Encounter 1: Team Karasu vs. Team Chinka

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The insertion has left you all rattled and disoriented. Wherever you are, you've kicked up alot of dust and debris. The interior of your pod is masked in near-total darkness, and only a very faint light is peeking through the entryways.

Team Karasu
Kyoumei comes to slowly. Her head is dizzy, and a strong sensation of vertigo is overwhelming her senses. Her ears are ringing powerfully, blinding her to her surroundings. Her shaking hand slips a kunai free from her waist, and she slashes the straps and belts binding or the the chair. She tumbles out of the seat and lands in freezing knee-deep water. Pushing herself onto her hands, Kyoumei wretches. She is barely able to discern her orientation, but the ferocity of the explosion and insertion have left her completely helpless. Turning her head around her, she frantically calls out the names of her two team-mates.

"Kagato? Asami? Are you there? I can't hear you. Oh god. I can't hear anything!"

Dust dressed her as if she was a salad, debris floured her hair, darkness surrounded her. An image of Moryō, the demon her mother and some idiot shinobi killed, appeared before her, taking form. Words boomed from the demon, its mouth remaining perfectly still, "You are my daughter...and I will consume you"..Suddenly, Asami opened her eyes, shouting as her chakra shot from her body. Light, filled her pod, granting her the ability to see. Her body emanated this chakra, it being a thin layer of her light-filled aura. Even with light, her vision was groggy..she was groggy. "Shit..", she muttered, finding her seatbelt. It was all over, only way to free herself would be to cut it. Searching for a sharp object, she found her kunai on the side, using it to cut the restraining belt and freeing herself. She plummeted to the ground immediately, making sure she had her bow in hand, her body still radiating her pink-light aura.

"Thought those things were supposed to save you, not nearly get you killed", she muttered, looking around, but not even her aura could guarantee vision for more than two feet away. However, her teammates, who were in the same pod, were next to her. "Kyoumei!", Asami exclaimed, making sure her voice was audible for the shinobi to hear. "I'm here, don't worry", she said, coughing after her statement, her lungs ridding themselves of the dust that she breathed in during her unconscious state. "I'm here, right now! Let's grab Kagato, and do what were assigned. Finding those ancient relics and then, we can grab a scroll and get out of here, okay?"

Kyoumei doesn't hear Aasami's supportive words, but does feel a familiar warm hand on her shoulder. She gets to her feet, holding Asami's hands. "I can't hear you. All I hear is ringing." Uncertanties begin creeping into Kyoumei's mind, ''What am I going to do? If I can't hear, I'm of no use to my team...''

Off to the side and down the passage lay the ruins of what was once Kagato's insertion pod. Malformed, with massive dents and icey protrusions decorate its exterior. The hatch seems to have been wedged open by a formation of ice, one big enough for Asami to see Kagato's slumped form. From what little of his body she can see, he is riddled with small bruises with a particularly nasty gash on his forehead where it seems his head struck the inside wall of the container. His hawk is struggling to drag him out of the wreckage, chirping incessantly to wake him.

"Kagato's out cold, crap, what do I do?", Asami asked herself, looking at her two teammates. Observing the situation, Asami realized something...she was the only capable fighter. Kagato was unconscious, Kyoumei was deaf rendering her essentially useless. The only people who could protect their scroll would be the hawk and herself. Well, it could have been worse. The hawk could've been out cold too. Her bright, pink illuminating light started to dim, her natural reaction the dark steadily decreasing. Eventually, she'd need to use actual concentration to form this light, and that'd waste too much chakra, the chakra she needed. Her only option was to retreat to somewhere safe, as quickly as possible. Opening her pack, where she stored all of her equipment, Asami reached in and grabbed a metal wire, one of many. Gently tying it around Kyoumei's waste, she attached the other end to her own pack. This would let her guide Kyoumei long enough to carry Kagato.

