The lost ruins

[Zao]

PB Link

Inside a dimly lit library which was covered with dust and cobwebs from it lack of use to the outside world, their was a swirl which seemed to temporally shatter the fabric of space before through it stepped a averaged heighted male with bright white hair and brilliant blue eyes that starkly contrasted with the dirty book storage. In the grasp of his left hand was a dark red color folder and when his eyes glanced over the outside of the folder a proud smile grew subconsciously upon his thin lips as he moved over to a table which appeared to have been used recently. This place was a small study he had made for himself within one of the Scribes of Sands storage library where he had been researching through nearly every book in the vast library's entirety. Slowly over the past year's worth of research through the number of library's within the grasp of the SoS and branching out to a few more shady organizations and individuals that the man had met through out some of his traveling thus far he was able to expend quiet a bit of effort and in turn money to acquire the information in this folder. The use of shadow clones had allowed for him to cover so many books and his skill in Jikukan had also been of great aid in acquiring information from different contacts.

"Finally, this is the last piece of information that I had been looking for...what the!"

Suddenly the young man was startled as a medium sided, hard back book suddenly flew up from the floor. This was a possessed book, something that wasn't to uncommon to come across with the amount of rare and exotic books that the group had managed to get their hands on. Though this particular book was a rather mischievous one that Zao had not been able to catch, though to be truthful he hadn't put a whole lot of effort into the job of catching it considering it to be only a slight nuisance to his efforts. The book flew up from the ground and opened its pages before chomping down on the folder that had been within the young man's grasp and attempting to fly away with it....

"Dammit Ji, get your ass back here! I'm not playing around this time."

This was one of the few times that someone would have been able to see the normally collected young man rapidly lose his cool on someone or something, as a rather strange cackling could be heard from the book itself. Zao had communicated with the spirit of the book on a handful of occasions and the demon while being rather weak did have a certain wealth of knowledge as it was a old spirit. One hand instantly formed a hand seal as a barrier of cyan chakra sprang to life around Zao and the demon as it attempted to flee and before it realized it the barrier had already formed in from of it which was followed by a hard thud sound. The book smashed spine first into the barrier but did not even have the strength to break through it and instead slowly slide don't the wall of chakra as if it had dazed itself. A slow exhale could be heard come from the nostrils of the former shinobi as he began to walk over toward the book which had found itself a new home on the floor...

"Damn boy, no sense of humor any more? That really hurt..."

"Serves you right. Maybe I should take you out of that book and put you into a jar instead where you won't cause so much trouble?"

"Whoa whoa, lets not be so hasty! You know that I was just messing with you right?"

The threatening words about being sealed away within a spirit containing jar suddenly brought life back into the dazed book as it shot up into the air about four to five feet and levitated with its spine almost against the still erect barrier that left it no where to run. Zao lifted his right hand which glowed with a maroon chakra as it reached forward as if it was about to grasp hold of the book and remove it from possessing the book which caused it to freeze in midair out of pain and a hint of fear. No one wanted to be stuck in a jar for the rest of eternity...but thankfully the young man's hand grasped a hold of only the folder as the chakra rapidly faded from sight till it was completely gone as the folder was pulled free from the book's grasp. If the book could have the ability to sweat then it would have before a sigh of relief could be heard from the book's deep voice before Zao spoke back to it now.

"Just kidding you old thing, it'd be rather boring here without you around to mess with."

"Why you little shit..."

Zao's barrier crumbled away into nothingness as he turned his back to the possessed book and made his way back to the table before then removing a small scroll and opening it. From within it he summoned a handful of pieces that at first looked like random pieces to something before he opened the red folder acquiring to more of these pieces. After a few minutes the man had maneuvered all the pieces into their proper positioned which in turn revealed a type of map, but what was the most interesting piece of this map was the name in the corner, Sori Ita. This was the first person to discover the art of Jikukan and it was believed that only he knew the true depth and potential to the art, though this was nearly two hundred years ago so of course he was no where to be found. But this map which the young man had managed to piece together over the past year or so of work was original created by the man which led to the place where supposedly he discovered how to use the art of Space-Time. This was truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for the young man and he would not let it slip through his fingers.

Forming a single hand seal through the combination of both hands a shadow clone appeared beside him and with a simple nod between one another it left the area headed for the Kazekage's tower. No longer being a shinobi he needed to request help from the village in the form of a mission. It was almost assured that this would not be an easy trip and the dangers while not extremely grave would definitely be present along the journey and at the crypt who's location was identified on this map. The original Zao was already drawing a new map from the pieced together one as the clone went off to do its assigned task, after completing the drawing both were sealed away in separate scrolls before the man slowly stood from the dirty desk as a look of desire entered his eyes. This would most likely be his greatest adventure to date and he knew that he would need to do everything to prepare for it and hopefully the village would allow for him to take a group of shinobi along with him just in case. Though as determined as the young man was, even if the village declined his request then he would still be able to convince a few of his friends to go along with hiring some 'outside' help if it came down to it.

"Today, it begins. I can only hope that this map is truly from Ita-sama. Such a relic...what is within the crypt depicted on the map?"

The white haired young man had so many questioned as he thought about the journey ahead of him, hoping that he would be able to find the answers to some of these questions along the way or at the end of this journey. But who truly knew what was in store for him and those that followed him on this up coming adventure...at the Kage tower the masse a request for two special jounin, two chuunin, and a single jounin to form the party for this mission. Of the two special jounin he made a specific request for a certain shinobi if they were available. The older shinobi approved fore everything but the additional jounin citing that he didn't believe it to be required and that most of the current jounin were already tasked out.

Zao simply nodded his head, after all it had just been a request for those just in case scenario that had a very low chance of happening. Woth things in order the shadow clone disappeared in a of of chakra smoke as things began to fall into place with a meeting date of sunrise tomorrow morning and the village exit point as the meet up spot. The appointed time camesoon enough the next morning as the sun was already rising over the sandy horizon when Zao arrived wearing his traditional white robe and ninja pouches that he normally didn't wear much anymore. A traveling pack was atrapped to his back as his sky blue eyes seemed to almost glow with excitement in the morning rays of sunlight.

[WrightJustice]

Nori was eagerly awaiting his next mission as he wanted to prove himself further to his village, the Kazekage and most of all the Sun and her Holy Light and luck would have it that he would be requested specifically by a friend to come along on some kind of long journey.
The sandy haired shinobi filled with some excitement to receive his next mission as he ventured up the stairs of the Kazekage tower, though he certainly didn't show such childish nature and remained as stern as ever in his outward appearance as he ascended ever higher.

After a brief moment in the mission room the totally black clothed male excited with a slight bewilderment on his face as he kept reading the mission statement, a very fresh one at that, surprised that his new friend and companion would consider him worthy for this quest of his that sounded very spirit centred.
Though he soon shook his confusion off and allowed a small smile come across his face as he remembered that he was indeed pretty helpful in the past despite not knowing much about spirits; helping solve the crisis of the vile shadow demon was certainly quite the adventure, plus he did admit it had opened his eyes to the nature of the spirit world so he had become quite curious about it and didn't let the knowledge go to waste.

Having gladly accepted his friend's request the zealous, young male prepared himself well for what this spiritual adventure could be and even looked forward to it as he rested the night away with his basic spirit knowledge locking itself in his mind.
Thus the next day quickly came and Nori quickly refreshed himself on the situation throughout the short time it took him to get ready, eat and fully prepared for a mission as he donned his usual black outfit and equipment.
With that he made haste towards the village exit where he already noticed his oppositely bright, new friend waiting for him though he wasn't fully sure if anyone else was coming since it sounded like the council was unsure who exactly would be up for such a strange mission request.
"Hello good friend, I received your request and complied with eagerness to aid you in your endeavours. Though I still lack some knowledge in that kind of area so I was a little put aback you did request e specifically, then again I have started to try and consolidate such knowledge so I can do my best" the sandy haired man said as he approached, greeting his new friend in a sightly awkward and formal manner.

