Birds of a Feather

[Niro]

[Temple 4 Annexation Camp]

Over the last few months Water Country and its shinobi village, Kirigakure no Sato, had begun expanding their territory once more. This time, the target in their sights is Soul Country. Drawing upon their newly strengthened alliance with Iwagakure no Sato, the two sides have come together as one force upon the shores of the country to launch an invasion force. A fortified base camp was swiftly constructed by the two sides as a rendezvous point for members of both villages over several days.

The single day operation was soon to start.

Nyusen, Natsumi exited the large dark colored canvas tent and stepped into the brisk air of the wee morning hours of Soul Country. It was barely past 3:30 AM and preparations were beginning as shinobi stirred from their tents or other lodgings. She found her way to the center of the camp and began to put together a stand and multiple chairs for any who wished to have themselves don'd with her fuuinjutsu. The woman barked some orders to another Iwa shinobi who scampered off before coming back with a large crate of fuuinjutsu supplies: ink and writing instruments as well as blank paper tags a plenty. He placed it on the desk before returning to his duties, Natsumi taking out the utensils and ink as she finished setting up.

"Those who plan on participating in the assault today, please come to the center of the camp for last minute run throughs and communications!" The woman shouted over the growing sounds of camp, the weary forms of several shinobi already lumbering towards the makeshift stand.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozaki heard the call from Natsumi and rolled out of his cot, yawning and stretching his arms upwards. He'd been forced to arrive late last night, and likely only gotten a few hours of sleep. Despite being only a special jounin, though perhaps a bit more skilled that that, the boys unique ability had put him at the crux of Kirigakure's plans for the Annexation. He'd been told files on him had been handed over to some woman, Natsumi, and that she'd be his "handler" for these events. How annoying. Standing up, he slid his shoes on and dropped his jacket over his shoulders before pushing out of the tent. It was dark, still. They attacked at dawn. An interesting choice, shinobi in day light. There were shinobi ops, after all. This wasn't a war, it wasn't an invasion. They were supposed to b doing this as low key as possible, in and out. However, intel suggested Kumogakure and Konohagakure had prepared in response to them, and that it'd be a little more complicated than they wanted.

Sighing, Kozaki moved towards where Natsumi would be, taking in the growing bustle of the camp as he did so. He stopped on the way, grabbing an apple from what appeared to be an indiscriminate pile of food before closing in on the young woman who would be his handler.

"Natsumi-sama?", he asked, his bright yellow eyes locked onto her through the darkness.

Not even waiting for a response, Kozaki sat on the ground and began to seal. The black bracers on his arm that made up his weapon moving from fluid to solid as he did so. When he was done, a small spike would grow from his neck, about a foot in length. He reached behind his neck, grabbing it and moving it along his skin until it was fixated directly at the center of his chest, "When anyone gets their implants from me, they need to hold onto that, I'm going to split the cost of any implants between them and myself 50/50, so I'm not draining myself of chakra. They told me you set up a technique to expand my domain? If thats the case we don't necessarily need every single person to be a conduit, just a general at each location should suffice. Save everyone some chakra.", he paused.

Doing a quick motion with his hands, the braces would shoot off of his arms and form into two balls floating behind him.

"The plan is to put Samsara in everyone though, right? So I can channel medical techniques, communication, support, through any of our guys?", he asked. The question seemed rhetorical though because he shrugged, "I'm ready whenever."

This seemed to be a different side of Kozaki. Less rambunctious, more serious. Maybe he understood how bad this could get.

[Zao]

[OOC: Currently using his MK-3: Ghost puppet body]

The small from of a young boy with his messy grey hair visible due to the hood of his cloak being pulled back was one of the first to arrive after the Kiri-nin, his nigh immortal body having no need for the traditional things of a normal body such as food, air, or even sleep to a point. If one wasn't focused on him the missing-nin almost felt like he wasn't there, like a ghost just passing through as the tiny figure easily moved through the bustle of people who were beginning to move about after the announcements had been made.

Hyo was truly only affiliated with the Iwa side of things here, having been notified that the village was requesting his assistance in this operation with Kiri had come as a slight surprise. He had known that the two villages were working together and that their alliance had grown stronger over the last several month, the rogue shinobi had even be tasked to help with another mission with a pair of Kiri shinobi only a short while ago. 'Things really are ramping up...' The young man could only shake his head at how things seemed to be changing at a rapid pace around the five villages.

If the intel he'd received from the village was correct, they could expect to encounter shinobi from Kumo and even possibly Konoha as they had managed to obtain information about the attempt at expansion of the Hidden Mist village. The results didn't truly matter as he was only here because the services that he was providing had been bought through the Syndicate by Iwa. Placing the tiny hands of the puppet body into the the body's pants pocket, a faint sigh sound escaped the frowning face of the missing-nin.

Shortly after he would arrive, seeing both Natsumi and Kozaki, only the former was the man somewhat familiar with due to his cooperation with Tatsou in the past but he had no idea exactly whom the Kiri-nin was. He arrived just as the other young man was speaking about Samsara? It wasn't a term that he was familiar with and the mention of his implants a slightly soured look couldn't help but cross the hand crafted lips of the puppet's face. After all, Ryu was one who strive to create the perfect puppet body for himself, the thought of introducing some foreign object was a bit unwelcome.

"Guess I'm first..." A disinterested voice spoke out softly as the boy approached the pair who were exchange words with themselves, "...what do I need to do?" He'd heard that the two village's had prepared a number of ideas for those skilled in support technique to help prepare for the operation at dawn, guess he'd just have to roll with it until he pushed out with his assigned team....

[Golnax]

It was a cooler night than what Aimi Kaguya had been getting used to in the past few weeks since he'd been out and about exploring the world. Being back in waters that were near Water Country and Kirigakure brought him no joy but the orders had been clear. From the Mizukage himself, Kasai, he had been summoned back to aid the village in the take over of a small country not too far away from Water, Soul Country. The messenger hawk had reached him two days ago and had included a detailed note from Kasai informing him of the mission, his duty to the village, and the exact location and time that he needed to be at before things got started. There were enough details present that Aimi couldn't have possibly mistaken them or gotten them confused which he thought was very thoughtful of the Mizukage. Thus with no real desire to return yet he had made his way back, flying eastward and resting in order to conserve his strength. He flew now on the cool night air with the map that had been drawn for him, the only piece of evidence left of his orders, following it to where he needed to be.

From out of the sky he dropped down on the base camp just outside of the line of tents not too far from the shore. He folded his wings, stood up straight and yawned as he rubbed his eyes and trudged forward through the sand into the camp. It was far too early in the morning for his liking and he'd only been awake a couple of hours, long enough to catch a good breeze that let him carry him to his present location with minimal effort. Kasai had made it a point for him to conserve as much chakra as possible after all. The near naked Kaguya stepped past tents and ninja walking out of them sleepily, getting looks here and there from Kirigakure shinobi and kunoichi who recognized him but as he looked around he didn't really see any faces that he himself recognized. He noticed a large number of ninja wearing Iwagakure headbands and remembered that this was a joint operation. A serious endeavor indeed...

He made his way towards the center of the camp where people were gathering and a woman was shouting orders. The camp was coming alive at that early hour of the morning in preparation for this invasion and he was ultimately no exception. He looked around sleepily from one person to the next with blurry eyes and bags over his cheeks. Rolling up the map he had been given now that he was there the Kaguya bannin let out a large, toothy yawn and tilted his head back, placing a hand on his hip and stretching his torso forward. "Aimi Kaguyaaaaaaaaah.... reporting for duty," he called out tiredly, letting out a sniffle and smacking his lips. He didn't quite look like he was ready for action just yet...

[Valkier]

Despite being only of middling rank, Naohiro's insistence had secured him a seat on one of the first ships to sail from Kirigakure. He'd never witnessed an operation of such large a scale as this one, and from the earliest whispers it had reeked of opportunity. And so he'd been here to see and help this fortified camp arise from nothing, noting all the while the influx of shinobi from both near and far. A part of him itched to analyse the numbers and relative powers of the people and villages in attendance, but that would have to be a puzzle for another day. Today, each one of them had a greater task. Stories began and ended in camps like these, and he was determined to see his become more than mere footnote.

Clad in Kirigakure's characteristic dark grey flak jacket—all the more effective in the depths of pre-dawn—and with his long hair pulled back into a neat but practical ponytail, he strode across the camp towards its center. His standing orders bid him rally there with other members of the strike teams. A woman's shout caught his ear as he approached and he turned in her direction. He didn't know her, but if the doll-faced blonde was who he assumed her to be, she'd be one of Iwagakure's finest.

Arriving just behind a few others, one of them immediately recognisable as a bannin of the hidden mist, he stopped and gave careful bow to the woman who headed the small gathering.

"Aisu Naohiro, reporting for duty, ma'am."

Sparing a searching glance at those around him he didn't know and committing their features to memory, he moved aside to wait patiently. No doubt others would need to gather before their final orders were assigned.

[Izanagi]

Like many from the hidden mist village Shinjiro had become a remarkable shinobi at a young age, just shy of his 17th birthday he was an elite Jounin, having risen through the ranks rapidly and proven himself through a number of A and S-rank missions over the last few years. He knew there were others like him, Shio who was even younger whom he had fought in Star Country and of course Kotaru from Iwagakure, he wondered if he would get to see them properly in action during this assignment. Many of those involved had been kept secret or tentative in the roles they would play, though there was one person he had been informed he would be working alongside, another expert in assassination and the use of poisons whose talents complemented his own. Before converging on the main tent for briefing and preparations Shinjiro had of course inspected his weaponry carefully and applied fresh lathering’s of poison, applying the Touch of mortality on his shuriken, throwing knives and the sword known as Chaos. His other poison, the Shinigami’s kiss was applied to Agony as well as the arrow sheathed at his hip known as Malevolence.