Placing her hand under his head and the other on his bottom, she'd have to pray for forgiveness later, she picked her comrade up and slowly began walking, his hawk right next to her, scanning the area with his incredible eyesight. Good thing that hawk was awake, Asami didn’t think she could carry any more. Kagato was heavy as he is, despite her impressing strength, and archer’s physical condition was indeed limited. Although Oda Genji did their best to prepare their samurai for any situation, Asami didn’t think any training could prepare her for being launched into an underground city, deafening her partner and knocking the other unconscious, stranded in the ugly dark as they had to potentially find others under the same situation and steal their scrolls from them, while trying to survive the dangers of the city..the “dangers” that the so called proctor spoke of. He didn’t tell them anything except to have fun killing one another. Some proctor was he.

Within a matter of minutes, Asami had reached a destination, a tower of some sort. It seemed like, it could have been used back in the day to power something. Asami didn’t care what, but it sure did make for a good position to hide. “Well Kyoumei… right, forgot you can’t hear me. Boy this is a pain. I can deal with you being blind but deaf too? Oh this sucks. Well at least the bird can hear me, right?”, she said, smiling at the bird. It perched itself on her shoulder, seemingly responding to her, then flew off in a second, leaving a pile of white goo-like substance. Well damn, it shat on her shoulder. Asami looked at her shoulder in disgust. “Nice bird you are, mhm”, she sarcastically said. The tower was one that resembled a building, however it had a small cage on the top, a weird one. “Alright then, let’s get you guys in here…”, Asami said to herself, directing Kyoumei and carrying Kagato in the building.

Walking over to the corner, she placed Kagato down and untied Kyoumei from her wrist temporarily. Hopefully she would stay there for now, while Asami set up a trap, just In case someone followed them. Because of her luminescence, Asami temporarily deactivated her sensing, thus she wasn't sure if anyone did follow. Asami ran outside, gripping her bow tightly in her hand, clenching the string. No one she saw, no one followed, but it didn't mean no one else would follow. Three openings to get the top of the tower…a lift, the stairs that allowed one to access the top and the doorway that allowed one to go inside the tower and proceed that way. Oh and just climbing the tower, but that’d be a stupid idea considering Asami’s archery skills. She had a plan.

Placing explosive tags on the three entrances, hiding them among the debris, Asami was back inside with her friends. Proceeding to their earlier form of transportation, guiding Kyoumei with a wire and picking up Kagato, Asami proceeded to the top of the tower, laying down explosive tags when they reached a new floor every time. Eventually they reached the top of the tower, where a cage was in. Slipping in-between the cage wires, Asami touching one didn’t turn out so well, it was electrifying, they took cover. Without hesitation, she put down Kyoumei and Kagato in the corner, lifted her bow and waited for the enemy to show.

Three floors down from Asami, Kagato rests on his back with Kyoumei standing guard in front of his unconscious form. Well, she's trying in any case. Without the ability to see or hear, she's been forced to rely on her other senses to alert her of the enemies' approach. With Asami's assistance, she had rigged the door to their chamber to overturn a bucket full of rocks should it be opened from outside... and although she can't hear, she should be able to sense the vibration of the rocks striking the floor. In the darkness of the room, that might give her enough time to activate her camouflage and get a blind attack off on her enemies before they can reach Kagato...

''Phantom images of forests, lakes and earthen terrain. Hands soaked in blood, human... female towering above tears streaming down her eyes. The vision changes. Voices, speaking but muffled, unable to understand. Running. Always running. The sound of clashing steel echoes, blood seeps from cuts, its painful. A mountain. Home. Desperation, waxing and waning. Then resolve. Grab the object, flee, run. Lost, nowhere to hide. Must survive. She has to live. Its cold. So cold, lips are numb, body shivering. Is this where I die? She looks back at me, I am ashamed. She has given up everything for me. The night sky hangs above the forest, the girl with eyes grey as the moon stares off in the distance but see's nothing, but she smiles nonetheless, content. Yet she is more deadly than any blade. An arrow flies by narrowly missing. Joyous laughter, a petite figure leaps out grinning. A stern woman speaks, but its raining, always raining.''