[Zao]

Turning from the morning rays of sunlight a set of blue eyes fell upon his dark comrade causing a welcoming smile to form upon the man's face, the rays of light seemed to almost cause his white kimono and hair to glow as they struck him from behind before Zao moved to meet the fellow Suna-nin. Cupping his hands the man gave a respectful salute toward the approaching special jounin glad to see that he was able to join him on this important and possible dangerous mission, knowing fully that he was able to trust and count on this individual with his life if need be. "My friend, I'm glad to see that you were able to come as I was afraid you would be out of the village with the many other shinobi. It seems things have been very busy of late with many people having to go on back to back missions. Perhaps someday soon I'll have to return and rejoin the ranks with you and the others." Many time Zao would think about how things were before he retired from the life of a shinobi and that perhaps he had been a bit to selfish in doing so. But their was just so much that he wished to do that would have interfered with his duties as a shinobi of the Sand village. The former shinobi sighed to himself at the though but knew that their was still so much he needed to do and places that he needed to explore before such a time was to come.

Firm in his mindset he looked over Nori's left shoulder to find a trio of young chuunin no older then sixteen approaching rapidly with travel packs on, it seemed that these three would be the last of their group since the village really couldn't supply any additional shinobi at this time. But as long as things didn't become to complicated or dangerous then the shinobi present should be more then capable of taking care of themselves and Zao would also personally be looking out for each and everyone of them because he was their senior to an extend despite not currently being a jounin. It was a senior's job to look after and mentor all those below him and it was a job that the former Suna-nin had taken very seriously during his time as a Sand shinobi. The three that came were a trio that part of the same assault squad: Raizen was a slightly over sized young man who appeared to specialize in close combat just from judging his outward features, the second was a brown haired chuunin of average build named Saito who utilized Wind, Earth, and Sand style Ninjutsu, while lastly was a young but bright eyed red hair by the name of Tai who was an up and coming medic-nin. Them along with Nori and Zao formed the group in its entirety and the various skill sets within the small group should be adequate for what ever lay ahead on this mission that was classified as a B-ranked mission with possible A-rank situations but it was expected to be a smooth journey unless their were unforeseen circumstances.

The three introduced themselves to the pair of older men who appeared to have been waiting for them before Zao gave them a general brief of where the five of them were heading, a place called the Land of Heaven in which their was a vastly tall mountain range named the 'Pillars of Heaven'. It was a long journey to reach this place but their wasn't expected to be any true problems in reaching the mountains it would only be a matter of time to get there. This set of mountains which were considered holy by some was the place in which all the lead which the blue eyed man had collected from sources that ranged from ancient text, to information from the black market had pointed him towards. A lot of money, sweat, and time had been put into the immense amount of research that Zao had done in order to come to this pinnacle that caused him to believe that the answers to the question of space-time was located in that mountain range. Though the country itself had just going through much strife and conflict so it would be best, if possible, to avoid getting involved with the local situation and simply doing what they were there to do. "It seems that we are all prepared to leave, if there's nothing else we'll set out. It's a long trip my friends." Zao finally let a bit of his hidden excitement slip through as the tone of his words changed from their normal collected and calm tone, this trip meant a lot to the young man who hoped that they would be successful in discovering the truth that he was seeking.

[WrightJustice]

Once he was greeting by his new friend Nori returned the formal bow with his own and took in the shining man's words as he recalled how the man was not actually currently a shinobi at this time, which in turn reminded the young man of his own time away from the system as he had left the right frame of mind required for the job for at least a good year but had recovered and made new vows which allowed him to rejoin as a shinobi.
"Indeed, may the day come where you feel like rejoining the ranks just as I have" he replied a little vulnerably, not really having mentioned he had time away himself but remaining stern but welcoming in his words.

After a short moment it seemed like a trio of chuunin followed on behind the Special Jounin in order to join the duo on the strange mission; looking over the three of them Nori took in his estimations of their capabilities just like his friend did, though he did not know who they where and so did not wish to judge them unfairly and would require to learn of their ways in their travels.
"Nice to meet you all, my name is Yashiro Nori, I hope we can all get along for this particularly odd adventure" the man said, greeting the three chuunin with great zeal.
With introductions out of the way he turned back to Zao with a grin and a nod in reply to the group moving out, feeling himself pumping with energy as he became absolutely ready to move out.

[Zao]

"Very well, let us be off my friends." Zao smiled brightly before adjustingt he straps on his traveling back and the small group then processed out of the main Suna entrance and walked through the canyon that limited entrance to the village and stepped out into the open desert. All of them were familiar with this type of terrain and under the guidance of Nori and the former jounin they then proceeded south through the shifting sands of a vast desert. This part of the trip was rather easy as most of the group was aclamated to this type of terrain and they ended up only stopping a few times before they began to transition into the more temperate forest area as the sandy ground slowly gaze way into a scattered forest of trees that slowly grew more dense the further sound that they traveled. Crossing over now from the country of wind into [Unnamed country 13] which they then followed the main roadway that continued in a southernly direction, their destination was a large harbor on the south east coast of [Unnamed Country 11]. This seemed to be the easist route from the planning and research that the scholar had done prior to actually requesting help from the village as if they went the mainly land based route it could take up to an extra month if not more due to navigating mountainous terrain and some countries that their wasn't to much knowledge about.
Thus the risk was not worth it an instead he would instead charter a boat to travel to the large island south west of the harbor that contained four small countries, the Land of Heaven being on the souther side of this decent sized island land mass. After about four days of traveling and navigating the termperate terrain the ground was able to smell salt in the air, a sign that the ocean was near now despite the dense forest hindering their view of the deep blue see. Though it only took about half an hours worth of walking before they were able to see the medium sized town down below from their elevated positions. Even from the distance one could tell that over half the town was made up from the massive port and it was incredible crowded despite the morning fog that was still being burnt off by the rising sun across the beautiful ocean out past the harbor town now. Zao was honestly glad to see the town himself, knowning that they would be able to actually get a decent meal here as he moved his hands into a familar looking hand seal which caused for a shadow clone to appear just to his right side now before with a nod to one another the clone went on off ahead. It's primary mission was to secure them a boat or ship to sail south west to their destination and in the mean time the five mean could enjoy the sights and sounds of the small harbor town along with some food to go with it. "I've sent my clone ahead to see if we can secure a boat. How about a meal on me?"

The bright eyed young man turned to Nori and the others, giving a brief explaination to his actions before then offering them dinner on his dime. Holding onto either shoulder strap with the thumb of either hand now the former shinobi looked over the four traveling with him as he had slowly learned more about the three chuunin that was on this adventure with him and even a bit more about his dark clothered companion. Glad that this trustworthy friend was able to accompany him. After listening to what hey had to say in response to his question he looked over towards the larger chuunin before speaking. "Raizen, take the lead, you can choose where we eat!" The over sized chuunin had his dark brown eye almost light up now at the thought of some good seafood, after all they weren't privy to such within the villave as they didn't have access to the ocean or even a decent sized body of water like those here on the coast did. Quicking his pace he moved in front of the group and proceed down the hillside with a bit of pep in his step. A quiet laugh managed to slip through the white haired man's thin lips now as he looked over to Nori, "I had forgotten how enteraining kids could be."

[WrightJustice]

When Zao said it would be a long trip, Nori did not expect it would be this long and wasn't expected to be traveling so far and even across the sea but nonetheless he buckled down and moved posthaste toward their destination, getting to know the three chuunin a bit here and there as they travelled.
The first portion was indeed the easiest as the group trekked through sand, more sand and even more sand as they moved through the desert until they came to a forested area which wasn't too bad either and arguably more natural thanks to the solid ground but it did have a lot of twists and turns with tricky parts thanks to roots, plants and other such things.

