Gift of the Gods: The Wind Temple [Group Two]

Age : 31 Posts : 8965

Darkness engulfed the beams of light within an instant as the doors shut with a thud, effectively sealing the Konohagakure shinobi within Fuujin’s temple. Robin, the leader of this particular expedition had instructed all members of his party to remain perfectly still as the doors closed and everybody lost something they had always taken for granted; vision. Despite the definite order that was given to the group, various shinobi within the squadron didn’t take their sensei’s words as literally as he had implied them. Whether it was the Aburame boy sending out a hive of his insects to scout the room while they could not see themselves, the Haretsu girl who prepared kneading clay within the mouths on her hands to prepare for the worst or the white haired fellow shuffling through his bags and pockets to see if he had anything that could be used as a source of light.

Somewhere in between all these devious little movements something was triggered, something that would have surely been inevitably triggered unless everybody was planning on standing in their spots for the rest of their days. There was no warning of what was about to come, even a group of shinobi on high alert would be caught off guard as the walls began to shift at such a speed, before any action could be taken the groups were split. The floor would follow suit and move with the walls as gravity come into play. Yoru, Shuhei, Toshiro and Hani would fall for what would feel like forever before hitting a pool of water each with their own splash. The water was cold, but not freezing and once they were out of it they would more than likely be amazing by how blue it was, this water was as pure as it got. As they would reach the surface of the water for air they would notice a source of light now, two torches enough to illuminate the room they fell into. What was once their floor was now their roof, with no way back up and no apparent way to exit this room they appeared to be trapped. The mass of water was too deep to reach the bottom of, and if they were able to they would find nothing. With sources of light and water that was more than likely drinkable what else did this place have to offer? Unlike where they had fallen from the walls were bare, once they able to step onto the light brown steps that were in the water and lead out onto a higher level they would see a stone bench and nothing more. Nothing of comfort was offered besides from a seat that looked like it would fit two bottoms at best and whatever they happened to carry on them at the time.

As for the others, Robin, Kemuri and Tani had been rocketed up from the floor each one of them by themselves at a reasonable pace. Their sides were concealed and there was no escape as they would continue to rise until they reached a large open space at what was assumed to be the top of the temple. The walls to their sides would drop down as they would be revealed to each other, the trio of shinobi managing to see each other from the numerous light sources they had in this open area, the walls were bare just like the companions they were separated from, a fountain of water stood before Tani, to the left of Robin and to the right of Kemuri. The three would venture around the big room they were trapped within but there would be no probable exits and despite anything they would try, explosive or otherwise the walls were more than adequate enough to remain intact and in fact barely appear to be damaged at all. The secrets of the temples pristine condition may be revealed by the parties, as their attempts to escape from their rooms would be futile, was this place really protected by a God? Although some of the shinobi may not have come to terms with it straight away, all they could do was sit tight and wait for something to happen.

But the party was actually one person short, each group would have obviously thought the missing person was with the other group but little would they know that one of the Genin had been completely isolated by the movement of the walls. Sael Sanaka actually began to fall with the other four ninja but he himself would only fall ten or so metres before meeting the hard ground, as the walls would continue to shift Sael would be the first to fall victim to the temples many traps, not counting the shifting walls and floors of course. The puppeteer ironically enough would become trapped within one of his puppets, the one referred to as Tortoise. Once he was separated from everybody else he noticed the roof above him in the small area he was closed within begin to crumble and soon fall, taking cover inside his puppet which was designed for this exact reason Sael would appear to be unharmed by the debris he would however become pinned down by it. It would be here he remained until one of his comrades found him; if they found him.

Age : 30 Posts : 1236

The man was surrounded with ignorance and it truly shocked him as to how these shinobi had become such a rank; clearly and defiantly disobeying his orders. Even the pure fact they had bothered to open their mouths to allow their own little insights to the presence of darkness and the ability to conquer it showed a direct lack of obedience. Don’t move a muscle must have meant something different during Ninja Academy, though Robin took the blame on himself as he had grown complacent in his visits to the Ninja Academy over the years and so allowed a new breed of shinobi. Whether or not it was due to the movement or not Robin had zero knowledge of, as a new threat showed its face.

Walls shifted, the floor creaked and the roof moaned at such a godly speed that Robin could only observe the minuscule of moments – As light had seemingly appeared from above, Robin was shifted and lifted into the light. For a heart fluttering moment, Robin tasted fear and disarray; two emotions uncommon to the weathered shinobi. The situation however appeared to look up as he landed more-or-less safely on his feet, though little did Robin know that this was to be the case for the next three days. Before and a little to the left of the former Hokage was a lone fountain, where beautiful blue water had seemingly appeared and disappeared coupled with a torch at each corner and centre of the surprisingly large room was all that Robin’s keen perception could appear to observe.