Smirking slightly beneath his mask as he entered the tent, he noted the small figure of the puppet master. “Seems the higher up like the way we work together” he noted, finding himself growing more comfortable with the rogue shinobi after their last mission together, despite the fact that in their first meeting over a year ago Hyoryu had nearly killed him. Shinji had grown much stronger since then, though he would always remain wary of powerful shinobi regardless of where their loyalties currently lay. He too noted Kozaki, who he had met a couple times now, though he didn’t recognize the woman but her scent felt oddly familiar, someone from back in Iwa certainly, likely someone of importance if his path had crossed near hers. “I don’t really have the chakra to spare to extend your range, need everything I can for the assaults but I could benefit from medical support.” He stated, ready to accept some of the Samsara as he approached the young man, holding a hand out as he wasn’t sure exactly what to expect. With the other hand he lowered his mask and hood, making it easier for the woman to apply Fuuinjutsu as had been indicated in his instructions. “Be careful not to touch my saliva” he whispered in warning to the woman, making sure to speak softly until he was tattooed and could put his mask back up. The young man’s body was flooded with poisons, making even a simple touch of his fluids dangerous. After receiving the Samsara and Fuuinjutsu he would hear Aimi’s voice, putting his mask up and turning to look at the Bannin as he stepped slightly out of the way for anyone else in line. “I hope we get to fight alongside each other before the end of the day, Aimi-Sama” he stated in greeting to the Bannin he was quite familiar with.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki wasn't fully sure what exactly was going to go down at Soul Country but it was clearly going to be more intense than originally hoped as it seemed Konohakure and Kumogakure had joined forces to combat both Kirigakure and Iwagakure in their endeavour to take control of the place, as such a greater force was certainly required and it was time for the boy's destiny as a Genma Jinchuuriki weapon to come to fruition even though it was a rather delicate situation at hand.

All the young jinchuuriki knew for the moment was that he was to hastily arrive at some camp and find this woman called Natsumi who seemed to have something for everyone who was joining the battle, as such he had made great haste through the night to get to Soul country and join the rest of the forces before anything truly began to go down.
Given what he was being sent out for Nishiki had dressed in his more simple, form fitting, red kimono with the Tsukino insignia across the back and the Muramasa insignia sewn into the collar area behind his neck.
Over this was the usual white and gold overall, with a slight floral design, that further pinned down the kimono and tied down his black hakama with bandages flowing down to his ankles into his ninja sandals with his feet and toes otherwise bare with clear room for claws to extend.
This did also mean his jinchuuriki features were clearly visible; the black rods piercing through his wrists stuck out beyond his shorter than usual sleeves, a clear indicator of him being the host of Yoshimitsu assuming people even understood such things.
He also wore his Kirigakure given ninja headband loosely around his neck as it dangled from under a rope sash around his neck area similar to a rope sash around his waist, which also allowed for his satchel-like weapon pouch to peak out above his bum.

Nishiki seemed to arrive quite early in the morning with darkness still lingering all around making him weary of what could happen, not fully sure if people would be sleeping as he quietly walked into the camp he was instructed to find.
"Hello?" he called out awkwardly in a half quiet tone as he looked around pensively only to realise people where indeed awake and it seemed there was a figure setting up some kind of stage.
Still a little weary the boy slowly approached only for the woman to get up on her stage and call out to the camp, in turn reassuring him as he sighed with relief over finding the correct camp and the fact he recognised this white haired woman to be Natsumi from the profile he was given.
"Ah, yes" he spouted with relief as he then moved with a bit of a skip towards the centre where he then heard a fellow Special Jounin asking about implants, which filled the Tsukino with great intrigue as he had not worked with such a person before but he felt pretty sure he knew of the tattoo'd boy but he kept his focus on Natsumi for the moment so as not to be distracted.
"This is going to be boring" grumbled a menacing voice within Nishiki's mind, causing the boy to tut and roll his eyes before replying internally
"It's very different from normal so it's going to be fun as far as I am concerned" he rebutted, trying to keep focused on whatever this Iwa woman was gonna say next.

Though as he was distracted by the beast his attention was brought to a very familiar, almost naked man who had called out his arrival and was almost missed in the darkness and his own sheepish entrance.
"Oh Aimi-sama!" he then gleefully blurted once he noticed his old, now bannin sensei, edging a bit closer to the man as a large grin shown upon his face.
It had been awhile since they had probably seen each other and the Special Jounin wondered how he matched up to him now, though he was certain he was still not close enough for a fair one on one fight he had grown strong and could perhaps rightfully be named a Jounin already if it weren't for this kerfuffle.
As Nishiki edged his way towards the bare chested man he couldn't help but notice a strange young boy also watching, appearing rather eerie and something not quite right about him.
"Is that even a genin?" he pondered as he glanced over the small frame and grey hair before deciding just to ignore him for the moment.

Also in the crowd was an old familiar figure from the Aisu clan, someone he had not really spoken to in what seemed like quite a long time and as such he didn't really pay much attention and continued his own approach but glancing upon Naohiro made him realise that he should perhaps call out his own name as well.
"Oh, Tsukino Nishiki!" he called out after edging his way towards Aimi, raising his right hand as he did so, his focus finally back on Natsumi and ready for instructions.

"Hmm... Others..." Yoshimitsu picked up once more, though more to himself as he was sure he felt certain prescences nearby.
"Vorashu..." he murmured to himself, certain that Shinji must also be in camp if not even more genma jinchuuriki.
"Perhaps it will be quite 'fun' indeed" the beast commented within
"Hmm?" Nishiki pondered in reply, though Yoshimitsu did not answer and kept his sly thoughts to himself but his distractions once more allowed the boy to notice his fellow genma host also approach Aimi-sama which filled him with even more calm and resolve as he lowered his hand after calling out his own name and nodded to boy of many beasts.

[Jinan B]

Kinsue was already awake and preparing for the assault when he heard the call to action issued. Truth be told, he hadn't slept very well to begin with. The entire idea of this operation, that shinobi from 4 of the 5 great villages were about to engage in open combat against each other, was an escalation the likes of which had not occurred in his lifetime. The unknown of what exactly he and his village would face today, the implications of what could happen next... Focussing on it wasn't doing the man any favours.

Nevertheless, now that the day of battle had come he felt calmer than he had since he first heard about the assault in the first place. He had a job to do, and years of training and experience to help him do it. Even better, he had some of the most powerful men and women in the world taking on the real risk of the day. He was just here to assist them in their mission.

The Karagata made his way towards the mass of bodies coalescing around the women from Iwagakure, making his way towards her and Kozaki and tossing his cloak through his open tent flap as he went. Most of his fellow Kiri shinobi he recognized by reputation more than interaction; it seemed as if he was among the lesser of the assembled soldiers. The Iwa shinobi, they were near entirely unknown.

"Karagata, Kinsue: reporting." He would say as he reached the women who called them all together. He had at least met Natsumi the day before, as they made their contributions towards the establishment of their camp. Just like her, he had his orders to provide support. The two villages were pulling out everything at their disposal to elevate their vanguard, after all.

"For those who need it, I can provide an additional layer of protection. The armour should withstand anything but the most powerful strikes without impeding your mobility." He would address the gathered shinobi. With opposition as dangerous as they expected, the extra defence could go a long way towards making the difference between a sobering warning and a death blow.

[TheLacarix]

And so it was done.

The man had gone too far this time, the Ex-Bannin of Konohgakure truly had left his beloved village behind.

He gingerly followed Nyusen, Natsumi the woman who had so graciously helped him before and was Tatsuo subordinate, or at least that’s what Yoru assumed she was. He donned a black hooded outfit and a mask, with a lotus stamped on the front. His fingers pushed behind one of the plates, where his forehead protector was placed in an inside pocket, his fingertip stroked across the groove he’d carved through the leaf symbol. Feeling ill at ease in his new surroundings.

He didn’t say a word, keeping himself to himself, not introducing himself. Though if anyone to ask, his name would be Daremo. His single hazel, peered through the mask scanning the camp these men and women were not long ago his enemy. Some he recognised from the Bingo Book others were not known to him, either way they were strangers and he had no intentions of making any small talk, at least so he hoped. He was here to complete a job and nothing else.

His exterior disposition showed nothing of his anxiousness, standing casually, trying not to bring any attention to himself in hopes they’d believe he was just a mercenary. Though perhaps that’s what Yoru actually was. A mercenary with no village, no allegiance.

He continued to move closer to Natsumi, who called out to everyone to head towards her. His gaze fell on a man who had failed to introduce himself but seemed to be offering implants. Yoru didn’t raise his hand to offer himself up for one, he certainly didn’t trust this man was wasn’t going to let anything be implanted in him.

For now he'd simply wait.

[Zao]

Outside the ring of tents, their was a single one with a single cloaked guard standing watch outside it. If one were attempt to scan the interior they would find no traditional signs of life but instead a chakra that felt as though it had become one with nature around it. As though it was simply a mass of mixing elemental chakra. Seated in the lotus position within the ordinary looking tent was a large framed man who were dark clothing and a cloak over his head. This mysterious figure was none other than the Mizukage himself, though he had arrived secretly informing on a few of even his own shinobi and even less Iwa-nin.

'It seems that my dreams are finally starting to come to fruition. Strengthening our alliance with Iwa was a wise decision..' The man hadn't exited his tent like the others had been doing and instead remained in quiet contemplation about the events that were about to unfold at dawn. This would be the largest operation with the village's solo ally, the others being smaller operations to test the strength of Iwa and their loyalty to this alliance each had forged. A satisfied smile could barely be seen as on the bearded face of the Kage as his almost glowing golden eyes glanced up and out into the darkness of the joint camp.