Sōzan blinks, the images bombarding its avian mind cease. It peers sadly at Kagato, battered and bruised as he lay there. It does not like being cut off like this. Even in sleep there is a connection but this? It hates this... loss, this despair. Movement to its side draws its attention. The little girl with shadowed moon eyes. She is anxious. Distraught. Her movements still graceful but... less. It screeches softly, but she she hears nothing. She is blind. But she protects its other half, her body shielding him with her own. It flaps once, and takes to the air, another flap and it descends softly on her shoulder. It gives her a squeeze with its talons. Its other half often did this. Reassurance. It lifts off again, landing atop Kagato, its body becoming terribly cold until wisps of snow emit from the tips of its wings. With a beat of its wings, ice begins to form around Kagato until it becomes thick and dense like a shield covering him a protective dome. Launching off the now shielded Kagato, Sozan turns to the entrance, eyes flashing with power. The temperature sinks, the winds pick up and in a single flap a frozen tundra envelops the entrance. Like dandelions in bloom, icy flowers erupt from the surface dotting the floor in a. With another furious beat of its wings, icy winds begin to freeze the ambient moisture in the air, creating a spiral of freezing water droplets to hover menacingly above the entrance, waiting for their victim.

Team Chinka
"Ugh, never again. Never, never again." Kiritsu spoke out. He felt disoriented, dazed and slightly out of mind. Tight spaces like that container are something he does not relish. Pulling a kunai out of his pocket with his free hand, he cut open the restraints on his seat and fell forward, landing in a kneeling position. His head was spinning, his ears were ringing as his headphones try to adapt to the surrounding locations, throwing off his equilibrium, and his stomach felt queasy. Throwing up his lunch, he let out some sharp breaths to gain some air. Taking a few minutes to regain his composure, he finds himself in total darkness. Getting up, he began to feel his senses returning to him. "Well, then. Out of the frying pan and into the oven." After a few seconds, the pigment in his eyes began to react to the darkness, and his pupils began to dilate to compensate for the low light levels. After about a minute, he had vision, but only enough to see a few feet in front of him. As far as he was concerned, it was enough to at least give him an idea of where he and his team were at. "Alright, team, it looks like we might be down in some sort of city. Everything in my line of sight is pretty much debris, sewage and who knows what else. Let's be careful and stick close. Who knows what could be waiting for us. So for now, let's look around a bit, get a sense of what exactly we're dealing with. The more knowledge we have of our location, the more ground we'll have. But again, stick close. This is definitely not the kind of place to venture alone."

"Achoo."

Sneezing, Zanzou hooked onto his teammates voice. "You're right, Kiritsu. We should stick together. But maybe learn to navigate this place as well," he whispered. "Gain an advantage, you know? Now come on, I don't think its best to stay here. I agree we should stick close and be on the alert. This is a new place, we don't know what is in store. Sticking on his long armored glove, and equipping his blade, he found his teammate in the low visibility, and they tried to find Minobu, who should've been near them as well.

"Ring around the rosie, pockets full of posies, ashes, ashes, we all fall down" Minobu mumbled as he sat disoriented from the entire human cannonball routine that he had been forced to endure as the start of the chunin exams. His ribs were bruised, and he was slightly out of breath, but overall he was fine. Instead of cutting his straps like his team mates did, he merely unbuckled himself. His team mates were gingerly making their way onto their feet, and outside of the pod. But minobu, he was interested in the speaker that was on the pod. Using several of his tools, he removed it and its power source, with a little bit of luck, he could use it to distract his enemies, and potentially set up an ambush using it. But with that taken care of, he joined his team mates outside the pod.

