool of water at the center of the room. She heard her name eaca Houkou’s lips, giving her his next order. The other male kusa Shinobi too this time to snap some pictures and the other one did her own thing too. Ameya didn’t really pay attention to any of them. Her creatures were all in the room, except for the one that Houkou ordered her to leave behind.

His next order was to have one of her creatures stick its head through the pool of liquid or something like that. And have another one hold onto it. She wasn’t sure what he was getting at, but she relayed this information to two of her creatures. Then she gave one final order, “You two obey him. Whatever he says, do it.” Those were the order she gave to the two that were peering into the water hole. They obeyed both commands, though they would have to communicate with Ameya. She took this time to roll into a ball and take a nap

[j]

As they entered the space, Tomo couldn't help but display his utter disappointment. His expression cringed as his eyes fell upon brown walls and ceiling composed of stone. He touched stalactites gently, intending only to confirm his dismay. He couldn't see any of the immeasurably valuable architecture or treasures he'd imagined as they made their way into the space. Although to be fair, his assumptions were slightly outlandish. He wandered around the room slightly disgusted, before his eyes fell upon an aspect of the space that he'd not noticed to this point.

The hole. It was a hole with water in it. Or not. It was full of energy, and regardless of his attempts to peer through or around the pool, he saw nothing. He even attempted to deactivate his Byakugan, and still he saw nothing. Simply giving up on seeing through the substance, Tomo turned his byakugan back on and ceased ignoring the others in the room. He listened intently to their statements and orders, while looking at nobody in particular. His eyes allowed him to see their faces even without looking directly at them. He thought intently for a while, before coming to a conclusion of his own. Rather than wasting valuable time and resources, wouldn't it be better to see for himself?

The logic was rather flawed in itself, but Tomo couldn't help but feel the urge to just... Go for it. Houkou ushered the others out of the space, but he'd yet to see Tomomi, kneeling next to the pool, peering into the surface of whatever it was. And with that, he went!

-SPLOOSH-

SPOILER: Click to show

Byakugan x6 [10 meter telescopic]
Observation 260+30+30, 320
Stealth 125
solid regard - immune to fear.

neko bo beko , DJ Loki , Inoryu , An'ei Sekitan , Dr. Neuro, RN

[DJ Loki]

Chapter 2: The Adventure Begins

Yuri who was on the other end listened to the report that Harue was giving her. Yuri looked through the notes she had already taken from the information given to her by the other groups. As she looked through the papers, Ameya and her creepy little mutant babies were having a peek inside. As the creature had peek, it was sucked in along with the one that was holding it. The next bit... action was that as Houkou was ushering the others out he'd heard a splash, and one of his crew would be gone, but at that very moment, Yuri's voice echoed over the radio,

"Oh yeah, you can just jump in. We haven't made a name or found a name for it yet. But it's a door... sort of. I've just been calling it a Jump Spot for now. So... jump in." This was good to know for Yuri, it confirmed that to enter into the actual area. She was already getting a lot of information from just this little incident. Tomo had already jumped in without warning, along with the 2 mutant babies. Tomo found himself floating in... the sky with the two mutant babies. He seemed to be high in the air, but his Byakugan would be able to tell that it was not a sky, well it was, but it was artificial. He also found himself floating downwards at a much slower pace than what such be possible.

Looking around towards the the ground he would see structures beyond his imagining. They were constructed of science and magic, or so it would seem. Off in the distance he could see two the light path of two other jump spots. It wasn't difficult to line things up and figure out that those belong to Jump Spots in the other Quadrants. Once he and the Mutant babies landed on the ground, and stepped out of thee light, they could hear the sounds of wildlife, and the blowing of wind, and there up ahead into the center of everything he could see a massive tree floating in the sky with some sort of crystal in the middle. On the ground around the tree were three platforms, that continued down the path from the Jump spot.

There didn't seem to be anything else of around aside form this area, and it seemed that there was a barrier of sorts separating, the three platforms from each other. Things From the look of things, it was clear that this place was not abandoned. However, what or who actually dwelt here remained to be seen.