Once they finally made it through the ever misting forest, pushing through the increasing fog and salty air, the group could see a small port town below and rejoiced as Zao sent a clone on some tasks and offered to buy everyone food.
"Ah, yes, thank you" Nori simply replied with a gracious nod towards his friend.
Having a proper place to rest wasn't such a top priority to the lanky male compared to a few of the others but he was still glad to get back to some civilisation for at least awhile and he also smiled at how carefree the chuunin where compared to him.
"Yes, it is something isn't it" he replied to his friend, feeling a bit of fondness for older days but halting himself from delving too deep as not to fully remember darker parts of his past.
With that said he gladly followed on also with a deep curiosity on what it was like living near the ocean and what fish could taste like.

[Zao]

"Yes." Zao had a single worded response to Nori's words now as they five descended down a windy dirt pathway that soon joined into a manmade stone and dirt roadway that led and out of the decent sized port town. In truth the, despite the man referring to the chuunin group as kids Nori and himself were just a few years older than them and it was their experiences as higher ranking shinobi that gave them the mindset that they had currently when viewing the younger generation. Their was probably a three to four thousand people that lived, worked, and passed though the local trade community here every day as the streets were crowded with their group getting a decent number of looks but none felt malicious more so curiosity as it was not a common occurrence to see any shinobi come here unless on some sort of official business.

Different shop owners and vendors came out trying to sell their wares to all that passed including the group of Suna-nin but it wasn't long before the bulkier chuunin stopped in his tracks directly in the center of the street, the entire walk through town the man had actively been scanning the shops that they had passed trying to decide were to eat. Though it wasn't until this very moment that he smelled the most wonder smell of grilled fish passing through his nostrils that even caused the young man to close his eyes to savor the smell at that second. "Let's try this one!" A hint of excitement could be found in the chuunin's words now as his taped up left hand lifted directly to the left side with the index finger pointing directly at a small restaurant with a small line. It would take about ten minutes of waiting in line before the group was finally able to get a seat and the teenage waistress offered them some sake and water before describing the menu.

The three chuunin were scanning the menus even tilting and turning the menu's as they had never been privy to traveling to any of the coastal countries like this until today, so they were unsure what to try as they honestly had never tried any sea food. In the end they looked at the two older men with them as if to ask quietly for advice on what to choose. Zao held back a light laugh and glanced down at the menu himself, some of the dishes required one to have a specific taste to actually enjoy so the traveler steers clear of those and ended up with five or six simple dishes that were normal favorites. "Number 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 12 are all great dishes that aren't to exotic. I think any of those would be great for you guys to try." The trio nodded in unison before whispering back and forth to one another as they sat on the opposing side of the table to the two jounin. After a few seconds a smile broke out on each of their faces before looking at the petit young woman as the medical-nin spoke for them all. "We would like an order of each of those dishes to share between us!"

"Hey, wait a minute...nevermind go ahead miss." Zao had offered to pay for their meals but he didn't expect to be paying for that much food, but he simply shook his head in the end and waved his left hand at the wrist up and down for the woman to take the order. Bright eyes turned to his right now to glance at his comrade and see how he was doing with the menu as he wasn't entirely sure the man's mission history or where the dark clothed man had traveled to before. "What will you be having, sir." The young waitress flashed a smile towards Nori as she spoke with her small note pad and pencil in hand waiting for his order now.

[WrightJustice]

As the group moved through town Nori tried to remind himself that he was supposed to remain mostly vegetarian but the idea of trying some new and different kinds of foods on these kind of trips really got to him, as such he also couldn't help but remind himself that he wasn't truly a strict vegetarian and perhaps he should use this as a chance to definitely try out something new and unique to the area.

After a good while the bulky chuunin they had been following and hoping to find a place to eat had stopped and pointed out a very good place indeed; the smell alone filled the stern special jounin with some joy, finally twisting himself to get something out of the ordinary and so as they ventured in and finally sat down that is what he would end up doing.

Once they where seated and began perusing the menu it seemed the younger ones where very excited indeed which put a further smile upon the lanky man's face, though he wasn't sure about getting so many things and couldn't help but also faintly shake his head like his spiritually capable friend.
"Hmm... I like the idea of this dish with lots of seaweed" he pointed out to the friendly waitress, indicating with his finger so she could see.
In the end it seemed he went very fifty-fifty on enjoying a new fishy meal and remaining vegetarian as he got a dish with a few different kinds of small fish and some kind of seaweed broth like thing on the side.

[Zao]

"You have a good eye, not to many places I've been serve that dish. We probably won't see it anywhere else along our journey." Zao smiled genuinely as he spoke to the taller shinobi seated on his side of the long but narrow table that separated the older generation from the young kids that were tagging along on this mission. This place was rather exotic for it fairly normal location but it was a refreshing break from the standard diet the white haired man normally consumed within the village. Their was a few small bottles of sake brought out but the shinobi all seemed to either drink a very few celebratatory cups or not at all considering that they were actually on a mission but even the scholar couldn't pass up slowly sipping on a single cup of the warm liquor before receiving his cup of tea with his meal.

Suddenly the man seemed to pause mid sip as the man's face seemed to go straight for a few moments before a gentle nod of his head shifted the messy locks of white hair atop it, the same thin lips gradually forming into a slight smile after sipping what was almost the last drink from the hand sized cup now. Off on the edge of the peir was the remnants of chakra smoke from the dispersed shadow clone and a rather confused looking middle aged man who still had his hand extended as if he was about to shake someone's hand. His other half had just made a deal that would allow for them to tag along on a fishing venture that was headed to the south and near the coast of their intended destination now, for a small fee of course. But at this point in time the man was willing to pay even more then it had cost him to find these special lost run...if they existed of course. "It seems we're in luck, a vessel is setting sail tonight but the trip is still three or four days by sea."

Finally the man enjoyed the last sip of the green tea before then setting the cup down with a gentle tap upon the worn looking serving tray that had be used to bring out the food and drinks for everyone a short time ago. Most were done if not close to being finished with their food when Zao had spoken up about their stroke of luck as it wasn't everyday that boats traveled that far south as many stayed to the north side of the island for trade and fishing purposes. "If we are finished then we should go meet our host." The scholar urged them every so slightly in a friendly manner as it was difficult for the man who had worked so hard and jumped through so many hoops to piece together the possible location of this forgotten ruin sight. If he had the ability he would have torn through space and time but not even his level of mastery with the art was up to that sort of challenge.

Collecting himself, paying the tab and leaving a nice little tip on the table for the waitress who had been so friendly and helpful through the course the five men once more set out, stepping back out into the almost noon sun light that was a bit blinding at first after having spent a decent amount of time inside stuffing their stomachs for the journey to come. Moving in no hurry the white robed young man would lead his team on a casual paced seven to eight minute walk through the remander of the city and ending only after stepping foot onto one of the many piers that lined the city's waterfront. The sheer number of small boats and fishermen and sailor was quite the sight to behold, especially coming from the desert of Wind country. Glancing around for a few seconds the set of sky blue eyes finally landing upon a thirty foot vessel with a single tall mast with a number of out riggers and nets folded up upon its deck and sides.

As they approached the middle aged man with a long salt and pepper beard stepped off the gang way to greet the man as they shook hands and Zao slipped the man a palm sized leather bag containing the terms of their agreement that had been conducted by the man's shadow clone. "These are my friends, Kyouji-san. Thank you for allowing us to tag along." Shortly after their hand shake and exchange ended the man stepped to the left side of the medium built man with well tanned skin that showed his how much time he spent outside on the boat, giving a small introduction of their captain. Saying a couple words of welcome he invited them onto the rough but sturdy ship that had some sleeping quarters but the spaces were cramped and not normally used for so many people as only three or four people was all it took to run the boat as a crew.