Looking around at what he could see, it looked like the outskirts of a city. "So this is what they've got hidden underground. Who knows what could be hidden here, could be something important." Looking behind him, he noticed Minobu stepping out of the pod carrying a speaker. "Found something useful?" Kiritsu asked. Walking up to Minobu, he noticed what he was holding. "Speaker, huh? Hm, could turn out to be useful. You're pretty much to go to guy for stuff like that." Stepping back into the pod, he looked around for anything else useful. Not really finding anything of use, he stepped out of the pod and joined back up with the team as they began their trek into the unknown. "Well, gentlemen, we'll need to keep on our toes. Who knows what could be lurking through this city. I've got a feeling we're not alone, and not just because the other teams are somewhere in this city." Kiritsu spoke quietly, adjusting the volume on his headphones to adapt to the city's murky atmosphere.

For a split second, Kiritsu's headphones expel a high pitched squeal and a pop, followed by the sound of a chorus of human voices screaming. A instant later and the sound coming from his headphones returns to normal.

Feeling his ears ring out from the squeal, he felt a sense of dread from what his headphones picked up. "What the..." Kiritsu thought to himself. He began to dislike this place more and more, beginning to wonder if something insidious is hidden within these fallen buildings. "We should get to high ground, probably get a better vantage point from there. We might be able to get a sense at just what's around us if we do. Might be a stairway in one of these buildings we could take to get up above." Kiritsu spoke. Taking off his headphones, he rubbed one of his fingers in his ears to help relieve the tinnitus. Once the ringing subsided, he put his headphones back on.

Zanzou, was a little late getting out of the pod as well. Taking all the straps from their belts, he stored them into a scroll. While Minobu dismantled the speaker, Zanzou dismantled the chairs, taking their cushions, thinking they'd be at least capable to sleep on. Storing them in a spare scroll as well, he then exited to meet Kiritsu, the first out. Minobu soon joined them, with the speaker.

"The pod's stuff can be useful I think," Zanzou said, trying to plan ahead as he looked at the speaker, and acknowledged the straps and cushions he carried. "I've got stuff for us to sleep on if we need it. So we don't go all stiff on this floor." He stored his scrolls away. Agreeing with Kiritsu on getting to higher ground, he suggested that they move upwards and start to investigate as well. Maybe they could find other useful stuff, or spy on others.

Looking through the windows of the buildings, he looked for anything with a staircase. If there's a staircase, there's a good chance it'll lead to high ground. He also kept a close ear on his headphones, see if it picks anything else up, hopefully something not as nerve wracking as last time. Peering through one of the windows, he saw a weak, flickering light that barely illuminated a staircase. "In here." Carefully, he opened the door quietly, stepping into see if there's anything in there. Looking around with his enhanced vision, there wasn't anything in his line of sight, at least not in the four feet or so he can see. Signalling them the all clear, he waited for them to go up the stairs first so he could watch their six. "I'll keep an eye out if anything tries to flank us." Kiritsu whispered, keeping an eye at both doorways in the building. "Zanzou, since you can sense chakra, see if there's anything up top if you can. If not, just keep an eye out for anything you can see." Looking towards the light fixture, he noticed something suspicious; It wasn't plugged in. "Something's not right..." Kiritsu thought to himself. Walking over to the fixture, he noticed it lying in a puddle of water. Pulling out a kunai, he wrapped some string on the loop of the kunai and dropped it into the water, noticing the water reacting to it, electrical charges coursing through the kunai. Yanking on the string to retrieve his kunai, he was able to make a conclusion; Whatever is in this water, it's got electrical properties. "There's something off about this city. This light fixture... it wasn't plugged in, but it reacted to the water. The water has a very high electrical output." Kiritsu spoke to his teammates. Finding a cup in the corner, he dragged it into the water to grab some. Sloshing it around in the cup, he placed his kunai back in it, noticing no electrical current. "Hmm..." Kiritsu thought to himself once again.

