Naruto SoundITP IC 1: A Melancholy Song of Hope To Come

[Lord Raziere]

White Oni:
He didn't expect this. Honestly, no one could have, since she never pulled out an ability like this before. He gets sent flying back from the sudden activation of the jutsu and hits a wall. He quickly recovers, grunting.
"Hmph! A fluke, nothing more."
She activated one bloodline then another. He needed to be careful, that attack might've messed with the aura of menace was trying to project, but at the same time she'll be wary of her defenses being able to be compromised at any time, which might mess with his true goal: her own intelligence might make her give up early, which is the last thing he wants- he might've screwed up with breaking her defenses so early. Was it possible that the more pressure he applied, the more her powers would awaken? Or had she always known to do this since the mission? He couldn't tell. What she was....didn't have precedent. There was no established tactical doctrine for dealing with what she was, and no telling what she would pull out next. He activates his Byakugan underneath his mask, observing her chakra, maybe he could observe her chakra, see what is going, figure what exactly she is doing underneath the skin. But at the same time he can't just go easy on her, he has to commit to the role. He needs to see how she will react to a foe like this, against a being that threatens all life. He has to salvage this. She cares not for her own life, but what of others?
"I will show you that you cannot protect anyone."
He sees a fleeing civilian, and with a hand sign creates a water whip from nothing extending from his left palm to try and grab the civilian, raising his bokken to potentially bring it down on them- but slow enough that Senko could react.

Kimiko:
The shuriken fly away, blowing up away from him- but while he is looking to the side to do so, she uses chakra to extend her paper blade and stab at him while he is focusing on his wind jutsu.

[Rater202]

Senko

Spoiler: What The White Oni Sees

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One can inquire quite a lot about chakra using the Byakyugan.

Looking at Senko... She has more than one. Obviously, most of the chakra is her own but there are traces of others.

The White Oni has probably seen Ottomaru's chakra, Senko has traces of that intermingled with her own. As is a chakra signature that matches the nine-foot king cobra that's currently trying to get past one of the puppets. And a third that seems rather... Cold.

There are others, however, that seems to be localized to certain parts of her body, only being produced by certain cells, though the area of production is, very slowly, spreading. One, in particular, seems highly focused in her eyes.

All in all, Senko seems to have seven chakras other than her own...

One of which... One of which is like if Kaguya's chakra was subdivided down into nine aspects of itself. She isn't using it, she only has the smallest of traces, barely enough for a noticeable effect, but the Chakra of the Nine-Tailed Fox is within her, if the White Oni can recognize it.

Senko reaches out with her good arm, her Senjutsu chakra flowing into it and altering it.

"Sage Art Paper Release: God of Paper."

Senko's arm turns into interwoven and braided strips of paper which unfurl into thin tendrils each coming to a sharp point and flying out. She tries to grab at the White Oni's bokken and pull it back, giving the civilian time to flee.

With the Byakugan, the White Oni can almost certainly pick up enough details to tell that despite her excellent control of her emotional state that she is absolutely pissed.

Baku

Once the Shuriken explodes the man turns, blocking the stable with his own blade, the dry heat having... whatever effect on the paper blade it normally would.

[Lord Raziere]

White Oni:
He the paper grabs the bokken and the civilian escapes. He lets go of the bokken and quickly speeds away from the paper tentacles. He can always get another bokken. Good. She was angry, angry despite the defenses being broken, anger means she is motivated. This can be something closer to a normal fight now. All thats left is to how see how she maintains her current resolve. and perhaps...the nine tails chakra, its highly similar to Kaguyas....maybe it'd be worth experimenting with it on her even if she lacks the resolve at some point. Its not as if he can risk the thing on an actual Jinchuuriki after all- if none of this worked, they were the best hope the world had. He flashes through hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu."
A jet of water is unleashed from the darkness of the oni's mouth-opening of the mask at Senko, intentionally at the level most Chuunin would be proficient in.

Kimiko:
The blade begins to burn down its length and Kimiko uses a normal kunai to cut her own blade before it can reach the handle, then puts in some chakra to make sure the paper blade reforms back to normal. The weakness of paper release was getting burned, and her usual techniques clearly was not going to be enough. She forms hand signs and says
"Water Release: Hiding In Mist Jutsu."
and suddenly thick fog begins to cover the area as she expels the mist from her mouth- she intended it to hide herself, but in order to hide properly it covers more than that, putting much of the battle...room? in fog. It does not reach Senko and White Oni. Baku does not see what Kimiko is doing right now.

[Rater202]

Senko

This? This she can work with.