Only a few short hours later the group had already set sail and the coastline was starting to dip behind the horizon now, soon it would be completely out of sight and the only thing that they would be able to see in every direction which was enough to cause some to worry or even drive them slightly crazy the first time it happened. Standing near the bow of the boat the man watched as the sun had already started its slow trek towards the westerly horizon now as another day was about to give way to night. The expected time for the journey was two to three days depending on the winds and currents out on the open ocean. His three chuunin were actually helping out around the boat taking the opportunity to learn a bit about ships and sailing from the crew members..."One step closer..."

[WrightJustice]

Nori happily enjoyed his meal, agreeing with Zao on how good it was and happily denying any offers for drinks as he got to know these young chuunin a bit more as they ate. Though it wasn't long into the meal that the rightly clothed male seemed to become aware of some information as his clone appeared to have ended and sent over the deatails it had gathered just as any shadow clone would.

The black clothed male nodded politely and seemed happy to hear that they had gotten a boat ride as intended, though he had also never been on a boat before either and was very curious about what it would be like crossing the sea in one. This fact actually showed itself quite well when they all finished up and headed to the pier as not only was the lanky man rather intrigued by all the vessels he also started not to feel well as soon as they got on the one they had bargained for.

Though the captain was very friendly and the crew was indeed very helpful it would seem the zealous special jounin had found a tough weakness; seasickness. The poor sandy haired human couldn't really handle being over such wavy waters, it was very different than being in the dry, dry desert and made him sick quite easily despite trying his darnedest to combat it and remain as stern as ever.

Fortunately Norio's shinobi training did kick in enough for him to be able to stand and function after simply resting away the beginning of the journey, though he still felt a little woosie here and there, he would be able to continue in a similar vein as when he first moved through his friend's space-time teleportation technique and as a result would probably become healthier the further into the trip they went

[Zao]

The couple day journey would come and go as the group crossed the short span of ocean that lay between the main land and the island countries of which one was their primary destination, soon on the night of the second day they were able to see the north eastern tip of the Land of Tides. The fishing vessel would begin its fishing operations in the general area as the three chuunin helped out as they learned more about how the crew operated and the type of fishing they were trying to do. Meanwhile the two older shinobi with the group discussed random things with the crew and one another as the time slowly passed as another two days passed with them just barely being in sight of the island itself as they traveled down the coast line of Land of Floods and the Land of Monkeys. It was finally on the fifth day that the group was able to finally make land fall at a port in their destination country of the Land of Heaven, its name stemming from the massive mountain range that one could see in the distance from the shoreline were the largest of the mountain chain literally ascended into the heavens as its tip was hidden somewhere above the cloud line out of the sight of mortals.

"Thank goodness we aren't climbing that one." As they were about to step off the boat, Zao shifted his bright blue gaze upon his comrade and the three chuunin with him and made the comment about not climbing hat specific mountain before glancing back at the Heavenly mountain. Instead they were climbing the one next to it but its climb was honestly not going to be much better be at least the summit was below the cloud line. The man had researched a bit about the type of climate that the group was going to be walking into, not just the environmental climate but he current political one as well. With the current ruling dictatorship here they would need to tread a bit more carefully despite things having calmed down much since the internal struggles and wars of a few years ago. It was this very reason that the fishing boat quickly sold any fish they had caught and replaced any supplies they needed before immediately leaving the dock, not wising to stay around the country side for to long though the government was to focused on sustaining itself currently then about a few shinobi. Hopefully things would continue to stay that was as the pair made their movement from the small town now and off in the northwestern direction with their normal point man being the larger chuunin who had be given directions from Zao who walked in the back with Nori.

"It's about a day or so on foot to the mountain then about half a day climb for us to reach the summit, when we get their though we'll have to request permission from the village's at the base of the mountain whom held the mountain much like its larger cousin to the north east sacred to an extent. " After they had exited the town it was already obvious that the terrain would be a uphill walk as the enter southern side of this country was part of the mountain range that it was named for, though nothing crazy it would slow their movements some along the way. The forest soon began to conceal everything else around them even putting them in almost perpetual shade as the canopy became thicker for the first part of the journey, with an abundance of wild life to be seen from birds of prey, numerous monkey, and even at one point they encounter a large tiger that was probably about three meters in length but it was only seen for a split second off on their right side before disappearing into the thick bush. A few times the white haired young would step off the trail being blazed by their companions and pick a few herbs that he noticed while walking, making sure to pull them up by the root and seal them away into a scroll while walking. These were very rare back in their homeland but were even somewhat common in this area and he hoped to bring some back for the Naegi to grow in the green houses of Suna.

After walking for a full day darkness had fallen on them but they had managed to actually reach the base of the mountain and the small village that was within its shadow, the monk like villagers had looks of confusion, some had looks of fear noticing the head bands of the shinobi with Zao, while others had looks of not anger but disrespect for the group. If worst came to worst the group might be forced out from the village and have to find a way to climb the mountain on their own. While far from an impossible task it would definitely make things more difficult that they needed to be. One of the elder men who had a shaved or perhaps naturally bald head was the first one to come over and welcome the group though the language in which he spoke was not the normal language spoke in Suna or the majority of the main land would settle in the fact that they were truly far from home now. The larger chuunin was left speechless but felt a sense of relief as a slender hand from Zao fell upon his muscled shoulder as the man turned to se the white robed young man give him a now and step forward giving a respectful bow to the much older man who slowly stroked his foot long white and grey beard sizing Zao up.

His greyish eyes widened just slightly as the young man before him began to speak back to him in their own language, while Zao was not completely fluent in the language he knew enough of it to understand the man and to get back the points he wanted to. This even caused for the man to crack a half smile before he waved his hand and turned leading the group to a small animal skin lined shelter that belonged to him as their was a small fire inside at the very center of the primitive shelter. Leaving them here the man stepped out for a bit as the scholar turned to the others and started to explain what they had briefly discussed between the two of them. "The old man's name it Hiroshi, they thought we were here to search for gold on their mountain which was way many of the villagers had disapproving looks as we arrived. I managed to explain what I could to him about our reason for coming and he confirmed that their was a set of ruins near the summit and that the few of his people whom had explored it found it very dangerous with it even claiming some of their lives. No one had made it to far into the ruins and he has forbid any of his other villagers from going there." Taking a breath and looking over at the fire the man could tell that even here at the base camp for the mountain the air was quite a bit colder then back home in Suna and it was only going to get colder as they traveled higher into the mountain in the morning.

"But he said that if out doctor could look at some of their child who had been sick for a week or so then he would be willing to let one of his villagers guide us up the mountain in the morning, " It was then that he looked over at the smaller chuunin who immediately shot up into a straight up position with a proud look on his face, as a medic-nin his primary purpose in life was to help those around him so he didn't decline. After a few hours the young man returned with a happy look as the children didn't have anything series so after some treatment and some medicine that he made from the herbs he had brought and some the villagers had on hand he left them to rest. Now it was time for them to rest as the three chuunin were the first to fall off into the land of dreams about what the lost ruins held and their dangers but Zao set up for a bit as he was now seated near the first just watching its flames flicker back and forth causing his bright blue eyes to almost glow in the fiery light. "Nori, it sounds like things might be a bit more dangerous then I originally though...help me to look after these kids."

[WrightJustice]

Once they finally arrived in the land of Heaven Nori became very pleased and immediately began to feel back to normal almost like stepping on land had some magical function to it, not that he hadn't fought through the seasickness in a great effort to remain useful and also not allow his teammates to see his weakness, though it was definitely not something he truly wished to do again.