The interior of the building appears at first glance to have been a personal residence. Curiously, although the floors appear to be made of concrete or granite, every object in the home appears to be made of aluminum of varying grades. Additionally, every object in the building is scattered as though the possessions were thrown around in a random fashion. All the cabinets and drawers that contained metal appear to have been thrust open forcefully a long time ago, with their contents exploding outward. A drawer under a kitchen sink seems undisturbed. Within it are a collection of plastic bottles whose contents have long since eaten through their containers chemically. Under the dirty grime, the bottles are decorated in an unknown language with indecipherable characters. An iron object, a fire poker, reveals to have been powerfully magnetized after it seems to shift on its own towards Kiritsu's sheathed kunai.

Noticing a rustling sound picked up by his headphones, it sounded heavy, metallic. In a quick instant, Kiritsu saw a fire poker speeding towards him, just barely moving out of the way, he noticed it clink tightly onto his sheathed kunai. "What the..." A strange occurrence. Pulling off the poker, he tried to keep it from gripping to the kunai, but the vast, magnetic properties of the poker ensured it wasn't going anywhere except staying onto his kunai. "There's something in this city, either it's still happening or it happened long ago, but whatever has been giving this water an electric charge has also given a magnetic charge to most metallic objects exposed to the elements." Kiritsu once again spoke to his teammates. Looking around the house, he noticed everything made of metal was stuck to something else made of metal scattered around the house, as if the house became a magnet. Relinquishing his kunai, he dropped it on the ground along with the poker and made his way back to the stairs, continuing to watch their six. Looking around, he noticed there are unusual piles of dust, but not a single body in the buildings.

Zanzou was investigating as well. Everything was out of place, was it possible someone had been here before? Collected the various aluminum things, he came across the kitchen drawer. So orderly it looked weird, he opened it, and noticed the plastic within. Looking at it, he decided it would be of use too, maybe. "Anyone else find anything good or useful here?"

Looking around the house, Kiritsu found little else that could have been of use. He continued looking around the house, deciding to investigate the odd ash piles. Kneeling down, he carefully observed the piles, noting there was three of them, two about a foot or so high, one half a foot high. Staring at them, he noticed another high pitched scream in his headphones and clutched his head, but for a split second, then it was gone. That's when he came to a frightening conclusion. "There's no bodies here because they've been reduced to ashes. Whatever caused this occurrence has to be dangerous. Keep on your guard, there's definitely something wrong in this picture..." Pulling out a kunai, he kept it gripped tightly in his hand, almost paranoid about what could be there, and for good reason. Whatever was here led to the apparent deaths of the inhabitants of this house, no doubt.

Zanzou's use of his chakra sensing jutsu pays off eventually, and reveals four living figures in a tower approximately two hundred feet distant of Team Chinka's position.

Climbing back up the steps with his kunai drawn and looking towards the stairs, he made his way back to Zanzou. "You find something, Zanzou?" Kiritsu asked, putting up his kunai after noticing nothing following him. Despite this, he kept his hand close to his kunai pocket just to be safe. This is not the kind of place for someone to let their guard down, that much Kiritsu understands.

"Yeah, above." Zanzou had cut up the plastic, tying it around himself with the plastic. I can feel them moving, setting up things. Traps I'd presume. My guess is that they have detected us as well. One is down, and there is one in the air, some type of bird. They seem to be setting up things to head us off, to defend against us..." Preparing himself, the sensor flowed chakra through the plastic, making it stronger, serving as effective armor if you will. It could be the difference between life and death, he thought, as he continuing telling his team what he had sensed.

"Traps aye?" Minobu said as he walked through the door with the lamp, the iron poker, now tipped with Kiritsu's kunai, and around 90 forks in a plastic bag all in his hand. "Well, depending on how fast they are moving, I would guess we would be seeing simple ones, maybe more complicated ones if they are moving slowly. Either way, it will take time to get through them. We probably shouldn't run through carelessly. But, I have forks, and I have an idea. Lets see where they stop, and make this a battle to remember."

Looking down at the assortment of objects Minobu picked up, Kiritsu couldn't help but smirk. "I agree. If we plan this right, they won't know what hit them." Kiritsu replied. He always liked Minobu's plans since a good number of them relied on the element of surprise. This was now a game of waiting, waiting to see what their next move would be before they plan their assault. Patiently, Kiritsu waited for the opportunity to begin their plan, kneeling down, his hands close together to form hand seals if necessary.