The man hadn't truly come to help, in the end the true power of the village did not come from one man but the strength of the shinobi within the village. As a village that put strength before almost everything, only the village's most notable or those with great potential had been summoned for this mission. 'Let's see what the other little shadows can muster...' As so for the time being the old man would just remain in the shadows to watch the performance play out...

[Golnax]

More and more people were reporting in, most of which the long haired Kaguya didn't recognize on sight. He was honestly beginning to drift to sleep on the spot then and there, reasoning to himself that if he was really needed they would wake him up. It's not like he had been asked to take a leading role in this little invasion or anything. His instructions from the Mizukage had been very clear; assist in the invasion in the most efficient way possible which, for Aimi kaguya, was to kill as many people as possible who were getting in the way. It was a simple mission for him even if it was on an unprecedented scale that he had never had the chance to be a part of. The truth was if things got violent enough most of these faces he was looking at were never going to be seen by him again. He had no doubts that he would be fine, though, so it was just a question of inevitability really. No reason for him to be concerned it seemed.

He had at first been worried that his involvement with that incident in the Land of Rivers had caught wind back to Kirigakure, that Katsu had perhaps betrayed him or he had not been as careful as he should have been. But no, that didn't seem to be the case. If it had been he had no doubt that the Mizukage himself would have confronted him since no one else in the village held authority over him anymore. Since Kasai wasn't there directly in front of him talking about the matter he believed he was in the clear and began to relax. His eyes were growing heavy and slowly falling down as he stood on the spot, his head dipping down bit by bit...

Then Shinji approached and spoke to him and the bannin jerked his head up and snapped his eyes open, frantically turning his head and looking to the genma host who was clearly more awake than he currently was, taking in a deep, sharp breath as he did. The young shinobi had managed to get the drop on him and had spooked the shirtless man for a moment there, but he began to relax again and was preparing to answer the host of Vorashu when, from out of nowhere, Nishiki edged up towards him as well and blurted out a greeting causing the already relaxing ninja to full on jerk his body, head snapping up, posture straightening, arms flexing and swinging out to his sides, wings fanning out behind him for a moment as he shouted out, "Fuck ME Nishiki!" in surprise.

Gasping for breath, his heart beating rapidly in his chest, the Kaguya folded his feathered bone wings again and bent forward, placing his hands on his knees and panting heavily. "Don't... fucking... I'm barely awake, Nishiki!" he cried out and groaned. He had fully been intending to fall asleep and get a few hours of rest before things got started. A well rested bannin was a more dangerous bannin after all, but it seemed that that wasn't going to happen so long as people kept walking up to him to talk. Letting out another groan he resigned himself to that fact and stood back up straight. He'd only been awake a couple of hours anyways so he was bound to wake up fully soon anyways. He reached out and clapped the foxs' shoulder gently. "Good to see you. Been a while since the Blood Mist rescue mission, huh?" he said, smiling at Nishiki before turning to Shinji again.

"Between the two of us - three of us if we end up together - I'm sure no one in Konohagakure or Kumogakure combined could take us!" he said cheerfully, still looking quite tired but not as if he was about to fall asleep again. He let out another large yawn and continued, "I just hope we can get the Daimyo to surrender quickly. Otherwise, we're going to have to kill him and that's going to make this whole operation more messy..." he trailed off, realizing what he'd just said and criticizing himself for it. He'd been away from the village for a while now and had gotten his orders directly from Kasai. Information like the possibility of Soul Country's Daimyo needing to be killed might have been privileged information for all he knew. Shrewdly he looked at his two former students and pointed between the two of them.

"If either of you didn't know that before now, forget about it and don't repeat it to another soul. Don't need that getting to people it shouldn't..." he ordered. Not that he didn't trust the two young shinobi of course, it was just better safe than sorry.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozaki coughed several times, then felt a surge of energy moving up his spine. Samsara would begin to leak from his forehead, forming a black band around his skull. ”Oh good timing, I guess Master is sending an update.” he muttered to himself. The words likely sounded sarcastic as Kozaki gritted his teeth. Through his Samsara Kozaki’s master slash creator was able to modify Kozaki’s physiology from a distance when he developed advancements for the boy. One of the “benefits” of being someone’s personal projects.

It would take a little time for it to come through all the way, especially as Kozaki’s biology was rearranged. This would be a good opportunity to educate everyone on who he was and what he would be doing to them.

”Okay everyone listen closely, cause they’re using me on all of you and you’re gonna need to understand what’s going on so we can pull these ops off.” he yawned, tired still. Placing out a hand, one of the orbs behind him floated to his hand. He pulled it apart like putty.

”Sparing you the details, this stuff is called Samsara. It’s a form of Jikukan for those of you familiar with it. You put chakra into it, the chakra can come out anywhere there’s more of it. Anywhere. You guys can’t control it though, only me. So, from what I understand, we’re getting comms so that we can talk through the missions. Everyone is getting some samsara. If you need something, you comm out for what you need. If someone can provide it, they let me know they’re doing it. I’ll siphon off the jutsu from them, and send it to you. You’ll get what you need.” he paused, the ball in his hand melting into fluid and forming back into a braver around his forearm. The other floating toward his neck and melding around it. He grit his teeth again, his bones hurt. What was this old man doing to him.

”Additionally, some of you will be designated; I’m not sure which, Natsumi-Sam’s will tell us. If any of you are sensors you should have noticed the boundary of chakra that I’m in the center of. Lots of new terms today it’s called Tenkujutsu, and I’m a medium to overlay another realm. Realm summoning they say. Natsumi has set up some stuff to empower my realm and help us out a little. So some of you will be getting my realm attached to you too. “

He sighed, sitting down on a stool. ”Between the two, I’ll be able to keep tabs on everyone, and keep us all alive and safe” he turned to look at Natsumi, but it seemed the floor was open for questions too.

[Kao]

Shizuo was awake long before the morning call. He lied in his tent, silent as to not wake the three others he bunked with, staring at the tarp ceiling as the sounds of approaching dawn reached his ears. He was no stranger to danger, but like many others he had never performed operations outside of his village. The man quietly longed for the days when Iwagakure was more isolated, when they were not seemingly at the beck and call of the village Hidden in the Mist. He wondered why the mist shinobi couldn’t handle this in their own, but it was the price they paid for opening the doors of a stronger alliance.

When Natsumi called for everyone to convene he was already a step ahead of her. He was already fully dressed, and after gathering his equipment - checking and double checking it - he exited his tent and made his way to Natsumi’s side. ”Lady Natsumi,” he said while flashing a smile. Without her asking he took up a spot as her right side, ready to help her in any way he could. They had crossed paths quite a few times; they shared a similar skill set, and although she outshined him in some areas they would undoubtedly prove to be a great team and an asset to the operation.

Soon after, the Kozaki kid - whose name and role he already knew from a debriefing, and it was a good thing since the kid didn’t introduce himself - came forward and began explaining his jutsu arsenal. For politeness’ sake he responded, “I’ll be able to assist with sensory, healing and keeping tabs on people as well. I’m Komiya Shizuo, by the way.” The Iwagakure jounin took note of the other shinobi gathering but didn’t outright acknowledge them. He instead crossed his arms and waited for Natsumi to give out further instructions.

[Niro]

Natsumi waited until a small crowd gathered in front of her makeshift station. Kozaki went about explaining his abilities to everyone who had gathered and she gave a nod to the boy for being so kind to. She brought her hand to her mouth in a fist and coughed to draw attention to herself.

"Hello. I'm Nyusen, Natsumi, assistant to one of the many Bannin of Iwagakure. I'll be coordinating the overall plans for this operation. I've been given files on each and every one of you from your villages to help make sure this operation goes as smoothly as it can. As Kozaki-kun has eagerly explained, his Samsara is going to be key in this takeover. Everyone will take some upon receiving their fuuinjutsu and some of you may be asked to help perform an additional task regarding it depending on the makeup of the enemy forces.

Naohiro, Shizuo. Please step forward." She would wait until the pair did and then dismiss them back into the crowd once everyone else got a look at them before continuing on. "These two are our medics for the squads. We'll be splitting into four squads, one for each Temple, before converging on the Daimyo's Palace. Only two squads will have a medic but through Samsara, we can spread their skills throughout all four locations if need be. Please do your best to engage in favorable fights like two on ones or high grounds so we do not run their Chakra supply ragged.

Kozaki-kun and I will be performing our own set of duties on the edge of each battlefield where a Jikukan or Summoner is spotted. We'll be setting up a fuuinjutsu to increase how draining their own Jikukan are and disable summons. However, we'll be stationary during the duration. I'll have to focus on keeping the fuuinjutsu active while he will be able to delegate support duties as needed.

Those of you with clone jutsu should not be afraid to use them in the initial wave of attacks. Use them tactically to draw out large jutsu before revealing your real body and tire them out. Once I mark you with the fuuinjutsu, during battle be mindful to call out opponents you match up poorly against and see if there's anybody willing to swap. Fighting a poor match up only serves to drain you of chakra quicker or take you out of the fight if you lose.

If there's no questions or comments, please form a line and I'll begin placing the communication fuuinjutsu."

[Valkier]

From his position near the front of the crowd Naohiro had been watching the assembly gather. While many of the to-be-combatants were unfamiliar to him, those that he did recognise included famed jounin, bannin, and even Nishiki, one of the Hidden Mist's Jinchuuriki; if the others represented a similar level of skill as these, he was standing among perhaps the strongest task force of shinobi to gather in recent memory. For the first time he began to wonder how much he could offer during a mission headed by ninja of such caliber. And so it was with some surprise he heard his own name called out within the first stages of the plan. Clearly this Nyusen Natsumi deserved her reputation for strategy, to know even his own abilities so intimitely and at such short notice.