Even though they where not going up the truly giant mountain just knowing they still had to make their way up one of the other ones made him think of the time with the shadow demon, as a result he hoped his friend would once again be generous with his warm clothing since he could only imagine that if a mountain in the desert can still be cold and covered in snow then a mountain elsewhere must be colder still.

Though original looks upon the group where disconcerting, the black clothed male was very thankful to the people giving them a place to stay once Zao had smoothed things over. That being said it definitely did sound quite dangerous as his friend explained things and so he was prepared to steel himself to protect his whole team at all costs.
"Yes, I shall do my utmost to protect everyone even you my friend" he replied sternly.

[Zao]

"Your words mean a lot to me, Nori. But I truly worry about you guys the most. While I'm not truly that skilled in combat I am on the other hand at least somewhat hard to kill." Zao laughed a bit now and turned to look at the three chuunin whom had already made spots to rest by the fire. "It might be a few days before we can actually climb the mountain depending on the weather but if everything looks good we can try an ascent in the morning." The white robed youth turned his eyes from his friend back to the fire for a few moments and then onto the trio that had came all this way with him for this mission. In the back of his mind he pondered the dangers that the village elder had spoken of but he pushed caution aside for the moment as he truly needed to know if this was the ruins he had been researching and physically searching for over the past twelve or thirteen months.

The elder returned a short time later and the group talked back and forth as Zao helped to translate as he began to feel a bit more comfortable with the language having it refreshed within his mind now through the casual conversation. Night came soon as the group enjoyed a meal together before the villagers left the shinobi to themselves after the small dinner. "How do you feel about this place, Nori?" The white haired man shifted his blue eyes from the trio who had already settled down for the night leaving only the two older men awake now, his gaze looked out the small opening of the hut style building the group was currently residing within. Outside one could glimpse at the massive mountain that stretched up about seven thousand meters up into the sky and yet its sister mountain to the north east was at least ten thousand meters tall but it was hard to judge its height because the tip extended into the cloud line that was always obscuring the mountain top.

Zao let his question linger in the air, the darker man a short distance away from him had become a highly trusted allied and friend, one whom was about to make the ascent up the mountain which held little danger to the shinobi as long as the weather held out. It was the mysterious ruins that caused the man some worry now. As much as he wished to see what truly lay in the depths of these ruins the scholar questioned to himself exactly how much that was worth to him and what he was willing to sacrifice to achieve this goal. A serious look was upon his thin, but flawless looking face as he would finally turn to look at his comrade to hear his answer now. Tomorrow they would make their first attempt up the mountain with some supplies from the locals and one of their guides....

[WrightJustice]

Nori simply nodded to his friend over what he sad about caring for him and being difficult to kill, which did put a slight smile on the rather stern man's face.
"Hmm, yes it is best to wait for when it is safest" he then replied to the latter part about the weather and such.
With that being said the group began to settle down for some rest but the area was very strange felt uneasy to the Special Jounin, though maybe that was because he didn't fully understand what was being said and was relying on his friend to translate things.

After awhile the strange elder returned and began to try and converse with them but it was down to Zao to translate once more which did indeed feel very odd to the black clothed male.
"To be honest it feels very strange and unnerving but maybe that's just me not being able to understand" he gave in reply to his friend's question after they had all eaten and started to settle down with the stranger gone.

[Zao]

"To be honest I feel the same." Zao paused for a moment to think, something about the thought of the ruins was a bit unnerving but the part of him that wished to explore the lost ruins in search of his true goal that could quite possibly lay in wait at the end of their journey. "Let's get some rest and see how things go tomorrow." Laying onto his back the white haired man stared up at the roof of the small hut like building feeling the warm against his left side from the small fire that was still burning quietly in the center of the group. It took a while for the man to fall asleep and honestly he didn't sleep that well as he was thinking to much about what could happen instead of simply preparing himself for such things. Seven hours passed rapidly before the sun was already over the horizon before a young man and woman came to wake the sleeping shinobi, bring with them a series of hiking packs there had been organized and packed last night for the group at the elder's word. These two spoke broken 'English' but one would be able to understand the intent behind their words.

The pair woudl actually be the guides for the group towards, after a small breakfast of dried rations and goat's milk the group would find themselves at the edge of the village were a faint trail created by various trips up the mountain for hunting and other prospecting attempts. While the villager's were against anyone else searching for precious minerals that were hidden beneath the rocky surface of the mountain the group itself was not bound by such and made the majority of their monitary sustainment from selling these minerals along with selling herbs, and lastly through trapping and hunting of the animals upon the mountain and surrounding area. Zao could only lift his head towards the top of the massive mountain, the man's bright blue gaze attempted to take in the vastness of the giant structure before them but luckily the ruins was not at the very tip top of the mountain and lay instead probably a thousand meters below it. The weather this morning was slightly cloudy and the experienced mountaineers believed that based on their experiences with the local weather that the next two or three days would be normal.

"Let us begin." Zao spok as he dropped his gaze and turned his head toward the right side allowing his eyes to fall upon his friend and the three chuunin who had made the journey thus far. If all went well the trio would find themselves at the ruins by just after noon today. Exhaling slowly he nodded towards them before shifting the bright blue eyes back in front of them as the pair of guides smiled back in return, the three exchanged a few words before they turned carrying their own packs and began to move rather quickly stepping onto the narrow pathway. The beginning of the journey was rather easy, as one might have expected it to be, the group of now seven rapidly traversed the gentle sloping landscape that made up the lower quarter of the mountain. With the first quarter of the journey made in only an hour but it was after this that the air temperture could be felt dropping with almost every step that they traveled upwards upon the rocky mountain's face. The dou leading the group were very aclimated to the climate and barely noticed the change but even Zao had to pull out some warming layers to help fight back the cold but find the balance between not enough and to many layers. One didn't want to start sweating to much in such a place were the temperture continued to drop as after about three hours were of traveling, including a couple stops, the group was once more on the move as they hit the halfway point up the mountain.

Soon they had reached the snowline, normally the snowline was further down the mountain but this was the middle of the summer and snow it had been forced to retreat a decent way back up the mounain face which had allowed for the trip up to that point to go rather smoothly. Even with the slowly deeping snow the man and woman leading the pack of shinobi forwad seemed to hardly slow down to the point that even the former jounin was rather impressed with their physical shape. It was slightly hard to breath at this altitude as they finally began to slow about a thousand meters below their objective, the old ruin site. Each step was difficult as the snow was over a foot and a half deep as their path seemed to zig zag back and forth up the steepening slope which only served to increase the effort needed to keep pushing forward and the thinning air didn't help matters either. After a series of breaks and nearly seven hours of traveling from the bottom of the mountain to a cliff face which a series of rope ladders had been constructed the group would scale the frail looking ladders to find a series of snow covered ruins that appeared to be carved out of the rocky slope itself. 'Finally...we've finally made it.'

With all effort and researching that the young scholar had done over nearly a year's worth of time, he had finally found the lost ruins. But the man who was bundled up now tried not to let the excitement get to him at the moment because he knew that right now this was only a set of ruins. If this was truly the lost place he had been seeking for so long then they would need to explore deep into the mountain to find what he was looking for. Questions to the answers of the history of space-time ninjutsu and its connections betwen tenkujutsu and the spirit realms. Closing his bright blue eyes the man inhaled deeply as the group all finally finished climbing the rope ladders and joined him along with the two other guides whom after helping all the shinobi up to the top of the cliff seemed to hesitate to go anywhere near the ruins. After all, they had been told the tales of those who had attempted to enter and pentrate into the depths of the ruins but in turn either died or were never found. But great reward was almost always accompanied by great risk, yet even Zao hesitated slightly as this time he was accountable for more than just himself.