[neko bo beko]

"T-Tomo!" Harue pushes past the group to stand just inside the start of their quadrant, blinking at the pool that Tomomi and the babies have just disappeared into. As she approaches the edge, Yuri's voice erupts from her waist, the radio in her pocket, in response to what Harue had said to her moments prior. Her fingers tremble only a little bit as she takes the radio out and holds her thumb over the button, muttering into the transceiver briefly. "Th-thanks for the heads up." Her voice was a drawl and purposefully devoid of sarcasm. As Harue replaces the radio, she moves to stand with her toes over the edge of the hole. She looks over her shoulder briefly at the group before giving a theatrical shrug, turning back to it and simply taking a step over the edge. She plummets into the water, blinking hard and gasping when she finds what's on the other side. It's as if she's floating down to the ground of some mythical place, a place further unlike what she'd expected from their quadrant but in a much more phenomenal way this time. She looks around as she cascades down, descending upon the earth in a pleasant free fall, and sees that there are other Jump Spots. She looks up into the sky to look for following teammates, curious about what it looks like to actually fall into this dimension.

She twists her body in the sky to look downwards at the impending earth. If you could even call it earth at this point. Everything about this place is eerie, a sense of dread hanging over Harue as she looks specifically towards the strange tree and its roots floating in the near distance ahead. Her legs feel like jelly when her feet finally touch the ground, stumbling a little as she steps out of the light of the Jump Spot's trajectory to join Tomomi.

"Hey," she says plainly, looking briefly to Tomomi with a smile before looking around their actual quadrant again. She squints first at the strange platforms around the tree, counting three in total, and wonders if this meant they'd have to split up or if those platforms were apart of the other quadrants, or if the platforms were accessible at all - she was confused, mostly, and thrown completely off balance by the shift in reality. She blinks, looking to the light of the Jump Spot as she considers her next movements. At least this place was hospitable to life, and was completely of its own world. The wind down here told Harue that this was definitely a separate dimension than their own. She pulls out her radio but hesitates, her thumb over the button but not connecting her to Yuri just yet. What would she say? How could she describe a place like this? By now, everyone must be filing in behind her if not already joined with her and Tomomi. Perplexed and still facing the path, Harue finally tunes into Yuri's radio. "How much do you know about this place?" Harue asks, eyeing the tree in the center of all this. She didn't want to relay information that Yuri might already know. "There's a large, uhm... tree, I guess, hanging in the atmosphere sort of at the center of all this mess. There's this crystal in the middle of it, looks sort of like..." Harue swallows thickly, afraid of making wrong hypothesizes. At least her first theory had been right. "I don't know, really. The crystal might be important, though. Like a life force?" She was only judging, however, by the glowing of the crystal and the fact that it was the oddest thing here, and it was the center almost like it was meant to cover the whole, carved out world. "A heart, maybe," she adds lastly with a laugh, though she doesn't know if she should be making jokes right now. She replaces the radio in her pocket and turns to the group, sure that Houkou would have instructions of some kind for them. She was nervous, for some reason, about so much as being here and had the off hand idea that something - or someone - might be lurking just outside of their scopes. She hoped that one of the powerful doujutsus would at least help them be keen to anything that approached, but tried to stay quiet to avoid any undue attention regardless.

---

SPOILER: Click to show

active -
eyes of the planes
soul guard
solid regard
shadow walker: hide in plain sight

skills -
observation 81
investigation 100

Harue's Notes

SPOILER: Click to show

harue - 10 smoke pellets, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 clear nausea leyden, radio (channel 5) 4 vivre tags (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to yuri, 1 to and from tomomi)

houkou - 2 healing hands leyden, 6 vivre tags (4 half) (1 from harue, 1 from tomo, 1 from inoryu, 1 from ameya)

tomomi - 1 healing hands leyden, 2 cleanse spirit leydens, compass, radio, 3 vivre card (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to harue, 1 from harue)

inoryu - 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse nausea leyden, 1 cleanse spirit leyden, 1 lightning leyden, 1 vivre tag (to houkou)

ameya - 1 lightning leyden, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse paralysis leyden, 7 vivre tags(?) (1 to houkou)

[Inoryu]

    Outside of the cave room, Inoryu watched the investigation through his hand held surveillance monitor and was stunned by Tomomi's reckless behavior, as the boy jumped in head first into the strange liquid. Worried about the boy's condition, he felt a significant relief as Yuri explained that the pool was some kind of 'door', referring to it as a 'jump spot'. Extremely relieved that the pool wasn't acid, Inoryu returned the hand held surveillance monitor to his main pack before re-entering the cave room and double checking that the surveillance spike was secure.  