He stepped forward to stand beside Natsumi and Shizuo, giving the latter an acknowledging nod. He raised his hand to the crowd to identify himself for those who didn't know him, then took Natsumi's dismissal and stepped back to listen while she described their role to everyone. Afterwards, if there were no questions, he'd take a place in line to recieve Natsumi's fuuinjutsu, Kozaki's samsara and, if provided, Kinsue's offer of armour. To serve as medical support to a crowd such as this he'd need to conserve every morsel of chakra he could; wasting energy on his own defensive techniques may not be an option once out in the field.

[TheLacarix]

The masked shinobi gaze fell upon the white haired man who yelled loudly in the middle of the camp, swearing as he yelled. His conversation was hard not to listen in to as he seemed to suggested killing the Daimyo, it would be very difficult for Kirigakure to take soul country if they were to do such a thing, at least without causing a revolution. He moved away from the group of shinobi and headed towards Kozaki and Natsumi.

Yoru would listen to the pair, as they gave out their instructions, the shinobi all in attendance would need to line up and receiving a variety of techniques that would connect them. Yoru did not like the idea of the young man from Kirigakure implanting any of his charak within him, he didn’t know or trust this man and had no reason to. Nor would he accept the armour on offer from Kinsue, he had his own and didn’t feel the need for the man to waste more of his chakra than he needed. He would though accept a communication fuuinjutsu, that was something he could analyse and would have no reason to distrust. He had no horse in this race, this was a job and nothing more. He didn’t care if he ruffled anyone’s feathers, though he would be polite.

Yoru got into the line, standing behind a man around the same height and build himself. Another Kirigakure shinobi? He’d never being around so many of his enemy before and it put him slightly on edge. Once the man in front of him had finished, Yoru stepped forward. He politely bowed to Kozaki, placed his hand in the air and shook his head as politely as he could, hoping that there would be no issue. He turned to Natsumi pulling open his hood, she’d seen his face before and the only person who knew his identity on the field so there was no need for him to cover up to much in front of her. Assuming everything went to plan, he’d slink off back into the crowd keeping himself to himself for now and wait for further instructions.

[Jinan B]

The collection of shinobi truly was the stuff of legends, if perhaps a little eclectic. Kinsue noted the Bannin Aimi; seemingly in no state to be discussing matters of such importance. He noted the Jinchuuriki of his village, the Tsukino who hosted Yoshimitsu and his own cousin who hosted Vorashu. He noted a number of shinobi he didn't recognize; some of whom were clearly from Iwagakure whilst others seemed to be mercenaries of some description. One of them was even a young child, reminding the Karagata of Kiri's own legendary prodigy. He noted his closest friend, called upon as one of the few medics of the group.

He kept silent as Natsumi and Kozaki explained their own roles in this preparation, and joined the line of shinobi to receive both a communication seal as well as a samsara implant. The seal at least was something he had used before. The samsara, however, was entirely alien to him. The ability to transmit Jutsu over such great distances certainly seemed useful, even if it came in what could be charitably described as a rather alien form.

Once he had received the contributions of the two shinobi, he would wait and see who would accept his offer of armour. He would nod to Naohiro as an acknowledgement at his approach but stay silent, instead keeping his attention on the remainder of the group for signs of further interest.

[Ace Trainer]

Kozaki couldn’t help but develop a wide smile on his face, almost devilish, as everyone lined up and followed Natsumi’s instructions. So much chakra was going to be made available to him. It was going to feel amazing, it’d be long since he’d gotten to test his limits like this. He would clasp his hands together tightly, black inky liquid seeming to pour from them into a puddle under his hands. When he felt he’d produced enough, he pulled his hands apart and jerked them upwards quickly, causing the Samsara to jump into the air into 10 individual balls of blackness, smaller than a golf ball.



Naohiro was up first, so Kozaki grabbed the first bead floating in front of him, looking to Natsumi to confirmed he was getting Kozaki’s realm. ”This aint gonna hurt. But, don’t let anyone rip this out or you lose it.”, before Naohiro even got a chance to answer, Kozaki began weaving hand seals, ”Need you to hold onto this. This is kind of a high ranked technique, so I’m going to front about 60% of the chakra, and you pay the other 40%. After that, I’ll be sustaining the realm.”, he was referring to the large spike on his chest. Once Naohiro grabbed it, he’d thrust his palm against Naohiro’s chest. The bead previously in his hand forming flat against his palm and then spreading out into a stud that adhered itself to Naohiro’s sternum through his clothes. He could immediately feel all the chakra in the man’s body, but elected not to comment. As a product of the Samsara, Naohiro’s eys would turn yellow momentarily before returning to their natural pale blue.



Yoru refused next, which Kozaki found incredibly rude, practically pouting in response. But Kinsui came forward and Kozaki repeated the same thing, waiting for Kinsui to grab onto the spike to split their chakra, leaving a black stud in Kinsui’s chest. Most of the Samsara under his skin, Kozaki thought for a moment, ”I can make more of it, and make weapons for you. So if you get in a bind and need a shield or sommat, give me a ring.”, he reminded Kinsui. Seemed he didn’t have a lot of confidence in the special jounin.

---

With everything going on, it was easy to miss the small child who had wandered into the group. Despite this annexation being covert ops, there had been a decent number of people who had been made available to participate. It was no surprise that this boy was here though, having already independently laid siege on several countries. Emerald green eyes blinked dispassionately as he moved through the crowd. Any sensors would immediately distinguish him, however, by the enormous amount of power that seemed to emanate from his body.



He said nothing though, walking up to Kozaki unconcerned with the line forming, and establishing himself as next to be marked. He looked through his large round glasses as the tattooed boy and waited silently.

---

Kozaki immediately recognized this boy, Mistaki, Shio. He was the prodigy boy in the Kawazaiwa clan, everyone had been discussing how he’d marched an army into Water Country after being gone for months. He was surprised he’d even been allowed back into the village, but somehow it’d been permitted. Staring back at him, he was surprised when the boy said nothing. This kid was younger than Kozaki, but somehow he’d been named a bannin? It made no sense.



Plucking the bead out of the air he quickly when to insert it into Shio’s shoulder, leaving a small black stud exposed to the air. Immediately Shio’s eyes turned yellow, then back to green. The moment their chakra’s joined though, Kozaki became immediately aware of the enormous depths of power that was in this child. What was this guy.

---

Shio stood motionless while Kozaki implanted him, bowed his head, then turned receive his fuuin, before going to leave. He had his mission, he didn’t need to be here to mingle and interact. He’d conquer Soul like he did any other country. It would be quick and easy.



Once he was out of the crowd, he’d crouch down, jump into the air and vanish as he made his way towards Temple 1.

SpoilerShow

[Realm Conduit]
S-rank Ninjutsu
Kozaki will do a series of hand seals, then place his hands on his targets chest, embedding a large 3inch stud over their sternum at [Control] speed and strength. The stud is only anchored just below the skin and can be removed with relative ease. While the stud remains in the targets chest, they will be a conduit for Kozaki’s realm, effectively giving them his ability. Any jutsu Kozaki performs will effect all Dominions currently active.

Using

[Borrowed Power]
B-rank Ninjutsu
Kozaki will do a series of hand seals, channeling Samsara into the back of his neck, causing a spike to form on it. Anyone can place a hand on the spike while Kozaki is performing jutsu, allowing him to offset the cost of the technique he's performing by siphoning chakra off of them. This technique can only be utilized by people not in control of the same person using this technique (I.e; companions) and only works for B-rank and below techniques.

To offset cost

[WrightJustice]

It seemed Aimi was half asleep when Nishiki approached, causing the man a bit of a shock upon doing so, which then caused the boy to snicker a bit as he rushed to cover his mouth with his hand to hold it back the best he could given the situation.
"Ssssshishishi-ssshh... Aimi-sama... Yeah it has been awhile" he spoke through stifled laughter, calming himself down as he reminded himself why he was here in such a place.
The young fox then simply nodded with a grin and small fist pump of sorts out before him at the sentiment that they could not be defeated, though he pondered curiously on just how far they would have to fight the Daimyo and supposed it was best they didn't need to kill the man.

After their quick discussion it seemed some fellows where offering aid with armour and... whatever the samsara stuff was and Natsumi once again called out to everyone to introduce their aid and the samsara kid along with her own abilities followed by said kid stepping up to explain things further after the aid stepped down.
"Samsara...?" the Tsukino simply pondered out loud in confusion before Kokazi further explained it.

Everything sounded quite complicated and fantastical but Nishiki was certain it would help, though the mere mention of Tenkujutsu sent a shiver down his spine as just thinking about how those kinds of jutsu affected him made him recoil as his old guards were prepared to use it on him at a moments notice and one even proved how it worked on day one of becoming a jinchuuriki.

Once he had recovered from the shivers the young genma host stepped into line with everyone else, though a powerful tug pulled him right under just as he was beginning to step forwards.
"Ab-so-lutely NOT!" bellowed the demonic voice within
"What?" Nishiki repleid as he came face to face with Yoshimitsu within their shared mindspace.
"Being trapped in here... in you... that is already too much but that stuff... NO!" the genma seemed quite disgusted at the idea of linking up with some other human's chakra or whatever it was the samsara did.
"It's just to he-" Nishiki tried to reassure the beast but it was not having any of it.
"NO! How can you even trust someone trying to invade you and your chakra like that? You're so useless and pathetic letting who knows what happen to you." it went on, clearly fuming
"What? Like your chakra already in me? Or is this about someone else getting in touch with you and weakening you?" the host boy combatted, causing the giant to perform what was effectively a large menacing stare.