Oh. And two other people out of the group of eight were with him also. Two females: one who had slept during the rest and the other a massive bundle of unrest – usually the prospect of being locked in a room of nothingness with two females would be quite appealing to him, had it not been two very young and potentially immature Genin both of which had showed unrest against his orders. Though, Robin WAS always a fan of bad girls. Maybe this could be the best opportunity for Robin to ‘whip’ them into shape. Anyway back to the situation at hand, Robin saw little guidance before him. So he needed to think and he felt walking to the closest (right) wall to see what could be made of it was the best thing for him. He wasn’t prepared to start speaking orders to the other two if they were going to fail to obey them, so he needed some form of solace.

Retrieving a kunai from the belted kit underneath his black coat, Robin sought to engrave his name into what appeared to be a sandstone or marble wall however to little avail. He couldn't even get a nick or mark out of it and had a weird sense that he would have a similar result attempting to expend chakra on a technique to impact on the wall also. Though based on the original room that the group had been in, due to the artistry it would appear ink and paint remained on the walls and was confirmed by Robin placing a symbol on the wall in black ink. This could potentially be the difference between life and death in here, just one little symbol.

With no other approach to the situation, Robin turned on his heels and looked towards the other two’s activities, observing the very similar results of lack of destruction. Robin cleared his throat and decided to break the ice, ironic that they were in the middle of the desert, ‘So, any ideas?’

Age : 34 Posts : 591

The shift in rooms came as a shock to Kemuri as she was rocketed skywards and quickly deposited in a room with her friend Tani and the man whom she had come to dislike even more now that this has happened, the former Hokage. He led them to a temple in the middle of a desert where they would never be found and then proceeded to let them get locked into the temple, which was hilarious, and then allowed them to be taken further into the temple without even making an attempt to stop the mechanism. Sure Kemuri herself had not tried to escape the rising pillar she was on, but it all had happened so fast and it was his job to lead them not hers. He said to stay still and she had, but they still ended up separated from roughly half of their fellow shinobi.

Her eyes narrowed at Robin as he examined the room and, still chewing her clay, she joined him in doing such by examining the walls with her fingers and peeking at the fountain. The water seemed oddly blue when it should be clear so there was no doubt that the water was corrupted with something. Making a mental note to not bother with the water and rely on her own supplies while in the temple, her eyes flicked to Robin and Tani to see their progress in searching this place for an exit. Blindly groping at walls in vain hope of finding a crevice or crack with fresh air that she might exploit brought no solace to the Haretsu child as she continued checking the rooms and instead only deepened her frustration at her lack of ability to escape the situation. Greed was the motivator in coming here and she had not planned for it to be easy, but then again she did not plan to be lead into the temple with such incompetence. Why had he not ordered the last people in to hold the doors open? Why had he not provided light in the antechamber? Maybe without the threat of pitch darkness some of the genin could have escaped the rapid changing of the room.

She looked for Tani’s eyes to make sure her friend understood her frustration as they continued to search the room. Her jaw ached, tired of chewing the clay, so she quietly shaped it into the design she desired for this particular task and formed three spiders which eagerly crawled out of her maw and down her neck to ride her shoulders like midgets riding giants.

”So, any ideas?”, so called the Kage as he approached Kemuri who managed to bite back her own acidic tongue. Instead she placed her hand on the edge of the fountain and the little clay spiders skittered down the extended appendage and dipped themselves into the blue waters as Kemuri walked away.

”For one, I think we should remove temptation for those of us who are weak willed and act first without stopping to think.”

Kemuri’s hand came up and formed a single hand sign to detonate the little buggers at the same time, keeping her back to the explosion to minimalize risk from the highly likely shrapnel that would be flung in all directions if the fountain was actually able to be destroyed by the explosion. Along with moving the corrupted water this would test the structural integrity of any objects that might be found in the temple that were not simply walls. Robin had found out himself that even a kunai’s point could not mark the bricks, so now it was Kemuri’s turn to see if this and possibly future superfluous items that might be found in the temple could be destroyed. Now he was asking for her advice from the genin and Kemuri’s opinion was permanently stained towards the negative when his presence would be involved.

”What about you Hokage? You’re the leader here and I’m oh so eager as to what you think is the correct path for us to take?”

Spoiler:

Age : 31 Posts : 471

The sound of stone grinding against stone had barely reached the girl’s ears before Tani was surprised by something cold, hard and rough grazing her right forearm. Her insides heaved at the unidentified contact, realising immediately that something had found its way between herself and the five members of their team that had entered behind her. Alarmed, the already jumpy young kunoichi flung herself away from the mystery object and immediately struck another hard, rough barrier. They were walls. Without time to think the girl instinctively withdrew from the second wall in shock as it started to move down into the floor.. or was the floor moving up?

Tani felt like she would be sick with all the sudden movement and disorientation, but her racing heart was taking up too much of her attention to pause; she was separated from the squad and either moving through the temple, or the temple was moving around her. It was odd how once she set foot inside, she could no longer be sure what was what; this place didn’t behave according to the reality she was used to.