She can't dodge the attack it could hit someone behind her, but even looking at it she can tell it's not as powerful as his sword strikes.

And Earth beats water.

Senko braces herself with her arms crossed in front of her face, hardens her body, and employs chakra flow across her whole form.

She hadn't asked DG about her corundum jutsu, she doesn't want to seem like her only interest in the girl is her knowledge, but the effects of Crystal Release Chakra Flow are surprisingly straightforward.

the water bullet hits Senko dead on, but there's a shattering sound: As the water disperses it sees that at the last minute, Senko's chakra transmuted into a shell of some kind of translucent pink crystal and ate most of the impact from the attack.

"If it's a water fight you want," She says as she shifts to all fours, "I can oblige you."

The cells that Subject Nine donated to her had an interesting reaction to her body. Rather than become a Kaima flat-out like he did, it seems to have synergized with her own abilities.

Senko shifts into her amphibious form... Except now it's full body, not just her legs, neck, and the growth of a tail. The tail is streamlined, not quite the alligator-like one of Subject Nine's advanced Kaima form but not the wale-like one she possessed either. Her scales are a uniform brick red.

From her mouth erupts the same Sage Art: Heavenly Mist technique that she needs to use a chakra-canon for otherwise, aimed to try and knock the rogue ninja off balance.

Baku

Vison cut off. Not good. But mist is a rather fickle thing, it requires the air to be cool and moist.

"Scorch Release: Armor of Hot Dry Air"

A chakra flow-based technique, Baku is ensured in a battle aura that exudes heat and dryness. If he's lucky it'll dispel the technique entirely, but at the very least it limits the girl's options for attacking him.

[Lord Raziere]

White Oni:
He dodges to the side of the blast with his great speed, not wanting a repeat what happened with that dojutsu out of nowhere and forms more hand seals.
"Water Release: Flock of Aquatic Sparrows"
From shadowed mouth, is fired a bunch of small water-sparrows flying towards her at multiple angles, seeking to crash into her and burst into splashes of water, solid until their job as missiles is done.

Kimiko:
Kimiko has not yet achieved mastery to the level of resisting such heat with that technique. It disperses....to reveal that Kimiko has seemingly vanished, and in her place, what seems to be a bunch of explosive tags have been scattered across the area surrounding him.

[Rater202]

Senko

Well, crap. She doesn't have a counter for this.

Somehow, being part fish/reptile makes her more agile, but not enough to dodge this.

She could try freezing them but that might make it worse.

...Maybe?

She focuses her chakra across her body again, forming an aura and solidifying it, another use of Crystal Release, but much bigger.

The water birds begin to make impact just as a crystal dome forms around Senko.

This is an amateur Cyrstal release, it doesn't hold for long, it breaks and Senko gets hit with some of the birds, but it ate most of it before it broke.

This isn't good. This guy was clearly far beyond anything she'd ever faced and that last trick... Her chakra control still wasn't very good, there'd be a lot of waste from that crystal dome. Her constant intake of natural energy meant that her reserves replenished faster but not that fast, if she couldn't come up with a trick-arrow solution soon she'd start running on empty...

...Well, she could use the Nine-Tails Chakra. It was highly reactive with natural energy, she could fully top-off her reserves with potent senjutsu chakra if she drew on it...

But that would almost certainly result in her losing control of herself. Her Nonself, the Oni would come out and she couldn't guarantee that it would keep its sights on this bastard.

As Senko tries to think of her next course of action, a certain cobra has managed to get past a puppet and makes a break for the white Oni, hoping to sink her fangs into something meaty and full of blood vessels...

Senko doesn't notice, of course, she doesn't have a dojutsu that lets her see through the genjutsu that Menko is using to hide herself.

The sad thing is? Menko knows about the Byakugan. She'd never try this if she knew what kind of eyes were in the White Oni's skull.

Baku

"Well, ****. Got a bit ahead of myself there... I mean, this is obviously a bluff, you've got enough explosives here to kill everyone in this room, but if you're not here listening to me then you're long gone and I'm gonna have to go for the next little bitch on my list... Do I wanna kill the brat with no shoes first... Or the cripple... One seems to be the closest thing you have to a friend... The other well, I'm not sure which of you is crushing on the other, but..."

Regardless, the serial killer doesn't move from his position. In fact, he dims his aura slightly so that he doesn't accidentally set the tags off, in case this wasn't a bluff and it turns out that the girl's a complete psycho willing to kill all her comrades to save her own skin.

And he doesn't let his guard down regardless.