Whilst the jinchuuriki was internally arguing with its caged genma it vacantly watched as people in front started to get their samsara connections, which seemed to disgust Yoshimitsu even further as it sounded like the Kozaki kid could most definitely tap into their combined chakra somehow if they let it happen and one pathetic human being his cage was bad enough.
"See, that stuff... it is not right!" the beast bellowed further as Nishiki rolled his eyes, perhaps even physically so, in return.
As this went on a quiet, young boy suddenly waltzed through the camp and went straight to the front the queue and silently took a samsara for himself before leaving like nothing.
"Was that Shio?" Nishiki blurted, not fully sure what the mysterious lost child bannin looked like but being aware of all his rumoured mannerisms with how he never seemed to talk.
"Who cares, some potage child, blah blah, still so pathetic and NOT THE CURRENT POINT!" Yoshimitsu butted in once again, fully dismissing Shio as if he was another pathetic child and forcing the subject back onto how bad teh samsara would be.
"UURGH" the Tsukino gave out a truly annoyed moan as he focused back on his internal debate.
"Look we kind of need it and we can get rid of it whenever if it's not for us, plus it's MY BODY, MY RULES!" he commanded the beast, mentally pointing at himself with his right thumb in a triumphant manner.
"Now quiet!" he then added in a rather serious manner, swiftly moving his hand out and pointing at the spiritual being as he gave his own menacing glare which perhaps even caused his real body to twitch with signs of the internal conflict.
This caused the genma to quiver with a deep internal, ferocious anger as he faded away into the mist almost like some child ready to have a massive strop.

With the mental argument out of the way Nishiki refocused on the outside world and realised his body had gotten a bit tense in response and he almost dug his claws right into the palm of his hands, though he simply unclenched them and once again continued to step forwards in line towards Kozaki.
"I am very curious about what will happen when I take some of your samsara Kozaki-kun!" he cheerily commented once it was his turn, giving a sly, figurative side glance to Yoshimitsu as if to proclaim his victory and tell the genma to watch as it happened.

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro looked around the growing group of elite shinobi. He found that he knew nearly all of them, as one would expect when one ran in the circles he did. He even recognized one of the Iwagakure shinobi, Shizuo, the tenkujutsu user from back in Fountain country. There too was another face he hadn’t seen for a while, 2 years at least, that of his own cousin Kinsue. The Karagata family were fairly large after all, close to 50 main members of the family and many more in the sub-branches. The teenage Jinchuuriki chuckled lightly at Aimi’s response to being startled by Nishiki. Evidently the man was not much of a morning person though he expected the Bannin had been traveling a great deal lately and had little time to rest in his haste to return. Still, he knew better than to question the man’s competency, when the time came, he would be ready and a force to be reckoned with certainly. He smiled softly at the idea of the three of them working together, his bright green eyes resolute with conviction, though he doubted he would be paired with two shinobi that were known for destructive and large scale techniques, his own skill set tended to be far more subtle and targeted, it might be difficult to navigate around their techniques. “I believe I’ll be leading my own team, but we may join forces if we can take down our targets swiftly” he speculated, in the end as long as he accomplished his mission he would be satisfied though he was curious to see how they would fare together.

The prodigious assassin of the Karagata family smirked beneath his mask as Aimi spoke of potentially dispatching the Daimyo. If anyone were fit for the task it would be himself and he hoped, he would be awarded that honor should it be necessary. “Me? Know anything about assassination ploys, of course not” he retorted dryly, keeping a deadpan expression in his eyes and tone but continuing to smirk. It was at this moment that he noticed the masked man watching them and overhearing their conversation. The green-eyed Jinchuuriki shifted and looked the mercenary dead on, inhaling subtly and gauging the stranger’s scent. He seemed uneased and smelled oddly of flowers, what a peculiar person. “Be wary of that one” he advised, after confirming that he saw no markings indicating loyalty to either Kirigakure or Iwagakure. Though his attention shifted as Nishiki mentioned Shio and Shinji turned to observe the young Bannin, “Yeah, that’s him alright” he confirmed, feeling his competitive edge stirring. He had bested the young shinobi in taijutsu back at the tournament in Star Country a few months ago though he had been far stronger and faster than anticipated, even defeating a skilled shinobi from Konoha that Shinji had encountered a number of times. What was even more impressive was that Shio’s true talents lay in Genjutsu and yet he had nearly proved an equal to Shinji in his own area of expertise. As far as prodigies of the hidden mist went Shio was perhaps the only person that surpassed Shinji in raw talent and accomplishments at a young age. He could feel Vorashu beginning to stir within him at his mere presence.

Though just like that he had swiftly departed and Shinji relaxed slightly, though felt empowered by a sense of competitiveness and a need to prove himself on the battlefield. Approaching his cousin green chakra would flow around him as a pair of large bat wings grew out of his back. “Been a while cousin, I’ll take some of that armor. Could probably use you on my squad too, your mist techniques must be quite strong by now” he considered, hoping that this Natsumi woman would be going over the final teams soon, he had been given a prior briefing but knew that arrangements were subject to change on a whim as new information came in.

Jutsu UsedShow

Assassins Flight
A-Ranked Partial Kaerujutsu
This transformation allows Shinji to grow a pair of large bat wings from his upper back. Each wing is 3 meters long and 1.5 meters wide and typically brown or black in color. These wings are fully functional allowing Shinji flight capabilities. As an extension of his body Shinji has learned how to fly and move as swiftly and silently as he normally would.

[Mre-face]

Mondai was gathered around the crowd of Shinobi as he listened to the briefings he saw everything from the elites to recruits, Aimi, Nishiki, Shinjiro, and Kozaki whom he had met recently yet only briefly. Mondai accepted his Samsara and fuuinjutsu but before he requested Kozaki to make him a shield now since he was more proficient with a shield and it would be less of a hassle to make now than later. "Could you make me a shield for me about 90cm high and wide? And also if you can make it round and sharp around the edges!" Mondai was nervous but he knew he would be fine he had fought tough opponents before he was also surrounded by the elite and new recruits from Kirigakure and Iwagakure. He was skilled and strong but still, a slight fear of the worst happening lingered within him. He then approached Aimi "Hello Aimi nothing like a bit of conquering to get the day going eh!?" Before he turned around and looked at Nishiki and Shinjiro. "Seems we got a rat and then this Chimera overhear!" Pointing out Shinjiro and Nishiki while still going with his super funny joke of purposely saying wrong species name for the young Tsukino Jinchuuriki. Mondai stood eagerly ready as he waited to see which team he was going to into and what his role would be during all this.

[Kao]

Shizuo wouldn’t describe the current scene as chaotic, but there was certainly a lot seemingly happening at once. After Natsumi introduced him and Naohiro to everyone, the jounin stood to the side and watched the people in the crowd. The only face he recognized immediately was Nishiki, the host of one of Kirigakure’s genma. He took a moment to scan the crowd for Shinjiro, wondering if the confident jinchuuriki would make himself known in the same way he did in Fountain.

When he didn’t see Shinjiro, Shizuo’s lips twisted into a thoughtful expression. He was sure the kid would be there based on information he had received prior. There were a few masked figures in the crowd and Shizuo found his gaze lingering on a tall figure who seemed to be actively avoiding everyone. Another masked figure mingled with Nishiki and the bannin Aimi - whose face he knew from the bingo book and from the files of information he received about their comrades. Based on how comfortable the trio was together, he was sure the masked shinobi was from Kiri. A quick jutsu would have revealed that it was Shinjiro, but Shizuo was loathe to waste even a little bit of chakra this early in the day.

With a sigh, Shizuo noticed there wasn’t much mingling between the Iwa and Kiri sides so far. Hopefully that wouldn’t hinder this operation and everyone would be able to coordinate teams without so much as introducing themselves while they prepared.

After several members of the group received their comms and samsara, some unfamiliar child popped in and out without a word. Shizuo shook his head slightly and let out a forceful breath of air from his nostrils as he went up to Natsumi and then Kozaki for his gear. After a bit of thought he went ahead and approached Kinsue for the armor. Being a rather fragile scientist, Shizuo would need all the physical boosts he could get.

[Niro]

Natsumi ran through the necessary hand seals for her fuuinjutsu as everyone began to gather around her makeshift stand one by one. Meticulously she went through them, touching their lips and ears as the spiderweb of fuuinjutsu spread into the inner ears and onto their inner lips. She paid special attention to Shinjiro, having him wipe his lips dry for a minute before placing the seal on his lip. She accepted Kinsue's offer of armor just in case someone did figure out what she and Kozaki were up to and came after them. After she moved to Kozaki and accepted a stud of Samsara from the boy. Her already amber eyes glowed for a moment as she was connected to the web of chakra.

---

A dark haired, lime green eyed youth silently exited his tent as everyone began to rouse. He made his way to the crowd and pressed forward to the front to receive the fuuinjutsu, stud of Samsara, and the Doton armor offered by the ninja from Kirigakure. After receiving all three, the boy stepped back into the crowd to await orders.

---

In the same tent Natsumi first stepped free of, another shinobi was busy finishing up their own preparations. The figure was tall and dressed in black armor with a blood red symbol emblazoned on the front of the hauberk. Lastly, a four-eyed helmet was gripped in his hands and two blades were strapped to his waist. The sheaths clinked together as he made way for the door and threw the canvas open and burst free of the shelter. The figure strode up to Natsumi, his royal purple eyes dancing with excitement even in the dark hours of the early morning and a small smirk on his face.

"Usually it's just us on the Link frequency, gonna be weird having so many people on it." He joked as she reached up and placed the fuuin on his ear and lip. She shot him a look as if to say 'Really?' which caused him to laugh as she finished. He strode over to Kozaki and peeled off one of his gauntlets as he was passed some of the material. He placed it along his forearm and the substance formed into a stud after which he placed the gauntlet back on.