After some agonizing moments of uncertainty, grinding stone and darkness, the kunoichi burst past the threshold to a place flooded with light. The walls fell away from her sides and revealed, to her great relief, the once-Hokage and her best friend. Tani almost laughed as she sighed, racing heart still pounding through her entire being; she hadn’t been whisked off from her entire party. Not wanting to be caught off guard by whatever came next, she swiftly examined the new chamber in which she and her companions stood. It was a large room, thankfully with torches, holding nothing but space and an oddly out-of-place fountain; an unsettling centrepiece which flowed with a mysterious blue liquid.

“What in the flaming hell is that?” The girl inquired to nobody in particular as her team mates left her standing in her ready-to-spring stance to investigate the room further. Looking at each shinobi on her left and right to see them testing and inspecting the walls, Tani straightened herself and approached the fountain cautiously. Noting with an unsettling amount of uncertainty that if the substance had harmful fumes then the room would have already been full of them, her nose twitched curiously over its surface. She couldn’t detect any scent about it. Her brow creased, she’d still be avoiding the contents of the fountain if she could help it.. anything within this temple was most likely designed to end their lives or lead to something that would. She glanced over at Kemuri intending to state her distrust for whatever the fountain contained, only to find her friend’s irritated blue eyes already on her. She was obviously unimpressed with this whole situation, and Tani could empathise. Subconsciously she moved to brush the dust from her right arm, only to find her fingers grazing the lightly shredded epidermis of her forearm.

”So, any ideas?” Robin had finished drawing on the wall and was approaching the Genin. “Well, I don’t think this is water.. or punch.” The bright eyed shinobi gestured towards the fountain as the blonde girl made her way to the object as well, clay spiders riding her shoulders. Upon seeing the familiar explosives, Tani instinctively started to meander her way backwards while listening to the girl speak. The moment the critters scampered from her person, though, she didn’t need to hear her friend’s dialog to know what was coming.

”For one, I think we should remove temptation for those of us who are weak willed and act first without stopping to think.” Having gained enough distance to be out of range, Tani spun on her heel at the last moment, bringing her arms up to guard her head from the products of the blast. “Well I sure hope that didn’t have any triggers in it, Muri..” She spoke as she glanced at the scene, turning to face the middle of the room once more before combing the walls and ceiling for any signs of change. Eyes resting on the stone above them, she couldn’t help but wonder just how far they’d risen.. or the temple had fallen... or whatever had happened. Was there possibly a way out above their heads? She then tilted down to inspect the stone beneath their feet. They’d come from below, and that fountain had to be fed from somewhere.. perhaps there was a weakness to exploit to break their way out in a downwards direction? She was just about to suggest the use of Kemuri’s explosive power to test her theory when the girl in question spoke again.

”What about you Hokage? You’re the leader here and I’m oh so eager as to what you think is the correct path for us to take?” The small girl turned her attention back to the legend in their midst and held her tongue. She was also curious what their experienced leader had on his mind in this situation, she’d raise her own ideas after he’d answered the question; she didn’t want to avert his response with her musings.

Age : 30 Posts : 1236

Robin listened to Kemuri as she very arrogantly suggested the notion of temptation. This promptly reminded Robin of the temptation he had seen the very girl herself allude to with the desire to scout ahead at the temple and then again to want to light up the darkness. It would appear she was as naive to her own self as she was to her peers; though Robin needed to respect her all the same. What the Hokage hadn't expected was the fact she utilized her Haretsu abilities to blow up the fountain completely, spilling the potentially dangerous liquid completely over the room and over the three that stood within its compound. For all Robin knew, the liquid itself could have been acidic and may have been extremely deadly if it came into contact with the skin - though thankfully the liquid had run clean off his waterproof trenchcoat. Even more so was the fact the liquid itself wasn't deadly to the other two, except for the massive blue splotches covering their clothes. Robin silently chuckled.

Furthermore, Kemuri verbally attacked the former Hokage in retaliation as to which path they should take. Robin had wanted to include the others into the confusion but all that had seemed to come out of it was intolerance and dissatisfaction. He was stuck with one who had an explosive attitude and the other who seemed to contribute little. So Robin spoke and Robin instructed to the disappointment of the Haretsu girl; 'You may do whatever you feel is appropriate to escape, but as I look at the situation now there is nothing of advantage to get us there so I will do as I had commanded earlier and I will wait.' Sure enough impatience would affect Robin down the line, but he knew the importance of patience and would exhaust that option until another presented itself. Robin walked into the corner of the room and sat down, pulling out a pen and proceeded to write in his latest book. He could view the rubble of the fountain easily as well as see what the other two were doing whilst enjoying himself a spot of writing. He would then go on to sleep later that day once the other two were asleep.

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Day 2: Again, nothing happened but his usual body clock prompted him to wake up at what he believed was morning. He ate some more food that he had packed and enjoyed a drink of water from his own reserves whilst resting for some more writing. The other two interacted with each other and went by their own accords but patience had seemed to control the day.