[Lord Raziere]

(OOC: Hm, if this is how its going, I may have to abandon my plans of the resolutions of both fights happening at the same time)

Spoiler: New Jutsu Revealed:

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Cloned Shuriken Tag: C-rank
A fuinjutsu tag with stored chakra that when released shapes the chakra into clones of shuriken to fire at the foe. Replicable using Paper Release, unlike storage tags

Water Bullet Tag: C-rank
A fuinjutsu tag with stored chakra that when released fires a jet of water at the target. Replicable using Paper Release, unlike storage tags.

White Oni:
Through his Byakugan he observes what is happening. Senko might be reaching her limit, and her snake companion is trying to sneak up on him to bite him. Makes sense. However, this is a problem: he was not here to kill Senko or Menko. Depriving of Senko of her snake friend would cause more harm than good in his estimation, he needed to think long term here and she won't listen to him about the threat if he is responsible for the snakes death. While he can't properly assess her resolve if she goes berserk. He could of course deal with the berserk state if needed, but that wasn't the point. Her berserk state said nothing about her resolve to fight a threat like him. It was a genetic flaw, a biological side effect that got in the way of figuring out what she would do.

How to do this? He snatches Menko up by the throat, perfectly able to see her, keeping his grip tight but not choking or harmful. Time to ham this up a bit more and play the foolish villain a bit.
"Muahahahaha, you really think this would get past me? Useless. Furthermore, I observe that...you seem to be tiring out, Senko."
He takes a soldier pill out of a pocket and holds it in his other hand opposite of Menko.
"I wonder, whether you will choose to rescue your friend.....or try to take this soldier pill from me, restoring your energy so you can fight on without worry. What will you do now?"
The choice didn't actually matter at all to him- whether she rescued her friend like an ideal hero, took the pill from him because she figured out that the snake wasn't in any actual danger or came up with some third solution to this wasn't actually the point, to him at least. The point was to see what she'd do, whether she'd keep going despite the terrible situation she is in. He saw a simple and obvious third solution himself.

There was no wrong answer.

Well, hopefully. If even doing THIS provoked her berserk state, he would simply have to deal with that, knock her out, put the Kama on because he isn't walking away empty handed and hope that problem can be solved and her other problems could be worked on as time goes on. Assuming she survives the kama of course. If Senko doesn't well.....he'll have to hope Kimiko survives or somehow wins against Baku.

Kimiko:
He hears laughter, as illusionary Kimikos begin to appear around him going
"Hyuhyuhyuhyuhyuhyuhyuhyu.....Release."
Suddenly one of the tags shoot out a volley of shuriken, then she releases another, and another, shooting metal shuriken at Baku from multiple angles- these were not stored shuriken, but cloned ones, created to be replicas of the real thing, a tag she made through fuinjutsu. She had created new kinds of tags to fight with other than explosive ones in her training. Not all of them were cloned shuriken tags, she peppered in some Water Jet tags firing jets of water at him to make it look like she is just firing whatever, his death was not what she was aiming for at the moment, at least not immediately. She was just seeking to cut him with just one of the shruikens, to get a single drop of blood from all the shuriken she is firing from him, for what she has planned? That is all she would need, and even if the cloned shurikens faded or poofed, the blood splattered on a cloned blade would not.

[Rater202]

Senko


Immediately starts molding Nine-Tails Chakra. Immediately the influx of natural energy picks up and she dashes forward as her body begins to change.

No longer amphibious, almost every inch of her body has turned back from her diamond pattern as she dumps every last bit of senjutsu chakra she has into enhancing anything she has to enhance.

Her ears extend out into long points, her eyes burn white even as her sclera turn black, icy mist filters out of vents on her limbs, and spikes of bone jut out of her shoulders.

As she approaches the White Oni her arms twist and inlongat, turning red with scalpe-like claws tipping her fingers. She swings them both down, trying to slash through the arm holding Menko.

Of course, even like this she's no true match for the White Oni, and she's not sure how long she can maintain her composure even as she does everything in her power to vent her excess natural energy.

Baku

Is pretty much screwed at this point.

He runs through a set of hand signs and produces a trump card, using his hybrid affinity to combine his custom variation of the fireball technique with the Grea Breakthrough technique, spewing forth a raging inferno spread about by hot winds. He then begins to twist around, trying t blast away everything coming at him.

His success is... Mixed. He gets cut quite a few times.

No one cut is serious, but if Kimiko needs a drop of blood, she's got one.