The armored figure made his way to the front of the makeshift stand Natsumi had thrown together. He would wait until those gathered settled down before speaking to the crowd.

"My name, for those of you unaware, is Akari, Tatsuo. I'll be your co-leader for the operation along with Kasai-dono. Your fuuinjutsu will allow you to listen and speak to others who have, you can speak into it by channeling a minor amount of chakra to the seal itself. Squads will be as such: Squad 1 will be myself, Kaguya, Aimi, and Mistaki, Shio who it seems has already taken off to the Southern Temple. Squad 2 will be Shinjiro, Daremo, and Ryu. Squad 3 will be Kasai-dono, Komiya, Shizuo, and Karagata, Kinsue. Squad 4 will be Tsukino, Nishiki, Aisu, Naohiro, Yugana, Mondai and Fukusha, Kinomichi. I'll call out your squad leader and they will raise their hand for you to converge on. Squad 1 to me. Squad 2, to Shinjiro. Shinji, please raise a hand. Squad 3, to Kasai-dono. Kasai-dono, please raise a hand. Squad 4, to Naohiro. You've already been introduced to him but please, raise a hand Naohiro." Tatsuo would wait until everyone gathered into their squads before speaking once more to the group of gathered shinobi. "Squad 1 will be assaulting the Southern Temple [T1]. Our objective is to clear it and then move to the Daimyo's Palace. Squad 3 will be assaulting the Eastern Tower [T4]. Squad 4 will be assaulting the Western Tower [T2]. Squad 2 will be scouting and assaulting the Daimyo's Palace as they can.

If a Temple is proving difficult to capture, ask over the Comms if anyone else is done and willing to assist. If not, regroup with another squad or make your way to the Palace to link up with Squad 2 and provide them with support.

Questions?"

If there were none, Tatsuo would wait until the other squads departed before signaling Aimi to fall in with him

"Natsumi and Kozaki will be with us and set up on the outskirts of our battlefield. If others find Jikukan or Summoning users, we'll move them to that area but they'll be safe with us or with Shinji's squad." Once Kozaki had gathered with them, the four of them would make way to their designated location.

SpoilerShow

Augment Fuuinjutsu • Group Link
B-Rank Fuuinjutsu
By performing the necessary hand seals, the user will can touch a number of targets up to her [Chakra Pool] on their ear and the lips, this creates an audio link between themselves and up to [Chakra Pool] targets they personally place this seal combination on. While hearing is always active, channeling chakra into the seal allows affected targets to speak, their words being stored and transmitted to the other seals. The act of speaking charges negligent chakra.

[Golnax]

Nishiki seemed to be in good spirits despite the inherent seriousness and danger of the mission at hand. That spoke to Aimi of his lack of experience. Things of this nature were not to be treated lightly and it was no time to be laughing... but that was part of the foxs' charm. He couldn't hold that against him. Shinjiro was business as usual and that, too, was refreshing. It'd been several weeks since he'd last seen either one of these two and it was tough to put a word on it, but the bannin had come close to actually missing them in his travels. Of course naturally both of them got distracted by someone they both apparently knew and the sleepy Kaguya followed their gazes and spotted the young boy. Naturally of the self-centered ninja he didn't have any idea who Shio was and thus paid him no mind. He gave slightly more attention to the tall hooded figure that Shinji warned him not to trust. Just a little bit more.

Things were moving quickly and things were getting explained and the Kaguya turned his head to pay attention as best as he could. He got the gist of it anyways - Samsara from Kozaki (who he did recognize from several weeks ago when he forced his help in locating his father) would be implanted on them and used to cast jutsu from one party to the next like healing jutsu or even offensive stuff. He hadn't been aware that Kozaki could do anything like that and he made a mental note of it, mostly for how cool it was to the long haired Kaguya. The woman he had reported to spoke up and explained her fuuinjutsu, fairly simple and straight forward, and a third, younger ninja announced that he could give people armor. 'Neat,' he thought to himself. 'Between that and what armor I can make myself I might as well be indestructible.'

People began to get in line for one perk or the next and Aimi was no exception. He differed in that instead of stepping in front of Kozaki first he went to Natsumi to recieve the fuuinjutsu first. Once it had been placed on him he got in line to receive what Kozaki had to give. He'd been watching for a while now since he had been fairly far back in line and so when he got to his turn, being more awake, he spread his wings a bit, held out his arms to the side, brandished his bare chest and said simply, "Gimme that samsara stuff!" It was around that time that Tatsuo Akari announced himself and began to give even more orders. Aimi turned his head to look back at him and couldn't help but scoff a bit. There was a man who wouldn't be using doton armor!

After receiving his portion of Samsara he'd walk over towards Kinsue but kept his eyes on the armored co-leader of this invasion. He of course had no idea who this Tatsuo Akari was, but if he was co-leading along with Kasai then that meant there was a good chance that he was as powerful as a kage... or perhaps the Tsuchikage himself. The Kaguya honestly didn't know because he didn't keep track of who wasn't directly his boss at any given time. Once he was before Kinsue he'd say simply, "Suit me up," before listening more intently to what Tatsuo had to say. A slight feeling of awkwardness washed over him as it was announced that he was going to be teamed up with Tatsu, and that child that had already flown the coop. He was too tired to process and deal with that immediately. He'd deal with it as it needed to be when it needed to be.

Once the armor was in place he looked it over, gave it a tap with his knuckles, knocked the arm and leg guards together for a satisfying tapping noise and nod his head. "Not bad. Mine's better though," he teased, smiling as he formed an invisible layer of armor beneath his skin made entirely of bone. He was now kitted out with two separate sets of armor and between that and his incomparable regenerative capabilities, he wagered he was the toughest son of a bitch there in that moment in terms of actually doing damage to him! Now kitted out with all that he needed, and slightly uncomfortable since he was basically wearing actual clothes now, the Kaguya turned around and made his way over towards the armored shinobi as he was called to do so and raised his hand up in greeting.

"Aimi Kaguya, at your service co-leader. I hear we're taking on a temple? Wundabar. You lead and I'll follow. Don't mind me, I'll wake up along the way," he assured his new team mate, stifling a third, smaller yawn and sniffling. He was ready to leave when Tatsuo was. He would fan his wings out and take flight after Tatsuo once he took off, heading towards the temple and combat.

Jutsu UsedShow

Death Bone Pulse • Bone Armor
C-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
By ossifying bones through their own body the user is able to create a thin yet durable layer of bone over their muscles and beneath the skin over their entire body at the users’ [Speed] and has Strength equal to the users’ [Strength].

Death Bone Pulse • Skeletal Wings
A-Ranked Taijutsu Maneuver
The user will channel to ossify bone in their shoulders, growing a pair of skeletal wings at a speed equal to the users’ [Speed]. These wings have strength equal to the users’ [Strength]. These wings then ossify further as thin, hollow bones are added, mimicking the structure of keratin in the feathers of birds. These wings allow the user to fly, giving them a maximum speed equal to the users’ [Speed] while in the air and a maximum height of 30 meters.

[Jinan B]

With the samsara implant thrust into his chest, Kinsue quickly felt the drain of his own chakra used to cast the younger shinobi's Jutsu. Certainly it was a fresh experience for the man, and perhaps among the oddest of the various wonders he had seen so up close in his time. Being ever so slightly looked down on by a soldier much younger than himself was something he was more accustomed to, considering the number of talented youths who managed to thrive in Kiri. At least he could take heart in the availability of assistance, should he need it in the battle to come.

With both Natsumi's Fuuin and Kozaki's samsara taken care of, Kinsue turned his attention to the people seeking his own support. He would acknowledge Naohiro, motioning for him to wait with him to see who else desired the added protection of his Doton.

His cousin came next. "Too long" he would reply to Shinjiro's greeting with a slight grin. "Onwards and upwards; I do what I can. You on the other hand... a team of your own among such esteemed company? Impressive." The Jinchuuriki truly was the rising star among the Karagata, this latest duty seemingly being just another confirmation of that.

Next came three Iwa shinobi. Natsumi herself, the man who had been marked as their medic on this assignment, and a boy Kinsue didn't recognize (Another rising star perhaps?). Kinsue would pause a moment longer, just enough time for Aimi to approach with his own request. That seemed to be the extent of those who wanted the assistance, so Kinsue began to form his hand seals.

"This should only take a moment, but the Jutsu is Doton. You won't need to worry about it losing its strength before the day is done." As the man finished speaking the earth would begin to coalesce at the feet of each of the 6 who had approached, as well as around Kinsue himself. Ever so slowly, it would creep up the legs of each of them, splitting off from each other and forming into separate pieces across their bodies. Each separate set of armour would adjust in its form to suit the dimensions of their individual bearers, which Shinjiro's in particular forming around the base of his wings.

"Good luck, all of you. I hope tonight we can celebrate a successful operation" he would say once the Jutsu had run its course. The man would not respond directly to Aimi's comment, slightly confused as he was since the Bannin didn't seem to be wearing any form of protection aside from what he had just created.

At that point, another Iwa shinobi would begin addressing the group. Akari, Tatsuo was someone Kinsue recognized by reputation alone, a rare thing in a world saturated by people of such immense power. The direction offered by the man, splitting the assembled group into their teams and giving the orders as to where each of them was to be, had placed Kinsue right where they were gathered. It seemed he was to battle alongside Shizuo and his own village's greatest shinobi.

"Looks like it's not to be, Shinjiro. Maybe we'll link up on the battlefield" he would offer as his parting words to his cousin. Then, he would make his way to the entrance of the Mizukage's tent; and wait for his squad's leader to emerge and announce their departure to the nearby Eastern Temple.