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Day 3: The same routine as the day before, though this time Robin had felt the need to stretch his legs and jog around the room to maintain a bit of fitness. This served no advancement towards getting out and his food and drink were again used. He figured he had another day of reserves left before having to act properly and hopefully not to cannibalism. Though this time, he paid close attention to what the other two were doing..

Quote :: OOC: I have been told to speed things up and skip to the final day. So, post similarly to what I have done but try and make some advancement on the third day as this part of the event should finish shortly. Sorry for my delay, I've had a rollercoaster of a few days.

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Day 1: Kemuri could do little to hide her amusement over the exploding fountain. She could not even pretend to be upset by the blue water splashing her. Had it truly been something acidic she would have seen the disfiguring of her clay spider as it was dropped into the water. Regardless, the ex-hokage offered up his words on the situation and sat down to write his book. After a frustrating rummaging through the rubble of the fountain only to find nothing but chunks of stone, she saw him writing his novel and going to sleep. The man did not even have the common sense to perhaps have them sleep in shifts should their apparent prison open to let in something far less pleasant than their missing teammates. So Kemuri took it upon herself to take the first watch, resisting the urge to drop several of her exploding spiders onto the man’s face and simply detonate them as he slept to remove his presence from the temple entirely. Eventually she would nudge her friend awake and take her turn sleeping, leaving the watch to Tani.

Day 2: Kemuri ate what little she had brought with her, nibbling it and rationing it for the long haul rather than waiting to be down to crumbs before rationing. After all, they had a trip all the way back to the verdant forests of Konoha to get to before they could even think of re-supplying. She was bored and spent most of the day sleeping off and on.

Day 3: As before the day was spent mostly sleeping, either that or passing the time chatting with her similarly confined friend. Contact with the ex-hokage was limited except for the occasional unceremonious kick to his ribs to wake him for his turn on watch. Of course when he did not take the watch then Kemuri would simply go without rest for the time being. Better safe than ambushed, something she knew from experience. As the ambushed of course. Still, they could all agree on one thing at least: This situation sucked.

Age : 31 Posts : 471

Tani frowned as their squad leader made his seemingly defeatist comments about there being nothing they could do but wait, and couldn’t help but wonder what he expected to come to them that could be of assistance, and surely if their salvation was to come to them there would be a lot more survivors from previous temple visits. Never in her life could the girl remember a time where she’d been rewarded for sitting on her ass; anything she’d achieved, she’d done so though aggressively pursuing it. Even so, as Kemuri investigated the rubble of the fountain and Tani raised her hopes of finding structural weakness in the floor to their now seated and writing ex-hokage, the much more experienced man remained adamant that while she could test out whatever she liked, he held little hope for them succeeding in finding an exit.

Confused and frustrated by what she saw as the suggestion that she’d be better off to just give up (something she’d never been good at doing), the tiny kunoichi spent the next few hours very closely examining the floor in an attempt to locate the seams for whatever moving mechanism they had ridden in on, while periodically checking on the progress of her friend’s rubble-searching as she went. It seemed the fountain contained nothing out of the ordinary, its ‘water’ source remained unidentified, and in the flickering torchlight one crack between sandstone bricks looked just like every other. The girl had even tried to track down where the mysterious blue liquid had flown to, as it seemed to slowly filter out of the room, though whatever escape it had found managed to evade Tani’s strained eyes. By the time Kemuri came to suggest they take guard shifts while sleeping, Tani was feeling exhausted; not physically, but mentally. She gave her friend a thankful smile for taking first watch before settling herself down in the far left corner of their prison to rest her weary mind. Tani could almost feel their leader’s lack of confidence in them, and while she wasn’t one to struggle with her own confidence or have to rely on others for hope, it was starting to bite at her. If someone so renowned in the shinobi world had so little hope for their situation, was she naïve to cling to the hope she had?

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During their second day of entrapment, Tani found it hard to occupy herself. Like her comrades, she ate a food pill and drank a little to keep up her strength, and likewise again, did little else. She performed her morning forms just like any other day, spoke with Kemuri a little about nothing important, and found much of the day gone to watching the flickering light of the torch on the wall nearest her sleeping place. Her lack of activity might have come across as patience, but in reality her usual restlessness was supressed only by a smothering feeling of helplessness. Bouts of pacing their large room (which was slowly starting to feel much smaller) were the only outlet for the energetic girl’s restlessness, and what she felt kept her from exploding. She was grateful for her turns at sentry duty, there was only so much resting she could stand, but whenever it came time to switch out she found herself quietly disappointed that nothing had happened; she’d rather face a tiger head-on than a fox that snuck about and took it’s time. She was just that kind of direct person.

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After a dull morning on the third day confined in the one room that now made up this trio’s world, Tani felt like she’d had enough. She’d eaten a little more, and drank again, as well as done her forms and joined Robin in his jogging. If it wasn’t for the comforting conversation with her childhood friend, she feared she may have gone stir-crazy in that damned room, something that made her ever more grateful for the company of her cellmates; even if that company was frustratingly resigned to whatever destiny this death-trap temple decided to throw at them. After a few hours of doing little but breathing, however, Tani felt she couldn’t sit still any longer.