[Lord Raziere]

White Oni: Apply Kama
Good, she didn't give up. As she comes charging at him, he simply....drops both of them. Allowing Senko to get Menko and the pill falling to the ground. Saving the friend, the classic answer, but classic for a reason. He can work with that. That was Resolve.
"Yes...THAT was what I was looking for."
He says in his normal voice- as he gets out a kunai and stabs her in the EXACT place needed in response for a Code Oni to vent all the excess chakra. With his masterful taijutsu prowess, byakugan and knowledge of chakra he could figure it out all on his own.
"But it seems your at your biological limit. A problem to be sure, to be solved later perhaps. But....lets not get ahead of ourselves. You have the Resolve by the Rules of Humanity, passing to my standards....but now you must pass the second and final test. The Test of Fortune. Let us see, if you have the Favor of the Kami."
If Senko doesn't fall unconscious, he will knock her and Menko out. He will then throw five kunai down around them in a pentagon with tags on them, forms a bunch of hand signs and says
"Opaque Fivefold Barrier Jutsu."
And a purple five-sided barrier will form around her and him, completely opaque, letting no one see what happens within- he can't let anyone know what he is actually doing. Once that is done he will sit down near Senko and begin forming hand signs- all 108 of them. What he was doing was incredibly powerful, dangerous and he needed to get it exactly right, and he has practiced doing this specific sequence of hand signs over and over again to make sure no mistake is made. The most complex other jutsu got was about 44 hand signs. There was no way he could ever do this jutsu in the middle of a fight.
"Kama-Bestowing Method."
When the last hand sign was complete, a small squarish black-and-purple portal opens above Senko, and a white hand bound by chains reaches out to poke Senko in the neck, there is a surge of blue chakra across her form, a simple, white diamond forms on the neck. Then with focus and great will, the chains pull the white hand back across the portal before the hand could do anything else, and it closes shut. He lets out a sigh of relief at that.

He checks Senko's pulse and her neck. Still alive. And has....a White Kama. At this revelation he will slump back, relaxing and bit elated.
"Yes....Yes! FINALLY! It worked! It finally worked!"
A bit of a laugh escaped him.
"Someone finally survived! There.....there is hope! Ahahahahaha!"
All those deaths weren't for nothing. The "Test of Fortune" was surviving the Kama application process. He could do all he could to ensure the person had the ideal mindset, how prepared mentally they were for facing what they would fight....but he could do nothing about their chances of survival when it was actually time to apply it. He had seen many.....promising potential candidates die as a result of it. But now there was a chance that all his efforts weren't for nothing, better yet, the best possible outcome had finally been spun on this roulette wheel. He knew he was evil. That what he has done is unforgivable. By humanitarian standards he had innocent blood on his hands, and the standards of his own people, he had finally successfully committed one of the greatest sins in this world. But he was still human, and he allowed himself a moment of relief and elation, to let the mask of stoicism and hard-eyed conviction slip if only for a minute to himself. There was a chance.

Kimiko:
The fire, will clear away most of the attacks and the illusionary clones, sure. When it all cleared, there will be two Kimikos: one body flickering to grab a shuriken with his blood on it and spread the blood on a doll and the other firing a Water Bullet at him. She was hoping this next plan would work, or she would have to resort to trying to do the Rasengan.

[Rater202]

Senko

Starts to stir shortly after the mark is placed on her.

Baku

Dodges the water bullet.

[Lord Raziere]

Spoiler: New Jutsu Revealed:

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Jujutsu: Doll of Harm, ? Rank
An improvement over Jashinists normal jutsu, Kimiko takes a life-sized featureless doll out of storage with a seal on it then spreads the victims blood across it, allowing her to harm the target through the doll as long as its in an ink version of a jashinist circle.

White Oni:
He is surprised. Awaking already? Her regeneration was more powerful than he thought. The mask of hard-eyed convictions is put back on. With a hand sign he releases the barrier and body flickers into hiding to watch what happens next. he turns to watch Kimiko, but now not sure about marking her with a Kama since Senko is awake. She would be curious. Interfere with him. Annoying. He had planned for her to be out for a bit. Oh well. He finally got a success and that was one more success than he had previously. The point of him potentially bestowing the kama to Kimiko or anyone else for that matter was just a matter of not putting all your eggs in one basket as well as wanting to make the odds go high as they can in humanity's favor. Two kama-wielding individuals would be better than one, and if one died, there was always another. This is why he knew he was evil: he had just succeeded in his quest, technically but it wasn't enough and thus wanted to do it all over again just to be safe, despite the deaths and dangers caused to get here.

Perhaps he would simply wait until the Chuunin Exams to think about whether he gives Kimiko a kama. He had already gotten a return back on the investment of resources he has expended here, it was no good to be greedy after all, and maybe a more promising candidate than her would arise among some other village. Who can say?

