The plan was going near perfectly. Kotaru had managed to convince his friend Mitsuo to accompany him on at cross country trip that landed them in the Khentii province of Rock Country, hundred of miles from their home village. Before that, he got his friend to deceive his family in a way, lies by omission. And before that, he had Mitsuo help him steal from a restricted section in one of Iwagakure's libraries. He was turning Mitsuo into quite the delinquent, all for a strange stone with stranger powers.
"Let's start there," he said as he pointed to an opening in the cavern's wall directly across from them on the other side of the murky pool. There was no telling how many different paths they would have to explore and they didn't have time to waste. They had less than a week to find what Kotaru wanted and get back to the caravan, and they had no way of telling how much time passed while they were in the cave system. Kotaru lit the tips of his fingers with his Match Stick jutsu and headed towards the tunnel he pointed out, and when he reached the edge of the murky water he quickly focused chakra to the bottom of his feet so he could walk across.
If Kotaru knew how things worked in creepy, spirit-infested caves he would have never uttered the words, "So far so good." He had only taken a few steps on top of the water and as soon as the words left his mouth, his feet started to sink beneath the surface. He looked down, confused since he was still using his chakra correctly for the technique. "What t-" He suddenly fell into the water as he felt his chakra falter and then become completely disrupted. It immediately became apparent that this was not a normal pool of cave water. Despite the unnatural warmth of the air, the water was barely above freezing and the shock of the temperature caused him to gasp, which of course meant the water rushed straight to his lungs. Not only that, but even though he was only a couple feet from shore the water was deceptively deep. Once his head was beneath the pool's surface, the poor Akari started to sink straight to the bottom.
E-Ranked Ninjutsu
After performing two quick handseals, Kotaru flicks his thumb and any one of his other fingers. This results in a very small flame igniting on the tip of his finger. The flame is enough to light a small fire, such as lighting firewood. The justu lasts for up to two posts.
Walk on Water Jutsu