“Three days.” She spoke loud and firm, back against her wall and arms crossed firmly over her chest as her eyes remained fixed on the opposite wall. “Three days and we’ve done nothing.. How much ‘patience’ can we afford before we waste away and join this place’s kami-damned body count?” She was obviously frustrated, with the underlying fear and uncertainty that came from conforming to orders she felt were going to end up in her and her comrade’s deaths. A growl escaped between her clenched teeth as she wrenched herself from the floor and strode over to the area of floor they had arrived on two days prior. She’d been over these stones numerous times already, but it was the only hope she still held for a way out; the roof and walls were indestructible and there’d been no indication of weak points elsewhere. Maybe if she could find a good sized crack, seam to the elevated platforms or not, she could wedge a kunai tip into it and pry a brick out? She refused to let what she perceived as the defeated attitude of her co-trapped to keep her from looking for a way out; if this temple was to be her tomb, she’d go down fighting for every borrowed breath, not slowly starving on the floor of some strange room.. Something that would likely happen to her before the others, as she’d left many of her supplies outside.

Age : 31 Posts : 8965

Days and nights would pass with nothing to measure the time short of the shinobi counting each hour, minute or second as it passed. Though energy would surely be reserved and used in more productive ways such as finding an escape for their sealed location and then using what energy they had to regroup and complete their objective. Such ideas would dwell in only the most optimistic of the group as thinks sure were not looking up so far. Rationing food and lazing about trying not to trigger anything that could make their dire situations even worse the shinobi for the most part obeyed the instructions that their leader Robin initially asked of them as sat tight for a little more than three days before anything would actually change. Already realizing that these walls wouldn't crumble, crack or even chip from their attacks or jutsu the two groups spent most of their time idly waiting until something would finally happen. Once the time passed some noises would be heard through the walls, as if things were shifting a distance from where they were. Surely they would investigate the noises, but most likely cautiously not that anything bad was to come of it yet.

Though after another handful of minutes passed, a single slab of the walls foundation would seemingly be sucked into the walls and fall to the side, outside the shinobi’s reach with a loud thud. Almost another minute would pass before the wall completely opened up with an approximate two metre width, leading down in a tunnelling fashion further than any of the shinobi could even see. Eventually both groups would find their way into the only possible exit they had before them, dark with seemingly no source of light the shinobi would have to be resourceful if they wished to see where they were stepping or at the very least move quickly. The group of four took a slower approach, warily entering the dark channel and making their way through it in a pace that was reasonable but in no way quick Progressing further with Hani leading the squad into unknown and unexplored territory followed by Yoru, Toshiro and finally Shuhei. It wasn’t until they had ventured hundreds of metres into this passageway did they realize how much trouble they were about to be in, with another creek and grind similar to the ones they had heard before the hall had opened up. The walls were starting to close again. The four shinobi would begin to sprint forward as fast as they can to avoid being crushed into dust as Hani led the four through narrow passageway with her three male companions hot on her heels. A light finally dawned at the end of the tunnel as the kunoichi’s speed would reach its limit, testing their wills to survive and push the girl would make it out with seconds to spare, as would Yoru as they would both crash to the floor as they leapt from the corridor just in time.

The Aburame and the Chuunin however being held up by the other two weren’t moving quick enough as they were incapable of overtaking their comrades and forced to only move as fast as the people in front of them. As the walls inched closer and would start to rub against their body and arms as they pressed towards the exit the walls would close together when in a selfless act Shuhei dived into Toshiro pushing him off balance and caused him to get the momentum necessary to escape virtually unscathed as his left sleeve would get compressed between the two walls that now pressed against one another. Literally barely making it, and probably not if it wasn’t for Shuhei whose body was now sealed within the walls. An out of character act of the Aburame who hadn’t appeared to warm up to his Chuunin superior selflessly saved his comrade knowing that he wasn’t escaping regardless. The three shinobi would eventually progress moving up flights of stairs and bends and curves as they would climb levels to regroup with their comrades optimistically hoping they would still be alive.

For the Hokage and his two kunoichi companions, things would appear to run a little smoother. Presented with the same situation as the four shinobi from the bottom room, Robin and the girls would move a bit move a lot quicker than their teammates and would escape through the walls with ease and their previous room of captivity would be forever gone. This wasn’t the hardest part for these three however, as they journeyed down flights of stairs and through many curves and bends, they found eventually came to a room that looked like every other they had seen so far, nothing spectacular and nothing threatening. The girls would lead a couple steps ahead and would soon be caught off guard by another one of the temples defences. The ground below them would begin to sink in as they would become stuck and descend into the stone that appeared to almost liquefy as if it was quicksand. As this would happen the wall in front of them bar the archway that they were walking towards would open up and shoot out sharp metal rods that were about ten inches long out from the wall. These things not only had the ability to penetrate and kill but were soaked in poison as well so even a scratch would eventually become fatal, only taking a few hours after infection. The floor however wasn’t actually sinking, as soon as they walked into the room they were all cast into a Genjutsu that was triggered by human presence, but the poison-laced rods were very real and with only a shred of time to work this out, dispel the technique and avoid the projectiles; the shinobi were in a tight spot.