With it appearant that their guides weren't going to be of any help as they moved on he turned to his group, lookin at each of them before landing on Nori last. "Things are going to be a bit dangerous from here on. Be careful and watch were you step and what you touch inside as this place undoubtaly has many different traps to deal with intruders from the sounds of things." Pausing he turned to look at the single entraces that almost looked like a cave in the snow of the mountainside before he countinued speaking. "Let us make any last minute preperations now before we continue to ensure we are prepared for the dangers that lay ahead. Make sure to take care of yourself and also of each other." Pulling down the scarf that had covered the lower half of the scholar's face he had a confident smile upon his face as the man readied himself for whatever they might encounter ahead of them on this adventure.


To be finished...

[WrightJustice]

Once everyone was settled Nori laid down to sleep and also took a good while to actually get there for being in such a foreign land was definitely quite unnerving, though once he was he seemed to have a much better sleep than his friend that the very least.
Once awoken the man steeled himself as he ate and got ready before the group set off with a pair of guides that seemed to speak their language much better than the others, though still rather broken and just enough to get the gist of what was being said.

With everyone kitted up the group then ascended the mountain as they took in the beautiful views, increasing their layers the further up they went and pushing on so as not to fall behind the unwavering guides who had much more strength and capabilities than one might've expected.

After a good while they finally arrived at the interesting looking ruins and it was here where the pair of guides left the group, shaking their heads violently and backing away over the notion of even entering the place.
"Very well then" nori simply comented before turning to his friend with a nod.
"I shall stay ever vigilant as we venture in" he then said sternly.

[Zao]

"Let us all do the same." The young man's confident look never faded as he returned the words to his tall comrade now and double checked all his gear to ensure that everything was where it needed to be and nothing had been lost along the short but rigorous climb that had wound up the side of the mountain. With everything in check he looked around at each of individual of the group to ensure that they were prepared as well before then taking the lead for a moment as the guides seemed to had started to set up a small camp area. They were prepared to wait a while for the adventure's to return, as they had been instructed to let the elder known if they died or anything unusual happened during their exploration of the old ruins.

Each step left a shallow print in the rather firm snowfall beneath them as they slowly ventured into the opening of the cave-like entrance that only had a spot wide enough for a single person at a time to slip through due to the damage and natural afects of weather upon the stone opening. Once inside the group was able to remove the a pair of lanterns from their kit, one for Zao and Nori at this time while the other three kept theirs in reserve not knowning how long they would be traveling in the darkening pathway that started to lead them into the depths of the mountain now. After about thirty meters in the tunnel began to snake left and right and the light which had been dwindling behind the small group eventually faded into darkness, but as they rounded the next corner upon the right wall about head high was series of foriegn looking writing in large characters. "These character's seem familiar." The white haired man spoke aloud as he passed the lantern off to the medic-nin who had been a few paces behind him.."Please hold this." With a smile he reached into his lower back pouch that sat just below the bottom of his climbing pack and retrieved a rather worn looking notebook.

"Nori, I think we're in the right place my friend. This is the same language as the one I've been researching. But it seems to be wriiten in a more formal style then what I have seen so far." Flipping about three quarters the way through the tattered pages the man stopped and a smile broke out upon his lips as he compared the characters upon the wall that had once been craved with great precision from some craftsmen skilled in caligraphy from the looks of things. It was then that he turned his bright blue eyes that almost seemed to shine white in the flickering light given off by the pair of laterns in the dark cavern hall, speaking about how the caligraphy was a bit different then what he had seen during his research. Narrowing his eyes a bid the man nodded, speaking without turning to his companions still studing the foriegn language. "It referrences a man by the name of Adaichi Shimoto, from my research it is believed that he was the person who first developed space-time ninjutsu. But he lived so long ago that all I've been able to find on him are myths and legends."

Nodding to himself the man finally took out a pen and flipped to an unused page before quickly copying the inscription upon the wall which only took a few moments before snappingt he tattered grey book shut and tucking both articles away. Just past the inscription was a series of fuuin upon the walls that were identical to one another as the man turned his eye onto the fuuin. While not familiar with the exact fuuin jutsu technique the man had enough knowledge to decifer that it wasn't a offensive fuuin, yet he wasn't completely sure exactly what it was used for at the moment. With enough reseach and time he would have been able to discover its purpose and origins but sometimes when adventuring one needed to take a little risk here and there. "Nori, would you be so kind as to inject your chakra into that fuuin formula upon the left wall?" As he spoke he placed his slender right hand upon the one nearest him upon the right wall, waiting for Nori to do the same before they continued on with this course of action.

[WrightJustice]

Once the group had eased their way into the cave-like entrance one by one, they set about going on their escapade and pulled out two lanterns to help light the way. Nori held his own lantern out before him and used it to help look around in a vigilant manner whilst Zao lead the way through the ruins, seeming to almost run on perfect instinct as if what he was looking for was calling out to him from within.

The path snaked in ways that made it clear that they where definitely in some kind of man made ruins and not just a natural tunnel, though it didn't seem to take that long before the group came across something very interesting indeed or at least to brightly dressed man leading everyone through the cave.

It seemed there was some kind of wall full of text that Nori did no comprehend but as long as his friend was happy with so too was he, as such he nodded politely and held out his lantern in attempt to help shine some light on the texts whilst it was being deciphered.
After a short moment it seemed Zao was happy and wanted to test the fuuin along the same wall which the special jounin was happy to oblige, as such he also handed over his lantern to one of the three chuunin and moved up to wall and placed his hand on the lightly glowing ninjutsu scripture.
"Ready" he simply replied before flowing his chakra into the seal as requested, steeling himself for whatever might happen.

[Zao]

Their would be a few static electricity style discharges between the hand of each man and the fuuin but soon after the seal beneath the dou's hands began to illuminate with a golden hue that then started to race down the length of the walls. It was a type of charge fuuin that drew energy from the actual environment around them and altered the energy in order to create more or less electricity in a sense. That power was then sent down the small connecting lines that could now visibly be see in the hallway as a new fuuin seal could be seen glowing about every ten meters or so down the winding passage ways. The once dark tunnel like hallway was not moderately lit, at least it was much better then the dim light that both of the lanterns were able to produce as Zao slowly removed his hand from the wall feeling a slightly numb sensation in his finger tips from the flicker of electricity that had ran across his hand during the seal's activation. "Unexpected but very useful." Zao remarked with a smile turning to placed the lantern back in his back for the time being as he looked over to Nori. "Thanks for the help. This place is a very interesting one already and we've just stepped in the door."

The recent discoveries and the now lighted tunnel system put the young scholar in a rather good mood and the lighting seemed to give off a slight warmth that was definitely a welcome change from the cold snowy climate that was just outside the entrance. With everyone ready to continue the bright blue eyed man started to walk forward once again being able to move with a bit more speed then the group had been able to before now as they encountered a few small traps, a pitfall that they caught early and hidden senbon shoots in on part of the hallway that had luckily barely injured the muscled chuunin. After a brief patch up from the medic-nin they continued on ending up a few hundred meters into the tunnel systems that was slowly descending down into the mountain itself. it was at this point that the small group would come to a literal crossroad. The system had split off into two separate routes that the group now had to make a decision to either split up or stay together as one. 'To ways, which is the right one?'

Shacking his head lightly the man let out an audible sigh before turning his bright gaze back onto the four shinobi behind him, the three chuunin and in the rear his good friend Nori. "Well, do we split up and cover more ground or stay together for safety, my friend?" Zao was rather blunt with his question, while it was meant mainly for Nori to answer the three chuunin would have the ability to weight in as well with their own responses. But ultimately the three knew that the two men with them had much more experienced than probably the three of them put together and would respect what ever decision they came to in the end. With the two of them it wouldn't be to dangerous to split up as he knew Nori could easily take care of himself and two others while it would be nice to have someone like the large taijutsu chuunin with himself to help deal with close range threats if they were to encounter one. Yet, Zao respected his friend enough to ask him to help decide their next course of action as he was a vital part of this mission's success too.