    He stood at the edge of the pool and leaped in, crashing into the liquid and suddenly being transported to another place. He took in his new surroundings and switched his camera vision goggles to record a video of the new surroundings. He made sure to observe every direction of the new land, near, far, below and up. He recorded all of the advanced, intelligent constructs he could, as well as two other light paths in other quadrants that were jump spots like the one he was floating in now. He captured everything he could about the land and observed above him to record how it appears to arrive by the jump spot on this side. When he was satisfied with his video records, he switched the camera vision to picture and took snaps using his awareness of spacial relativity to collect the most information he could. He was floating down at a slow pace, much slower than possible, so he was able to collect all of the information he wanted. The ten pictures captured the new land and its dimensions perfectly to include the ground below and the landscape in a 360 degree fashion to paint an accurate and detailed map of the area. 

    When he arrived on the ground and stepped out of the jump spot, he joined Tomomi, Harue, and two of Ameya's mutant creations. The world seemed to come alive with the sounds of wildlife and the wind blowing, but what caught his attention the most was the massive tree suspended in the air up ahead. It was surreal, with a massive crystal that resided as its trunk. Inoryu made sure to snap a picture of it with his camera vision goggles, as well as the three platforms beneath it. He continued to snap pictures of all the area around him in a 360 degree fashion and through the lens, noticed the barriers that separated the quadrants. 

    He found this new land to be profoundly beautiful. He thought that whomever dwelt here must be very intelligent and very powerful. He had never even imagined such constructs and wondered where exactly he was. Surely you can't go underneath a city and come floating down from the sky. The only thing he could think of was that the jump spot was some sort of space-time travel chakra. While his selective invisibility jutsu was still active, he would continue to be vigilant. He transferred the pics and video to his holodisk, wondering about what the other units were finding. 

SPOILER: Click to show

Selective Invisibility active - 23 mins, Will save 30
-Aerial View of land recorded
-10 360 degree pictures of land captured (aerial view)
-Tree and crystal captures in still 
-5 360 degree pictures of land (ground view)

[An'ei Sekitan]

Houkou had watched as Tomo dove in the pool despite him telling everyone to step out of the room, and had even looked at the boy. While not personally concerned for his safety, nor did he need that boy to complete the mission, there was just something about people who could not follow a simple order that always rose his heckles. Yuri would call in, giving information that she was clearly holding out on, considering they were the last party to enter, confirming that it was indeed some kind of gateway into who could know where. Once again, before Houkou could say a word, two more dashed to the portal and jumped in like a couple of kids at a summer camp, as if this were just another watering hole in Kusagakure no Sato. The worst part was that one was a Chuunin. Only Ameya remained and he could only surmise that it was from pure laziness and, to be frank, he was happy to leave her here as well as this entire team.

An audible growl escaped his lips, his own anger beginning to rise as he had been shoved out of the way for them to deliberately shirk his command. His left hand would clench and unclench, clench again, as he struggled with his dual nature; the murderous demon and the loyal dog. I could kill them all and complete the mission on my own. Their lives did not make or break the mission, only exploration. That vile grin would creep along Houkou’s face as he would leave Ameya standing there, or probably laying there, and head toward the portal with his right hand resting on the Dog Star upon his right hip. Without hesitation he was within the pool, a quick sucking sound and a pop later, he was on the other side.