Age : 30 Posts : 1236

Patience would be the key. On two occasions, Robin's innate laziness had more or less successfully saved their asses and the ex-Hokage really expected little gratitude from it, especially from the two whom he had been stuck with for the past three days. Furthermore, Robin had made considerable headway into his novel, completing the chapter on how the youth of today were becoming more ignorant of teaching whilst beginning the narrative of their current journey. The fact that he had been recounting this experience may become the only sign of the group's presence should any altercations appear in the foreseeable future. For now the creaking and groaning of the wall before the three, of which the two kunoichis were on their sharpest of toes as to the potential trap beforehand, gave an end to the claustrophobia of patience. Before too long, the slab gave way to a passageway only 2 square-meters big that the group after a long hesitation decided to escape through. Robin didn't need to speak to the other two as they knew their goal - It was right there before them.

The three entered and proceeded through the tunnel, completely weary and prepared of the potential dangers. It served as no surprise when the entrance behind them closed into darkness where Robin promptly muttered "Bureijinguhitto" to ignite his fist and allow the pitch before them to be relieved behind the bright glow of the Hokage; yet another sign of Robin showing his intuition and leading in scenarios as such. The hallway was illuminated and yet again another trap was activated with the walls all around the three beginning to close them in. They took off with a blistering pace at the command of Robin's "Go!" who trailed the other two and all three successfully escaped unscathed. Robin's hand would maintain their light throughout the twisting and turning of the walls and the staircases as he followed behind the two. Thanks to the sandstone, the luminosity of the fire intensified and allowed the hallways to be extremely well lit.

However and unbeknownst to the three, the next room the three reached unfortunately felt strangely familiar however thankfully did not appear to have a confinement trap. Unlike that of all of the other hallways and rooms beforehand, an archway could be seen at the end of the room and just in its structure and presence alone, the three of them trudged into the room further. What happened next could only be described through the eyes of Robin as a very slight, strange flickering of the flame at his hand suggested an innate breath of wind at which Robin himself did not feel. This keen perception of the flame, coupled with the fact the floor beneath the three seemed to be sinking away with them all trapped in it and a trap was released firing off senbon-like rods at them immediately made Robin uncomfortable. His senses screamed at him and his actions allowed him to whisper Kai and break off the technique, sure enough leaving him sure-footed on level ground, though with two struggling genin before him. Robin lurched forward and touched the two on the shoulders, dispelling the genjutsu instantaneously though leaving little time to perform a defence against the rods.

Robin brought his hands before him, smashing three quick handseals together before muttering ‘Reppushou’ and sending a gust of wind as a vortex-like tunnel before him to repel the metal rods. The only problem being that he had no enough time to potentially protect the other two – he was really trusting that they realised they were in a genjutsu and put up their own defence against the fast-approaching rods..

Quote :: OOC: Adam informed me this Genjutsu is C-ranked with 9CP to cast. Therefore it cost me 11CP to dispel and 11CP to dispel it from you two. ^^

Jutsus Used: 30 /235CP

Name: Bureijinguhitto - Blazing Hit
Rank: D
Type: Nin / Taijutsu
Range: Close (0m)
Element: Katon
Description: Bureijinguhitto is a ninjutsu and taijutsu combination utilizing the fire element. By charging a small amount of chakra to the dominant fist, the user is able to ignite their hand so that it's enveloped in a glove of fire. By delivering a punch to their opponent, the user is able to add on a burning effect to the location that has been hit. The fire will only be visible on the top of the hand, covering the top of the fingers, knuckles and hand.
Chakra Cost: 3

Name: Kai • Release
Rank: D
Type: Ninjutsu
Range: Close (0m - 5m)
Element: N/A
Description: By stopping the flow of chakra in their body, and then applying an even stronger power to disrupt the flow of the caster's chakra; the user may dispel the effects of a genjutsu. This can also be used on another individual that is stuck in a genjutsu by preforming the necessary hand seal and then touching them, although it consumes half the chakra cost of the Genjutsu.
Chakra Cost: Cost of Genjutsu + 2CP

Name: Reppushou - Gale Wind Palm
Rank: C
Type: Ninjutsu
Range: Close (0m - 5m), Mid (5m - 10m), Far (10+)
Element: Fuuton (Wind)
Description: Fuuton • Reppushou is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Wind Element. After forming the needed hand seals, the user will send a strong gust of wind towards his/her target. When acting in conjunction with another thrown weapon, the wind can increase its power and deadliness.
Chakra Cost: 5

Age : 34 Posts : 591

Kemrui hated this place. She hated the company, except her best friend, and hated the temple and hated the weird blue water. When the wall opened finally was when she was through the pathway and leading the group with Robin’s flickering flame. Finally the ex-Kage was good for something beyond being a twit. As they barreled down the hallway it eventually began to close in and threaten to crush the trio, a fact which was not okay with Kemuri herself. She rushed past the end of the hallway and dove free of the crushing tunnel, happy to enjoy the clapping of stone coming together rather than the screams of her friend. Damn, the hokage guy survived too… what a shame.