[WrightJustice]

Nori felt his hand tingle and become a little numb as a small spark of electricity surged from the seal before fully surging through the wall and lighting up the tunnels ahead. Quite intriguing that such a system would even exist in such an old, lost ruin of all places but then again he understood that it was very similar to how things worked at home, though the fuuin powering things back in Sunagakure looked much more compact and intricate so the one in this cave was certainly more primitive.
"Indeed" he simply said in reply as he stepped back, shaking his hand a little to help get some feeling back.

Once that was dealt with the group ventured further in with the lanterns now put away, everyone doing their utmost to avoid all the traps along the way. Though the larger of the three chuunin did get caught a little bit but nothing to worry about and easily patched up thanks to their medic.
After awhile they came to a split path which they had to figure out which one to take but whichever they chose Nori knew in his mind it was best to stick together.
"Safety first, no need to rush into any danger" he replied sternly to his friend "It is best we stick together and take our time down one path at a time" he continued on, certain of his words.
"Perhaps we can find clues as to which path is best to take though" he then added as he curiously looked down each one the best he could.

[Zao]

"Perhaps you are right my friend. " Zao nodded to his friend now as he turned around looking at the other three between them as he stepped up to look down the passage way that led off to the right. Then his bright blue eyes slowly swiveled back to the left as each truly did look like a mirror image of the other. Though it seemed that no matter how hard they looked from ceiling to floor their didn't appear to be any type of markers as the white robed man began to examine things. A few seconds later the young medic-nin who had taken a knee dusted off a section of the rock inlay floor to find a calligraphy character carved into the ground. She jumped excitedly which caused her to stumble backwards now and in doing so the chuunin inadvertently touched a section of the smooth wall that contained a hidden switch. From each side of the group a large stone slab came down closing off both the two tunnels and the exit tunnel they had been walking on.

"A hidden switch? That's inters....!" Zao at first had been pleasantly surprised that the switch had not caused them any real danger aside from blocking off their advance but as the young man was in the middle of speaking the floor suddenly drew away into the wall leaving them to fall into a dark abyss before it resealed over their heads after they would fall through. Each would feel their feet or behinds hit a slanted piece of stone that was like a slide in a way allowing for the shinobi to slide for over thirty meters downward at an angle into the darkness before they approached a point of light that rapidly grew into a opening that they soon entered via momentum alone. Like the tunnels had been, this large room spanning twenty meters by twenty meters appeared to be some type of private study, perhaps to the one who had created this place. "Did anyone get hurt?" The scholar dusted himself off, roughed up a bit but not really hurt now as he spoke to his comrades looking at each of them one by one to ensure they weren't hurt and were all accounted for.

"Seems our young friend has quite some good luck, this looks to be someone's private study and living quarters." He brought his gaze upon the various items in the room that ranged from a bed, to simple furniture, clothing before coming to an immediate stop upon the piles of scrolls and writing desk. He wouldn't have time to look through what all was here but he would definitely be taking all of it with him to bring back to the Scribes when they finished their adventure here...

[WrightJustice]

Nori continued to examine the two tunnels just like his blue eyed friend but none of this was really his forte so he wasn't truly sure what to even look for to begin within, as such he really had no option but to give in and step back to see what the others had thought.
However mere moments after thinking such things the young medical ninja made a little surprising yelp as she fell over onto her backside, which in turn tripped some kind of switch and caused the whole crew to be sent tumbling down into some kind of cavern shaft through what could only be described as a trapped door.
"Darn!" the rather stern man blurted in a rather startled tone, though at least he wasn't swearing or anything like some sinful sorts would in such situations.

The Special jounin's instincts swiftly kicked in and he easily began to reorient his lanky body and flooded his feet with chakra as he tried to see if he couldn't catch himself, though it wasn't truly necessary as he seemed to touch down on a rather slanted slide like piece of rocky surface that was intended to more safely get things down compared to just free falling.
It was all rather lucky in a way since the black clothed man wasn't truly sure the Tree Walking Technique would truly suffice in terms of stopping power, though he supposed it was better than nothing and made him instantly begin to ponder about some safer wind jutsu or something that could catch people when falling.

Once the not quite so enjoyable slide ride was complete, Nori jumped off from the wall from his position with his feet and left hand up against what counted as the "slide" and did a small tumble roll and instantly stood up with zero injuries all whilst probably looking quite cool to the younger chuunin members.
"Oof... That was quite shocking and dangerous, good job it was designed more akin to a side and wasn't just some free falling hole." the slightly shaken man said as he stood up, shaking his head with a sigh of relief before turning to look at the clumsy nurse. "Lets please try and be more careful next time" he sternly added.

With that being said he heard Zao's comment about the room and as such his own sharp, brown eyes became alight with great intrigue and his mouth open with amazement as he scanned the area and tried to take in teh grandeur of the whole place.
"Well I wasn't expecting this..." he tried to comment, though truly uncertain with what words to use.

[Zao]

Zao was a bit to preoccupied scanning over the number of scrolls and papers laying around, while the area appeared to have been some sort of living quarters or study, the vast layer of dust that covered the room seemed to indicate that whom ever used it in the past had not returned for some time. Reaching into a pouch the man removed a scroll and before opening it enough to summon from within it a brush and ink. "Give me a moment to mark this area so we can return here later. Everyone else check around and see what else you can find but I must warn everyone to be careful when touching things here. " He glanced over at the young medic-nin, though he was thankful that her clumsiness had helped them discover this chamber it could have been the complete opposite as well. Resulting in one or more of them being injured or even killed. Letting out a short exhale he nodded to them and wiped away a meter by meter sized spot on the ground ensuring the dust and dirt had been wiped away now and began to write upon the stone floor. After doing this he would place his hand and channel chakra into the seal activating it and ensuring that at any time he could return here through the user of his space-time techniques. "All done..."

As the group searched they would notice that their was only a single exit door, a large bed, a handful of old wooden chairs, three desks and that besides the door every wall seemed to be covered with book shelves that held a decent amount of books. Many of the books were written in older or different languages but a few the titles could be seen on the spines of the books. Some were about spirits, others were written about the user of chakra, one talked about a thing known as life energy, a few were books about the geography of the known world and one spoke of the geography of realms within the spirit realm. A varying but highly interesting collection if one was into reading books or researching such topics. To Zao this place was like a gold mine and it would have the same effect for the Scribes as well. After looking through the room for five to ten minutes, the only thing would be the sole door within the room now as Zao walked over to it reaching out with caution to jiggle the knob to find it was securely locked. "Hm, it's locked?" He questioned out loud before extending his index finger towards the key hold as a shapeless stream of chakra extended from the finger and flowed into the key hold shaping itself into a key as it hit the levers and tumblers within the lock taking about twenty seconds to finally unlock the door.

"Let's see what's behind door number one, my friends." With a smile he opened the door which revealed a series of stairs that spiraled further down into the mountain as the same lighting fuuin was present here as well, making it a bit less dangerous to traverse down them. With one hand still on the door nob his bright blue eyes turned back to Nori as he started to speak with him. "I guess we have no choice but to keep going down my friend." With no real clue where they were within the mountain or whom this room had belonged to their was no guarantee that their wouldn't been additional traps or such further down. But unless Zao utilized his space-time ninjutsu this truly was the only pathway available to them now...

JutsuShow

[Fuuinjutsu: Destination Marker]
B Rank Augment Fuuinjutsu
Prerequisite: Space-Time Concentration
The user will inscribe this one meter diameter fuuinjutsu formula on a surface large enough to hold said seal. Thereafter, they can use the seal as a target for certain space-time teleportation techniques, allowing him to be anywhere that one of these seals exists. There is no distance limitation on a space time technique that targets this seal as it's teleportation point, but the space time technique must be made specifically to teleport to this seal.