Jutsu UsedShow

Doton • Terracotta Army
A-Rank Ninjutsu
After performing the required hand seals, the user will form stone around up to [control/3] (set to 7) targets in a 30 meter radius. The stone will form into full body armour (consisting of a helmet; cuirass; and shoulder, arm, and leg guards) around each of the targets at [control] (set to 1) speed. This thin layer of stone is reinforced by the user's chakra, and has [control] (set to 50) strength whilst also being lighter than most traditional forms of armour.

[Ace Trainer]

Nishiki approached Kozaki, prompting a bowed head, and a small smirk. The first genma, Nishiki was well known, the idea of getting to taste Nishiki’s chakra was certainly exciting. ”You shouldn’t really feel anything. Let me know if you run into any issues with Tenkujutsu along the way. I am also a tenkujutsu user and can offer some defense against it if it causes you any problem, Nishiki-sama.”, he said respectfully. Grabbing the small bead of Samsara out of the air, he stretched it out, forming a small point the end and then quickly placing it against Nishiki’s bicep, the Samsara falls flat against the skin, leaving a black stud over his bicep. Immediately Kozaki felt the surge of energy as his chakra joined with Nishiki’s. This was…incredible. With an understanding of Tenkujutsu Kozaki could immediately discern the spiritual energy within Nishiki, what a massive force this was. This was a genma?? What an incredible power, Amazing.” he would think. He wondered if he was linked to the genma at this point or not.



Nishiki would move on, and another would approach. Mondai, a young chuunin, requesting a shield. Kozaki would nod, breathing in and then breathing out, Samsara beginning to bleed out of his arms, forming a puddle on the ground. With a quick upwards jerk of his arm, it would all leap into the air, forming into a flat disk at the specifications Mondai offered. Pushing at it’s center, it would become slightly rounded. ”There you go.”, he said with a smirk, slapping the bead of Samsara onto Mondai’s forearm as he handed over the weapon, the bead immediately stabbing into Mondai’s skin and then forming a stud on it’s surface.



Shizuo, Natsumi, and a nameless boy that seemed to come from no where would all receive each of their Samsara beads rather quickly, without comment from Kozaki. Tatsuo, who Kozaki had already understood to be in charge, marked himself. Kind of rude if you asked Kozaki but now wasn’t the time to speak up.



Aimi came up, the wild Bannin he’d just recently met. The whole situation had honestly given Kozaki something of a bad taste about Aimi, but now wasn’t the time to judge these things. He spread his arms out in a wild fashion, and Kozaki shook his head, ”Hold this please”, he said gesturing to the spike on his chest. ”Like I explained to the others, I’m splitting the cost of this technique about 60/40 with you, its high ranking, but not too bad. You’ll be paying something like a B-rank jutsu for it.”, he did a set of seals, then thrust his hands forward at Aimi, palming his chest as the samsara would leak from his hands and into Aimi’s chest, leaving the 3inch stud exposed to the air. Aimi’s chakra was incredibly powerful as well, nearly par with the genmas. How impressive. So many powerful shinobi here.



With everyone so far paired up, Kozaki couldn’t help but take a deep breath. Quite a bit of chakra being used up in this early morning. Even with splitting it between the others, he’d used what was equivalent to 3 A-rank jutsu, and about 5 D-rank jutsu, not to mention the shield he produced for Mondai through kinesis was around a B-rank on it’s own. Through it all he figured he’d used about 35% of his chakra. But if everyone was prepared, he’d be able to rest for a little. He was hoping the fights would start off slow.

[Zao]

While still not entirely comfortable with the idea of this young man's strange black substance, after seeing the other's to include the Iwa shinobi who were among the group of ninja here. After a few had went through Hyo also made his way through the line with the Kiri-nin and quietly bowed his child-like head towards the strange and accepted his offering that would potentially help him later on. Then he turned and made his way through the other line towards the woman receiving the Fuuin link as well. After all that was done and over with he simply stuff his hands back in the pant's pockets and turned moving back into the crowd. There was another young boy who had entered the crowd, despite the age nothing else seemed odd.

But for someone of that age, if they weren't in some form of transformation or disguise, he must be a bit special at the least and this was enough cause for the puppet body user to capture a solid image of Shio's face to research later. His job in coming here involved more than just being paid for the mission, any information that he was able to gather on all the shinobi he encountered, friendly or enemy, for his boss and the organization's own needs. The ghost stopped moving and turned as he heard the Iwa-nin that he was the most familiar with begin to speak and address the crowd. He was a bit surprised to see the man donning a literal suit of armor, something that he hadn't personally experienced on any of his joint operations with the man, of course back then he hadn't truly knew the man's full identity either let alone the level of strength he possessed.

Quickly the Iwa-nin began to spew directions and team make ups towards the crowd of shinobi who he stood amongst, the dull grey eyes shifted to a particular Kiri shinobi whom he'd built somewhat of a working relationship with, Shinji, the pair had skills that were able to supplement the other and it would be interesting to work with him again. Though he didn't know the other shinobi assigned to them their would be a bit of time before leaving to confer with both of his teammates to determine how to work most efficiently together on his op. But the name that surprised him the most was the mention of the Mizukage himself.

---

It was in that moment, at the mention of the old man's name that a cloaked figure emerged from a tent behind the crowd as the guard outside of the tent had been slightly startled not even noticing the presence standing beside him. A little shaken their was a bow of the ninja's head as his leader passed quietly without seeming to even be alive as he moved lacking all the normal signs of life. The elements of wind, lightning, and fire mixed within his body at the moment as the man felt he'd hit another road block in his attempt to converge the elements into a single perfect elemental body. 'Seems this is the best I can do for the moment...'

Appearing at the back of the group the large man reach up and removed his hood to reveal the long crimson hair and manly beard upon the scarred face of the Mizukage. He had not initially planned to participate in this evolution but their were whispers circulating that both the village's had managed to find out through their own informants about his desires. He could not allow his village to be perceived as weak or push over's by anyone, his strength and that of the village had always been built upon the strength of its shinobi and the bodies piled in the tempering of that strength.

"Those assigned to me, come." The whisper of Death sweep out amongst the crowd, it seemed to be quietly spoken but it still was able to carry some distance but even despite its faint tone it carried a hint of death that could send chills into ones body. After the black gloved hand had pulled back the hood of his cloak it raised in the air for just a moment as Tatsuo called off those who were assigned to his personal team for the operation. "Thank you and your shinobi for their assistance in this operation, both of our great village's have always been built on strength with no room for weakness or fear of others." An almost devious smirk formed across the scarred lips of Kasai as he glanced down towards his trio, giving them a nod of approval before slipping almost instantly through the crowd to arrive at his allied partner's side before his words would be spoken to the crowd and the armored man.

Death seemed to once again permeate the whisper like voice of the Kage as his golden eyes swept over the crowd taking note of each powerful Kiri shinobi who'd had been brought along, he had not idea of knowing exactly what kind of force the other two village's might bring to throw a wrench into the Mist village's plan. The Reaper smiled once again, the thoughts of the possible looming battle being one of the few things to bring any excitement back into the old man's life and restore his killing desires from being a hunter of men. "The interference of any outsides in this operation will not be tolerated, I expect each of you will be able to understand. my intent. We will seize Soul country today."A faint aura of blood-lust could be felt escaping from the large man's body into the area around him as he spoke, the man truly detested the Leaf village and the thought of them even attempting to meddle in the Mist village's affairs was enough to bring forth a hint of anger at the notion.

After any small talk concluded, the old man would gather his group and assess their skills before they would push out in full cloak to the Eastern most tower, a smile hidden under the shadow concealing the bearded man's face as he couldn't wait to experience the rush of life and death again...

---

Hyo couldn't help but instinctively take a step back as the old man revealed himself and then spoke, if the man could feel he would have had the chill of death run down his spine, if he still had one. But his instincts definitely rang out with one word: danger! The young man shifted his eyes back towards Shinji and then back to Kasai as he finished speaking. This leader seemed to be one built on the blood of others, just like his own head master in the Syndicate. It was a scary thought...after the meeting with his teammates was finished he would take off to their designated location to get a better sense of the situation at hand on the island. The former Suna-nin looking forward to testing out the new additions to his puppet bodies...

[Hyoryu will be IVO the palace.]

[Izanagi]

Shinjiro appreciated the respect, despite being a few years younger than his cousin he was higher ranked, his reputation had been earned and it would not be the first time he had let S-ranked calibre shinobi, a testament to the likelihood that if successful he may yet be promoted to Bannin himself. As a member of the seven swordsmen and a Jinchurriki the only person in his family equally famous was the Bannin, Karagata Shiv, but his day seemed to be setting, the man more known for drunken antics and whoring around than he was for his service record in recent years. Nonetheless Shinji still respected the man as he did anyone in the main Karagata family, even Kinsue was held to a much higher standard and with more fondness than the vast majority of other Kiri shinobi but that didn’t change the fact that they were all weapons and were all replaceable, though some more so than others. “We all have our duties; your role is just as important” he affirmed flatly. It wasn’t uncommon for Shinji to be more aloof and relaxed but it was clear that his mind was readied for combat and all other distractions were slowly being forced out.

Tatsuo emerged and Shinji could feel Vorashu surging within him just as the Genma had done at the appearance of Shio, further still when the Mizukage made his presence known. ‘These humans, their power will shake the earth and scar this land forever, may the opposition be just as strong so that they may bathe in each others blood and purge this world of their corruption’ Vorashu writhed with excitement at the thought of such power and more so the death of so many elite shinobi, war brought opportunity, destruction but also rebirth when nature inevitably reclaimed ruined civilizations and prevailed against the greed and ego of humanity. Vorashu would take pleasure in hastening the fall of humans and relish in the heat of combat. At this Shinji simply scoffed, he was used to Vorashu’s agenda and typically shut the Genma out as much as possible unless it suited him, the two never spoke candidly, butting heads on conflicting ideologies or embracing one another’s power in the heat of battle for the shared goal of dominance and power over others. It was a relationship that continued to grow slowly but proved effective for Shinji’s purposes.