The march through the halls of the temple revealed neither treasure nor anything out of the ordinary. Rooms and staircases filled with dust and stone, one right after another did the group pass through them and simply continue on about their way. The real problems had yet to truly begin. The trio stepped foot in a room that seemed no different from the last. PSYCH!! The floor was sinking, what the hell was up with that?

Acting quickly, and thankful for her habit of staying near walls, Kemuri was only ankle deep before she pulled her foot free of the muck and stuck it to the wall. With a yank her other foot joined the first on the wall and Kemuri was officially standing on the wall and in relative safety from the quicksand floor. The whistling of projectiles being fired bothered the piss out of the poor girl and a mighty shove from the wall sent her upwards towards the ceiling where she promptly re-attached herself in a prone position. Her nubile body pressed against the stone of the ceiling stuck there quite well as she waited for the barrage beneath her to end. Of course Robin was wading through to touch Tani on the shoulder before using wind to deflect some of the glittering slivers from himself with absolutely no assistance offered to Kemuri’s best friend.

That useless prick was really starting to bug Kemuri. He had no problem moving through the quicksand-ish floor and altogether seemed unaffected. Way to not share the secret to that little trick. Still, Kemuri kept her focus on her chakra and sticking with her back and hands against the ceiling. If and when the barrage was over was when Kemuri would come down, launching herself towards the threshold of the room which she knew was solid ground from their previous travels. This place was lame, but it might be a good place to get rid of a body.

”That was fun, let’s never do it again yeah? Yeah.”

Age : 31 Posts : 471

Tani’s heart lurched at the presentation of their escape route. Sure, it was obvious as hell, and just doing what the temple wanted them to do unsettled the girl to no end, but there was no way she was hanging around in that room any longer than she had to. The second there was a gap big enough for a body to fit through the young kunoichi had retrieved a chunk of fountain and, without a moment’s hesitation, had lobbed the hunk through the new passageway and down the tunnel. A tense moment apparently shared by their elder companion but of little concern to Kemuri later and the tunnel presented no signs of holding a trap at its threshold. Not needing any more convincing, Tani was quick to fall in step behind her blonde friend and followed by Robin as the trio marched hurriedly by firelight into the dark unknown. When an all too familiar grinding found her ears, the girl didn’t need the verbal command of the man behind her nor the visual cue of her friend’s swiftly advancing form to get moving; barrelling down the dark hall in a dead bolt for the light of freedom at the end. When all three had burst into the wider hall at the end, pausing momentarily to catch their breath, blue-green eyes drifted wearily over shoulder to gaze into the steadily thinning ribbon of black hall they’d escaped. Ghost fingers stroked the girl’s spine as she watched what could have been all of their graves slowly close forever; her brow creasing as she swallowed ice, struck with the feeling that the temple itself was winking at her in those joining walls… Symbolically, of course.

The time for rest was well and truly over, though, and the trio was soon once again on their way. Tani was glad the once-Hokage had taken it upon himself right from their first few steps into the tunnel to provide their light; something the girl wasn’t about to go without in this place again and would have happily supplied herself had he not swiftly done so. Small fingers found the negligible friction wound of her forearm absentmindedly as they marched onward through the temple. The skin hadn’t even been grazed deep enough initially to bleed; now it was no more than a pink patch of slightest irritation, but a reminder to watch where she was going nonetheless.

Their travels came to an abrupt halt then, as the kunoichi found herself suddenly unable to lift her feet to walk. Immediately on alert as the presence of Kemuri disappeared from beside her, Tani glanced down with wide eyes to have her suspicions confirmed; what had definitely been solid stone a moment before was now a goopy, liquid, shinobi trap. The young girl had little time to curse the irony of stumbling into a trap while distracted by thoughts of being more observant, however, as the tell-tale click of hidden mechanisms releasing grasped the entirety of her attention. Barely a moment later and the subtle metallic quip of projectiles being released could be heard. A sound shadowed by the soft sounds of hands rapidly moving; both her own and, after a hard jab to the girl’s shoulder she neither understood nor payed any mind in those precious seconds, those of the man standing just in her wake. Tani hadn’t realised her slow sinking had been the effects of a genjutsu, in fact she didn’t even know she’d been forcefully and fortunately released from said genjutsu; as far as she was concerned she’d have time to worry about saving her small sinking self when she was no longer in danger of becoming a human pin-cushion.