[Ninjutsu • Master Key]
C-Ranked Ninjutsu
Prerequisite: 10 Control
After performing the correct hand seals the user will focus chakra into the tip of their right hand and out the point of the index finger. The chakra is very malleable and can be inserted into various types of locks and/or padlocks that are not protected through fuuin or other special means, allowing the user to manipulate the chakra to open most locks with ease. Last two posts.

[WrightJustice]

Nori calmly dusted himself off after glancing at the young medic, easing himself into the situation before properly looking around and taking in the room which seemed to basically be covered head to toe with books along a series of very large bookcases along each wall.
The Special Jounin wasn't really sure what to look for and kept making brief glances back at his white clothed friend, watching with intrigue and just kind of taking in how interesting the idea of Space-Time jutsu where though in the end it wasn't really for him.

Norio mostly seemed to gently pull out a few books here and there and cautiously looked at the back of each shelf, even sliding his hands down the back like a weirdo. It was kind of different for him and it felt a little stupid but he always had this strange idea that bookshelves could be a good place for a secret door, plus it couldn't hurt to look for traps just in case.

When Zao was done and went over to the door the black clothed man couldn't help but shake his head and sigh over how silly he must've seemed, though he quickly formed back into his stern self and approached behind his comrade ready for anything that might pop out of this strange door that could lead anywhere.
Luckily the door simply lead down and Nori also supposed it was the proper way to get to the room they where in rather than the trap door they fell through.

[Zao]

While their was some light in this spiral stair case it was still a bit dim causing for the group to have to move carefully to ensure no one was sent cascading down the seemingly endless set of stone stairs that appeared to have been carved into the very stone. They would end of up following these set of stairs for nearly ten minutes before the found the bottom which led out into a large room that like the stairs seemed to have been carved straight from the rock as the room as nearly fifty meters wide and long. In the very center of the room their was a formation of rocks that appeared similar to that of stone hinge. The area around the rock formation was a large gap in the floor over twenty meters wide and so deep that the group would not be able to see the bottom even if they dropped a torch down into the darkness. Their was a set of two stone walkways built on either side of the rock formation that allowed one to cross the expanse on foot to reach the center of the room. All around the room was strange writing that even Zao wasn't able to immediately decipher by looking at it but it definitely appeared to be similar to the calligraphy written in the hallway but it was done in a much more precise manner that led one to believe that chakra was used to carve into the stone.

"This place is amazing...but what is it?" Zao entered the room first and couldn't help but speak outloud as he did stepping out of the doorway allowing for the rest of the group to join him within the large room now as his eyes had immediately fallen upon the center of the room. Carefully the group would scout out the room before finally moving to the narrow stone walkway that led into the center of the room. Only wide enough for one person to walk across it at a time they would now test to see whom had a fear of heights as they crossed and ended up inside the stone formation where they would find the floor consided of concentric circles that got smaller till they reached the centrer were the circle went around a meter tall stone alter with a hand print in the center with a variety of text carved around the hand print. 'Should I touch it?' The man was unsure what to do as he looked back at the others. Just as the last of their group stepped onto the stone platform now it began to illuminate with a pale blue color as the rings lit up revealing fuuin seals that were previously hidden from normal sight. He could feel a gentle tug on his chakra as their could be seen in the air around the alter fluxuations in the space as it twisted lightly...."This is space-time manipulation of some sort?!"

[WrightJustice]

Nori followed on behind his comrade down the carved steps, descending cautiously as he looked out for the three Chuunin to make sure they where fine throughout the ten minutes or so it took to reach the bottom. The lanky man was a little worried about going deeper and deeper down into the mountain but a mission was a mission and so he pushed forward, peering into the room at the bottom to get a sense of what it was like before anyone rushed in and caused more traps to spring.

It was a very dangerous looking indeed which caused the black clothed man to grimace ever so briefly before everyone began to funnel their way in, Zao leading the way with the younger members of the group right behind and only then did said man follow on from behind to make sure everything was safe with higher ranking shinobi on either end.

Nori had even less of a clue about the place than his friend did and simply stepped forward with much caution until he finally stepped in the strange circle with everyone else, surprising him quite a bit as the area lit up with fuuin and began tugging on his chakra which was quite a strange sensation indeed.
"What now?" he questioned puzzled, though it didn't seem Zao would have much of an answer either with that he took a good guess "Do we touch this like before?" he queried with his hand out ready to place on the print or some other such place.

[Zao]

"I'm not sure." Zao spoke truthfully to his comrade, not really sure what to do now but the fuuin that they had stepped upon seemed to only remain active because it was drawing from their chakra as the three chuunin also felt the gentle tug against their chakra more so than the other two shinobi who had much larger stamina pools. "Maybe?" While the next word was spoke aloud to his comrade it was more so a question for himself at the same time as he pondered on if he should touch the hand print within the stone pillar that was in the very center of the circular diagram now. The distortions in space time though as they spoke back and forth between one another attempting to establish the was forward started to become larger and within about five to ten seconds the distortions had joined into a single membrane that locked off the platform from space-time of the mortal world causing everything outside the barrier of space-time chakra to go completely black as they had been sealed off into a separate dimension of space from the outside world. 'What should we do? What should I do?"

The white haired shinobi nervously pondered the situation as he understood what had happened to them, but was still unclear on what actions he should be taking as he should be the one to do something do to his understanding of ninjutsu in play right now. He wasn't use to having the lives of so many others under him as he could do the wrong thing and result in them being injured or killed because of it as normally he was just responsible for himself and so lived a bit more recklessly. Taking in a deep breath the man forced himself to calm down as his bright eyes seemed to shine slightly as he looked over each fo the three chuunin that had made the journey here with him and then lastly shifted over to his comrade in arms and friend, Nori. Those of this group had put their trust and faith in the former shinobi as he looked over now focusing solely upon the pillar with the stone hand print atop of it now.

"Hold on and be prepared my friends. I'm not sure what will happen but we've been seperated from our own realm by this platform. I feel like the only choice is to test out the mechanism in the center of this formation." A half smile on his face, trynig to appear confident in his words though part of him was truly quite scared as he knew all to well how dangerous the art could be and now that they had been seperated from their realm he was unsure just what else this strange platform was capable of. Walking over to the platform he felt the draw of something over take him now, the space-time chakra within his body was drawn to this pillar as though smoething was calling out for him to touch it. At the moment the scholar wasn't sure if this was a good thing or a bad thing but it truly was his only options as breaking through th space-time membrane that was holding them hostage could result in them being thrown to anywhere in space. That was truly a scary thought for the young man as he slowly lifted his right hand with its slender fingers and gently placed it palm first down upon the stone hand print.

To his surprise the hand print felt almost hot despite being a piece of stone within a damp cavern in which they had found it, then the man channeled some space-time chakra within his body and then sent it into the stone hand print as the entire pedistal suddenly began to glow with a bright golden light that illuminated the hemisphere causing a blinding flash. Each indidivual on the platform would feel their bodise began to twist and distort as they became effected by the space-time chakra now but it wasn't painful at all but instead would give them the feeling of being weightless and for some it would induce the feeling of motion sickness at the same time. Zao knew this feeling all to well as it was the same feeling that he had whenever moved through space between his own personal realm and the mortal realm, but it was also different at the same time as he tried to reach out to sense his sensory seal and even his personal realm but was completely unable to do so. This truly made the man wory as space time finished warping and in a burst of chakra the five disappeared from the platform now as it returned back to its place back within the hidden cavern now with the glow of chakra fading away leaving it as if nothing had happened...

[End thread one]