The Doton armor surrounded him, beneath his weapons and only coming up to the base of his large bat wings. The helmet was a little inconvenient, forcing him to pull back his hood, it was uncomfortable and not his usual preference, but he supposed he would allow it for now. Shinjiro smirked slightly at Kinsue’s words. “Yeah, try not to die I guess, but if you do take some of them with you” he stated, a hint of teasing entering his tone. Truthfully though he would not mourn if his cousin fell, though he would honor him with victory and retribution towards his killer if it was known who struck him down. Shinji raised his hand when Tatsuo mentioned his name so that his comrades could gather around him. There wouldn’t be much time for briefings, he was familiar with Hyo but this stranger, presumably a mercenary was a complete wildcard. “When we get to the palace we’ll assess the situation, determine the number of targets and weaken their defences and pick them off with ranged techniques if possible. Our goal is to keep them pinned down and draw in reinforcements while conserving our own chakra. Hyo, I hope you have your other forms available; we’ll need the firepower. Let’s move” he stated, spreading his wings wide and taking flight. He would move swiftly and silently through the air without straying too far from his squad mates as they approached the palace.

[Valkier]

Naohiro flinched a little at Kozaki's thrust to his chest, feeling a shove as the iron spike dug into his skin, and then the pull on his chakra through it afterwards. His eyes flashed yellow and he could feel a link there, an unknown power he'd never before experienced. His only hints were Kozaki's brief and cryptic suggestions, but those in charge seemed to trust the boy; and these were Naohiro's orders. He stepped back and moved instead over to Natsumi. Her work was considerably less foreign, and he paid careful attention to how she marked others in front of him, and then himself. It would take a little probing and experimentation, but he thought he could even figure out how her fuuin network worked—or, at least, he had ideas that might simulate something similar. When he returned to Kirigakure he'd need to experiment.

Next came Kinsue's offer. He waited while the others gathered around his friend, then grinned as the Karagata's impressive Doton armour technique wrapped about him. It was surprisingly light considering its astounding strength. It would definitely be useful during the operation. Just as he was admiring the work, a senior shinobi of Iwagakure introduced himself and began assiging the gathered ninja to their varied teams. A squad leader? Among ninja such as these? He was surprised, but quickly felt resolve overtake it. He was not scared of a little responsibility.
"Fight well, Kinsue. I'll see you tonight." He shot his friend a smile, then departed to find his comrades for the operation ahead.

"Squad Four, to me!" He called, raising a hand to signal them over. He was familiar with Tsukino Nishiki, though it'd been a few years now since they'd crossed paths. Mondai he'd heard rumours of, but never met. He turned out to be surprisingly young to be out on the field, which awarded him some level of respect, and seemed well-armed, too. That left only Kinomichi, one of Iwagakure's combatants.
He'd wait for his colleagues to assemble and greet each in turn with a nod, taking particular note of Kinomichi.

"I'm Naohiro. You'll be under my command today. Our squad will assault the Western Tower." He glanced up at the sky, then gauged the men standing with him. Each should be capable. "This is the other side of Soul Country, and I fully intend us to arrive before the break of dawn. Gather anything you need, ensure you have your seals from Nyusen Natsumi and your connection with Kozaki. Then double check. There's no turning back once the order comes. We'll do our introductions and brief as we travel. If any of you have pressing concerns before then, speak now."
He paused for a moment, allowing those with him to speak up. He was eldest among the group, but if any of his squad had doubts about him or their task, he wanted to clear the air before the operation started. If nobody spoke, he'd begin double-checking his own equipment while waiting for the command to begin.

When it came, he'd meet the eyes of each of his comrades for a moment, then smile. "This is what we spend our lives training for. Today, we put it all to the test.
Squad Four— Move out!" And four figures vanished like wraiths into the night, moving away from the staging camp at a speed only shinobi could muster.

[TheLacarix]

Daremo didn’t care that the Kozaki seemed offended that he wouldn’t take on his alien chakra, he didn’t know this young mand and hand no need to trust him. He slinked back into the crowd watching everyone with interest, carefully taking everyone in. There for a moment, was his comrade Shio, the powerful young boy left as quickly as he appeared, he seemed a mysterious character that peaked the interest of a lot of people.

Finally, he had arrived Tatsuo the man Yoru owed a favour to, without him and his subordinate he wouldn’t have the new tool in his arsenal. After this, he wouldn’t owe him anything and he could get out of here. The prospect of fighting his own village seemed too far, he hated Takeo but he didn’t hate Konoha, if he was honest he still loved his village. He made no rousing speeches, he was plain speaking and simply directed everyone to their teams and where they would be assigned.

Someone named Ryu and Shinji, he hadn’t heard of either but he suspected they were both powerful shinobi they certainly had auras about them. On the subject of auras, Yoru felt the presence of a Genma coming from the man known as Shinji, the one Katsu had spoke of within the forest. Yoru nodded in silence at the pair and listened to Shinji’s instructions.

The now notorious Genma grew a pair of wings and took off, Yoru flexed towards his back as two large red wings produced from either side of his back, he pushed hard off the ground and flung himself into the air, following Shinji keeping close to him, he hoped their third team mate would be able to keep up.

Now they were out of earshot, Yoru soared towards Shinji and peered at him through his mask “You’re a genma right? I can sense your kind.” He admitted quite openly, now they were away from the large group, Yoru could throw away his persona though for now he’d only be known as Daremo. Even in Shinji didn’t confirm, Yoru’s response would be the same “Do be careful, I met someone who plans to kill you. Tall woman, insane lives in the woods.” He scoffed, thinking back at the strange interaction with Katsu “Katsu.” Even though he had no connection to the man, they would now be fighting alongside one another and Yoru would like to establish some repour and in all good consciences he couldn’t not share this crucial bit of information.

“I hope you two are fast!” he yelled through the wind as he flapped his powerful red wings, soaring through the air, heading towards the palace. Today would be an interesting turn of events.

[WrightJustice]

Nishiki wasn't fully sure what happened once Kozaki implanted the Samsara into into the flesh around his bicep, though he supposed that matched up with what was described, as such he simply flashed a happy grin at his fellow shinobi as his eyes flashed yellow in turn.
"Thank you, I hope it comes in handy" he commented cheerfully, despite how early it was "As for your tenkujutsu that is good to know" he added, noting how that could be particularly useful and not getting quite a large shiver down his back at the thought of it this time knowing it could also aid him.

Once it was done the jinchuuriki could certainly feel an unruly pressure at the back of his mind over Yoshimitsu's distaste for the whole thing but he ignored it and promptly moved over to Natsumi where he received the communication fuuin with a quick passing of pleasantries as he simply thanked her before walking away.
Though the special jounin as quite intrigued by the technique and it made him wonder if he should have more of these helpful sorts of things for himself, which he hadn't truly considered given the most interaction he had with fuuinjutsu was the special one spread across his stomach containing the genma within.

After a short moment of pondering Nishiki opted not to receive the armour from Kinsue as it seemed to simply be a layering of doton which he considered may interfere with some of his own techniques, as such he simply moved back into the crowd and kept an eye on a few people until a rather tall and powerful seeming Iwagakure shinobi stepped up towards the stage with Natsumi.

The armoured male commanded a grand presence as he started issuing commands and grouping everyone up for the assault, including introducing Kasai himself whom it wasn't clear was actually there as he hid his own presence quite well only to appear very deathly and intimidating once revealed.
Chills filled the core of the Tsukino's soul as the reaper stepped forward and spoke in chilling tones, commanding everyone to do well in his own way after raising his hand along with the other team leaders.

Nishiki was half sad and half relieved he was not with the legendary split core kage, wishing to see more of the man in action but also fearing he would be too daunting to be around.
As for his actual team leader, Naohiro, they had met before but it had been a very long time and the boy was curious to also see him in action and was ready to work with Mondai as somewhat of a friend and the remaining Iwagakure shinobi whom he had not really seen much from at the moment and so was truly intrigued the most about.
"Nice to work with you all" the jinchuuriki simply greeted everyone with a friendly bow and trademark grin.
"Fully prepared here" he then commented in reply to Naohiro's instructions "Oh, though, do we mind if it starts to rain once we get to the temple?" he questioned quickly, curious if it was a good idea for him to start such a thing.

Whatever the answer may be Nishiki was now fully prepared and at the command of their leader he gave a final nod of confirmation before heading out with the team, making haste to the Western Temple.

[Nishiki moves to temple 2]

[Zao]

"Of course, I have even added a new tool that needs to be tested out." While the man didn't expose to much in his retort back to Shinji, Hyo had a few new toys to test out on his Reaper body for sure. The other man had a certain aura to him and appeared to be someone who could hold his own just based on the precise movements of his body and demenor, of course the man would have like to of known more about him before the figure sprouted wings and flew off after the genma host of Kiri. Shaking his head a bit at the two, they were suppose to be doing reconnaissance, a faint laugh could be heard which didn't quite match the tiny boy's appearance.

Forming a single hand seal the man released a storage seal on his stomach just under his ragged looking shirt and with a puff of smoke a simple looking cloak appeared around the small figure. As the hood was raised the colors shifted on the cloak and Hyoryu instantly vanished from sight as he began to move without any indicators being released from the specially designed puppet body. The Ghost body was made just for this kind of thing as he started to move, not as fast as the two high fliers but still moving at a respectable pace in respect to his own personal level of speed. Perhaps later he'd need to make use of his Reaper body and its flight ability...

[Hyo departs following the two flying shinobi]