Encounter 1
Time: 1 PM, Day 1

Advantage: Team Karasu

Encounter Effects: The tower has many rooms and interior corners. Movement can be used to break line of sight. The upper portion of the tower is covered in an electrified metal cage, and contact with the metal of the cage conducts a painful electric jolt.

Round 1: Team Karasu
Asami Amaya: Placing explosive tags on the three entrances, hiding them among the debris, Asami was back inside with her friends. Delayed Action (Trap 3X)

Proceeding to their earlier form of transportation, guiding Kyoumei with a wire and picking up Kagato, Asami proceeded to the top of the tower, leaving those two inside two floors beneath her. Eventually they reached the top of the tower, where a cage was in. Slipping in-between the cage wires, Asami touching one didn’t turn out so well, it was electrifying. Keenly watching her surroundings for intruders, she lifts her bow and waits for her enemies to arrive.

Meikyou Shisui:

Kyoumei sets a bucket full of rubble and a smokebomb on the edge of a stool next to the entry door to the room she occupies, set to overturn and alert her of the presence of enemies by creating vibrations on the floor, and to fill the room with a thick white smoke. - Delayed Action (Trap)

Kyoumei remains prepared to activate Onsa Ken to project an explosive wave of deafening sound against foes ahead of her (see Resonating Echo Drill). - Delayed Action (Attack)

Kyoumei readies a pepper bomb to be thrown towards the entryway in her off hand. The capsaicin in it should help blind her enemies if the smoke fails. Delayed Action (Attack)

Kagato Takamagahara:

Sozan creates a shield of ice in the form of a dome to protect Kagato. - Defense Action

Sozan sets a trap using Hyakkaseihou to create a makibishi from ice, scattering them across the entrance. - Delayed Action (Trap)

Sozan builds up energy to release a storm of freezing rain on the enemies if they break through the door. - Delayed Action (Attack)

Round 1: Team Chinka
Kiritsu Taisei:

Following close behind Zanzou and Minobu, Kiritsu runs towards the building the two ran towards and positions himself Movement

After Minobu gave him the signal, Kiritsu created an artificial barrel for Samsono with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, creating grooves in the barrel to give spin and added velocity and accuracy to the projectile. Attack (Collaborative)

After Minobu fires off his puppet's shots, Kiritsu uses Great Breakthrough again to push away debris from one of the entrances, setting off one of the traps hidden within in the process. "Huh, looks like my paranoia paid off after all." Attack (Trap Check)

Minobu Tetsuhara:

Minobu runs to the top of the building he is in that is adjacent to the tower Karasu is in. Movement

Minobu summons his puppet Samsono, using it in conjunction with targeting info (distance, elevation, direction) from Zanzou's Sensing ability and a range enhancement from Kiritsu's Great Breakthrough to launch several poison bombs containing a mix of paralytic poison and Cloth dissolving gas bombs from Samsono's Right back arm. These poison bombs are targeted at Amaya on top of the building, and use a parabolic arc to assure that they at least reach the cage itself, hopefully hitting the person within. Attack (specialization/collaborative)

Tying a Wire String and a cloth dissolving bomb to the iron poker, Minobu loads it into Samsono's back left arm, its shrapnel launcher. Launching the poker, Minobu attempts to bounce it off the bars of the cage into the person inside, while leaving a string on the cage and attached to the puppet's arm below for potential later use as a grappling hook. Attack

Zanzou:

Zanzou follows Minobu in his quest upwards. (Movement)

Zanzou adds a smoke bomb, explosive tag with kunai and a flash bomb to Samsono, and it launches them in its attack, the smoke from the bomb is made out of. (Attack)

Zanzou uses his Sensing ability, to help direct Minobu to shoot accurately at the person in the cage, Amaya. Attack (Collaborative)