The view opened before him, massive and impressive, although with a sheen of red produced by his very own rage. Without realizing it, the Three Tomoe of his Sharingan were ablaze in his eyes, even as he looked over the breathtaking architecture, the artificial sky made of chakra, and the floating tree with a heart of crystal in the center of it all. Even as he filed it away, he could hear over his radio as Harue asked what else Yuri might know of this place, taking the lead in some fashion and then turning toward him for guidance. Turning toward him for guidance after they all pulled that stunt and acted of their own accord instead of like elite trained warriors of their hidden village picked for this mission. Houkou held a white knuckled grip on his sheath as he eyed the three, wondering just which one should die first in terms of power to make his life easier. Harue had the weakest chakra of the three before him, Inoryu and Tomomi on the same level, and the last one was unknown but could not be dismissed. [Legit can’t fail these checks. Observation: 210]

For now, he would wait to see how powerful Ameya was an how likely she would be to attack as well. Four versus one would not be a problem, however Houkou would rather his odds be completely in his favor. Maintaining a white knuckled grip to cool the fire of his rage to the smoldering embers that could be reignited at a moment’s notice, he would simply walk passed the group without giving orders beyond a simple single one. “You’re in charge, Inoryu. I don’t condone disobedience.” With that he would begin to move down the path, keeping his eyes open for traps and the like on his way toward the Crystal Heart Tree. [Observation: 210] Additionally, he would continue to sniff the air [Scent S-rank] and keep his eyes open for chakra [Sharingan Three Tomoe]. Hopefully they had the sense to leave him be for the time being while he reined in the anger, a remnant of his former days as the Shinobi Undercover Black Ops.

[j]

Regret briefly raced across his thoughts as he fell into the portal. Perhaps the notion that what he'd done wasn't helpful but in fact potentially destructive horrified him. But only for a moment. In fact, as soon as his eyes rested upon his new surroundings the speculation dimmed, as his attention was brought towards other, more important happenings. It didn't really matter that he drew the ire of his superiors anyways. The only thing that mattered was the huge thing right in front of him. It didn't look like there was a way to get there at the moment, but still his arms reached forwards absently. The tree was pretty neato, but the crystal inside was what drew his attention. Want.

Tomomi wasn't nearly greedy enough to attempt to force his way there, but he definitely wanted it. He stood there in a stupor, drool escaping his lips briefly, before he was interrupted by the arrival of his good friend Harue. Or at least, he would've been interrupted if he'd noticed that she was there. She greeted him, but his vision had narrowed entirely. It was as if she didn't even exist. The only semblance of a response she'd get was an open-mouthed Tomo reaching towards the tree, uttering one simple word.

"Gimme..."

And with that, the others began arriving, one after another. Till all that remained above was the sleepy girl. Just then, a comment brought him back to his senses. The red-eyed fellow was pissed... Surely what Tomomi did couldn't have been that bad, right? At least his intentions were pure. Well, whatever. He couldn't imagine the orders of this goofy looking guy being much better than the previous leader, but he'd listen for now anyways. Tomomi wasn't scared of the Houkou at the moment, whether that be because of his soul technique or otherwise, but for now he'd stay quiet.

SPOILER: Click to show

Byakugan x6 [10 meter telescopic]
Observation 260+30+30, 320
Stealth 125
solid regard - immune to fear.

neko bo beko , DJ Loki , Inoryu , An'ei Sekitan , Dr. Neuro, RN

[Inoryu]

    The blonde haired, blue-eyed Yamanaka paid attention to the wind of this new land. He could definitely hear it, but he wanted to feel it as well so he might detect any genjutsu. It was a trivial detail, but one that interested him. His curious nature caused him to question everything and anything, no matter how trivial it seemed. After this brief moment of observation, Houkou had arrived with his red eyes blaring and put Inoryu in charge, commenting that he doesn't condone disobedience. Obviously he was referring to Tomomi and his blatant disregard of his orders, but he may have been referring to Inoryu and Harue as well for obeying the Kusakage over zealously, and Inoryu realized that he had disobeyed his order in favor of hers. It was true that the Kusakage outranked him, but Inoryu hasn't actually ever come across a situation like that in the ninja academy or training with his dad, and understood that he should have behaved appropriately to obey both orders. 

    Inoryu checked his hand held surveillance monitor and saw Ameya and the rest of her creatures in the cave room napping. He touched on the wireless radio and reported, "The commander has put me in charge and is headed toward the crystal tree. I'm certain he wants to do his own thing for now, and Ameya fell asleep in the cave room. As things are now, Tomomi, Harue and I will continue to be a unit. There are barriers erected separating the three quadrants from each other. My unit will inspect them with their doujutsu and see if we might pass through them. There's a castle-like structure that I'm sure houses someone that we can interview. It's clear this place isn't abandoned, but who resides here remains to be unseen."