Upon completion of her hand seal combo the girl leaned back, summoning a massive wave of water seemingly from the roof above their heads, which crashed to the floor with more force than such a short drop should bestow upon it; effectively creating a raging wall of water between Tani’s diminutive form and the onslaught of what appeared to be large, dull, senbon. Caught in the sudden barrage of liquid, the metal rods fell from their trajectory and clattered to the stone floor; their sharp protests to such an unceremonious dumping completely drowned out by the roar of the waterfall only amplified between the walls of the small room in which they stood. Chest heaving with the effort of her rushed response and the shock of being caught off guard to start with, Tani cancelled the technique. Instantly the roaring ceased and the room fell silent bar the rhythmic dripping of water falling from the girl’s soaked body into the water now pooled around her calves.

”That was fun,” The distinctive chirp of her friend’s unimpressed voice followed a splash from the doorway, and a chuckle forced its way from Tani’s chest as she flicked her arms to eject some of the water from the limbs. Running a hand over her drenched and dripping face to shed some water there too, she shook her head as the blonde continued. “Let’s never do it again yeah? Yeah.” “Yeah.” She parroted her friend’s trademark in agreement, noticing in quick succession that 1; she had escaped unscathed, 2; while she was now almost knee-deep in water, the floor was once again solid and no longer creeping up her legs, and 3; what that fact and the harsh impact with her shoulder implied. “An illusion?” She turned to Robin with her question, though it seemed the only possibility that made much sense and all she sought was conformation. “Thank you.” Tani nodded to the man, his intervention was sincerely appreciated; genjutsu was one of the ninja arts she had particular difficulty with herself. “Uh.. and sorry for all the water..” A hand came up to rub the back of the girl’s dripping, soaked head sheepishly as she offered up an apologetic grin. Thanks to her, they were now standing in a dark room, half flooded with water that had sharp objects scattered within. “Best watch our step until we reach the next flight of stairs I suppose..” There was a gentle trickling as water was displaced; rushing to fill space once occupied by the girl’s legs as her feet slowly rose to stand on the water’s clear surface. “Go further into the temple of death then, shall we?” The girl suggested with a quirked eyebrow and a grin. She was determined not to make any more careless slip ups or lapses in attention; she was going to survive this mission and no damned temple (god-built or otherwise) was going to beat her.

Spoiler:

Age : 30 Posts : 1236

Robin took a well-received sigh of relief at the sight of his two saved comrades. Though that sigh was half-hearted due to the immense amount of water that had saved Tani's life. Well, they did act quickly such as Robin had hoped - maybe the new age Konoha shinobi weren't deadbeats. Maybe a little too early to judge though as they hadn't even reached their objective yet. At that moment in time, Robin's thoughts began to wander to the past, namely two minutes prior. How were those traps triggered.. There were no oddities in the floor, no trip wire, no seals present or signs of disturbances on the wall, floor or ceiling yet a genjutsu had definitely occurred. Such a situation puzzled the Ex-Hokage to no end, though he vowed to remember it as closely as possible in the hope of unlocking the mystery and allowing Robin to potentially recreate it. God-power or not, it was still a possible technique that had occurred and Robin was a fan of nothing being impossible. He would recreate it at some stage, though for more pressing matters at hand,

His train of thought was broken by Tani sarcastically mocking how fun the temple was and Robin couldn't help but chuckle, it had been a test more than Robin was venturing for, to say the least. He didn't bother to water-surface walk as the clarity of the water was great enough to allow Robin to tentitavely walk over and around the Senbon-like material. At the final rod that lay in the water, Robin picked it up and sealed it into a small scroll for further examination later. It may just be a rod of iron, or it may be the key to how the genjutsu was cast - either way, the potential for a secret was too much to leave one behind. Robin then spoke at the two in a calming tone, 'You two can keep leading the way, I'll make sure no Genjutsu trap you and we aren't ambushed by something.' Robin followed the two as they continued down the wet stairs further into the depths of the temple.

The three continued through passages and turns at a steady but cautious rate, finally leaving the edge of the water that Tani had created further down the temple and onto more dry corridors. One thing good that had could potentially come out of the previous trapped room was that if they do reach the shield and must return, the water will be a telltale sign of where they had come from; except for the dead end of the corridor further up, but still, anything could be possible. Finally and after 20 further minutes of walking, the three reached a potential dead end. Though a very uniform break could be seen between what looked like doors at the end, it would seem as if there was no way to conquer it. Yet..

Quote :: Jutsus Used: 31/235 CP
Name: Name: Chozou no Jutsu (Storage Technique)
Rank: E
Type: Fuuinjutsu, Supplementary
Range: Close (0m - 5m)
Element: N/A
Description: A simple jutsu that allows a ninja to seal or unseal any item, mostly weapons, from scrolls or from their body. After forming the necessary handsigns, the ninja will seal the item into a scroll etc. Scrolls can also be used as ammunition for other weapons or have other seals inside of them, which expands the number of potential tricks a shinobi can use. The items themselves are unaffected by time. Ninjutsu can also be stored in scrolls, to be released when the scroll is opened, but require another person to cast said Ninjutsu; else it cannot be sealed.
Chakra Cost: 1CP to seal, and 1CP to unseal