    The chuunin's report relayed to Yuri as well as the entire team, so he only had one directive for his unit, "Unless I order otherwise, we will stick together. No more doing your own thing," he was clearly directing this more towards Tomomi, "and we will watch each other's back. Is that clear?" If he wasn't confirmed after a short moment, he would say, "I need to know you understand," to Harue, Tomomi, or both. If one or both wouldn't state that they understood, Inoryu would report to Yuri about their incompetence. Inoryu did not know their class as shinobi, but that order comes from a desire to protect the genin. He understood that their ranks did not determine their power, only that his role here would be to lead and to make the team as effective as possible. His unit had two different types of doujutsu, so they were the most prepared to understand the barriers around the quadrants. After confirming that they understood their directive, he would put the handheld surveillance monitor to sleep, return it to his main pack and ask them, "Using your doujutsu, what can you tell me about these barriers?"  

SPOILER: Click to show

Selective invisibility still active, 22 mins, Will save 30 , Stealth 495

[DJ Loki]

Back at base Yuri took in all the information that Harue and Inoryu was feeding about what they were seeing, and what was going on. From what she was hearing it was lining up with what was reported by other groups. Yuri spoke over the Radio's once again, "Yeah, the place you're in seems to be some kind of central room of sorts. The other groups reported seeing the same thing. If you guys are where I think you are, there should be a pedestal like thing further ahead. Before you get to the pedestal, there some kind of stand there, with a hand imprint. We are still uncertain how it works. What we do know is that each section, as in each Jump Spot Tower place thingy, is inside of a powerful barrier, so the way to move forward is somewhere in there. We also know that to get back, you can just jump up from where you came in."

If Houkou looked over towards other Jump Spot Tower thingies. Than he'd be able to just make out two familiar faces on his Su, and Salihn. If Houkou spotted Su, he would receive a goofy exaggerated wave from the Kedoin Manic. Salihn as usual had her group hard at work searching for clues on how to move forward. "Houkou... I'm counting on you to lead them. I never said it was going to be a simple thing." Yuri said in a tone to Houkou, almost as if she purposely put him with a group of weirdos and wildcards. If he was going to be the Captain of her Anbu Dragon Division, he was going to have to lead... everyone. Even this ragtag team of weirdos.

the area that they were in looked to be in much better shape than a place that was underground for so long. There was a building up several ramps off to the right of where they entered, it looked to be in about as much shape as the rest of the place.

((Explore look for clues... etc.))

[neko bo beko]

Still looking around the area as she moves back towards Tomomi after disconnecting from Yuri, Harue speaks low to him before the others arrive. "I dunno 'bout this place, Tomo... This place gives me the creeps..." When he proves to be tuned out from her words or maybe ignoring her, the pinkette drags her eyes to him. "Tomomi?" Apparently, he was entranced by the strange crystal - grabby hands and all, Harue almost would have laughed. Almost. But then Inoryu comes gliding down, taking some nice shots of the scenery for later further inspection - not a bad idea, really. She tried not to disturb the shots he took when his spectacles scanned near where she and Tomo stood idly. Apparently, it was only going to be Houkou who came down to join them, and quite unpleasantly to say the least. Harue grimaces momentarily, briefly feeling as though she's done something wrong solely, but apparently it was them as a whole. She sighs softly, rolling her eyes slightly towards Tomo with an exaggerated expression before moving to regroup with Inoryu - she hadn't meant to piss anyone off.

Apparently, Inoryu was in a foul mood too. Though he's the last to speak to Yuri, she responds to Harue's earlier question about knowing anything else. She reaches into her pocket to grab the radio and thank Yuri for the information, but Inoryu addresses them rather...formally, before she can. While Harue is initially thrown off by the change in Inoryu's demeanor, she tries to understand that he was only trying to fit into his new role as Chunin. Biting her tongue, Harue simply nods in understanding to Inoryu. Regardless of this, in the back of her mind she toys with the thought that really, she could wander back and head towards Yuri and leave the unit behind. But the rush of adventure was too great, and overall she decided it wasn't too much of a hassle to deal with clashing personalities. At least for now. If she had to turn back later on and make her own findings, then so be it. She didn't see it coming to that, though. She remained optimistic, however wearily.

Although... Harue didn't know how capable Inoryu was of leading. Last time they'd met, he'd asked Harue for specific direction in their fight with Vlad, and before that he'd fled from their sparring match with Lady Yuri and left her behind to fend for herself. He's proven to be rather... unreliable, but these were only first impressions. After all, he had made Chuunin. Blinking herself from her negative thoughts, Harue's red eyes scan the area as they stand together. She nods to the right of their jump spot after Inoryu and Tomomi talk about his Byakugan and the barriers. "Inoryu-san, you think we should head this way? I don't think the big guy wants us following him right now, even if he's heading towards the... heart of this place, if that's what it is." She smiles, hoping to make some sort of amends, at least in some form, and prove to him that she wasn't attempting to stray from the objective or betray his command. "Maybe it's a vein to the heart. Or something. Yuri said we can't move past the barriers, after all." Although she wants to go and investigate in that moment, she waits patiently for Inoryu to process his thoughts. All the while however, without moving from her place, she looks around the area for anything that might seem odd. 

---

SPOILER: Click to show

active -
eyes of the planes
soul guard
solid regard
shadow walker: hide in plain sight

skills -
observation 81
investigation 100

Harue's Notes

SPOILER: Click to show

harue - 10 smoke pellets, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 clear nausea leyden, radio (channel 5) 4 vivre tags (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to yuri, 1 to and from tomomi)

houkou - 2 healing hands leyden, 6 vivre tags (4 half) (1 from harue, 1 from tomo, 1 from inoryu, 1 from ameya)

tomomi - 1 healing hands leyden, 2 cleanse spirit leydens, compass, radio, 3 vivre card (half) (1 to houkou, 1 to harue, 1 from harue)

inoryu - 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse nausea leyden, 1 cleanse spirit leyden, 1 lightning leyden, 1 vivre tag (to houkou)

ameya - 1 lightning leyden, 1 healing hands leyden, 1 cleanse paralysis leyden, 7 vivre tags(?) (1 to houkou)

[An'ei Sekitan]

Houkou gazed across the expanse at his former companions Su and Salihn. Whoever was in charge there was in the same boot as himself, leading misfits, trying to uncover hidden truths and keep them all alive. They were dealing with people who had no regard for safety or caution, order, perhaps not even the lives of their fellows and yet they were making it work. As Yuri finished, he could feel his frustration ebb as he offered a single hand wave over toward Su, acknowledging that he had seen his former companion, then allowing himself a single sigh as he pushed that rising anger down into oblivion. Turning on his heel, he would make his way back toward the team, a bit brighter for finally having received some direction as to why he was stuck with this awful bunch.

“I suppose I won’t be rid of you all that easily,” he began, then added a smile to it so that they knew he was not attempting to be rude, “In any case, I’m surprised to find you all still standing here. Down the path is a pedestal, just as Yuri confirmed, so we will make our way down there.” Turning away from them, he almost took a single step and then stopped, tilting his head a little bit as a thought entered his mind. More of an afterthought really.

“Inoryu, Ameya and Harue will be with you, while Tomomi will be with me. I want to see how you do leading a team like this, so I’ll split it in terms of difficulty should we need to separate. You’ll report directly to me, superseded only by Yuri. Nobody else is to act without orders unless it is to save a life or prevent a disaster. We don’t know what’s down here. Follow Inoryu’s last directive as well.”

Now he would step, motioning for the others to come with, while pressing his radio transmit button to address Ameya.

“Stop sleeping. Get in the pool and let’s go.”

Leadership involves a lot of talking I would not normally do. Quite the hassle. Houkou would lead them toward the pedestal, hoping those Hyuuga were doing what they were supposed to do. He kept his own Sharingan active as well [Three Tomoe], scanning the path way and surrounding as they made their way forward [Observation: 210], and stopping before the pedestal with the hand depression. Houkou was almost certain he knew what was necessary, which was to place a hand in the designated area and probably pump the pedestal full of chakra, or even perhaps use blood. What he wasn’t sure of was if it would drain his chakra or life force, or even take the appendage in question. Could even be a trap.

“If any of you are skilled with devices, this is your moment. Examine this pedestal and see if you can’t figure out its function.”