Kimiko:
Wow, he didn't even kill the clone. That was real lucky. Kimiko, using the Origami No Tsurugi's blade tip as a brush, draws a circle then a triangle inside of it with ink, eerily reminiscent of the Jashin arts. She puts the doll in it and proclaims
"Jujutsu: Doll of Harm"
Then with her hand, takes the the dolls right arm and twists it behind its back to test it out, and as that is done, Baku's right arm will also suddenly twist behind his back right at the same time.
"Hyuhyuhyuhyuhyu....behold the results of my experiments! The genius of Kimiko Ishikawa, Rising Star of Otogakure will be your doom!"
The Kimiko clone will throw a kunai at the doll's head.

[Rater202]

Yeah, Baku doesn't have a counter for that. He's just dead.

...Maybe there was a reason why he kept getting passed up for promotion, not that he got the chance to bring it up.

Senko, meanwhile... She's exhausted, she's running on empty, and she's pretty sure that she had a seizure*.

"Did anyone get the number of the cart that hit me?"

Then she sees the state of the room and everything comes back to her. "Ah, hell. Where is he? Where's the bastard? I'll kill him."

Then she sees that Menko is still out cold and that takes up all of her attention.

*Effect of a failed implantation, which is a prerequisite to the white Kama.

[Lord Raziere]

Meanwhile, Jirou:
During the fight with the White Oni clone he will activate his Alpha Test Sage Seal, upgraded from the last mission Senko did and taking some of the medicine to suppress the side-effects, is able to control himself while glowing with green energy despite having his own oni form, slender but emphasizing his sharklike features and making his grey-blue with two horns, he will kill the White Oni clone, making him look suitably heroic in the eyes of the chuunin around him, ensuring his Otokage position.

White Oni: Commit This Evil, Again
Kimiko sees what happens to his head as the kunai pierces the dolls head. It isn't pretty and the blood....ugh. She feels a bit bad as always when killing someone, but its lesser now. She nevertheless walks over to it wondering.
"Huh, wonder what this guys deal was?"
Maybe Naruto's Talk No Jutsu was so effective because no one talks to each other. Like Sasuke never witnessing what happened to Zabusa, Kimiko tragically never knows why he attacked or why her specifically. This may in fact be more important than one thinks, as perspective and expanding your world is part of life, and to deny such things but cutting people down denies such understanding.
She takes out a storage scroll and puts the body in, waste not, want not. He had a bloodline and it'd be something Senko to study at least, and who knows what other information they can get about his techniques from his corpse?
"Oh well, sucks to suck I guess, hyuhyu."
"I agree." says White Oni behind her. She wheels around
"Who ar-"
A single chop to the neck knocks her out before she can get out anything else. He performs the Opaque Fivefold Barrier technique again. Then sits down and performs the Kama-Bestowing Method again, this time the white hand appearing from the portal reach down to put a diamond on the back of Kimiko's left hand. He pulls the white hand back again, takes her pulse, checks the hand....good, she was alive. Two successes in one day. Amazing. This was like winning the lottery. But unlike with Senko, he cannot celebrate. This kama was black. He feels dread and fear about this one. He had either ensured two defenders of Earth to fight the threat one day....or had made a terrible mistake and caused this world's eventual doom. But! He anticipated this. He raises his hand once more saying
"Kama-Containing Seal!"
And with a surge of chakra, places a ring-like seal around the black kama. One he made for this purpose. It would stop any accelerated unzipping from proximity, slow down the progress of the kama in general, as well as providing him a link to control or stop the user of the Black Kama if it came down to it. If/when Kaguya started controlling her. Reasonable precautions like that. Hopefully it would delay the overwriting process enough for him to develop a better solution, maybe somehow cut Kaguya's control off entirely? He doubted the seal would allow him to control Kaguya herself if she resurrected through her. But he can't shake the feeling as if he pushed his luck too much. He could've stopped at Senko. But....Senko was known for her martyr-like tendencies, this village had a warmonger and a bad history with Konoha and this Team 3 seemed to have the worst luck when it comes to facing foes beyond their pay grade. He couldn't safely bet on Senko alone- is what he told himself. To justify all the deaths, all the horrible things he has done and will do, to face a threat he doesn't know when it will arrive, or if they ever will arrive at all. All to justify his gamble.

He sighs. He is tired now. Performing three S-class jutsu involving an alien goddess has left him low on chakra, and he needs to get out, now. He dispels the barrier, then body flickers away. He will order the water clone:
"Its done. Get rid of the evidence."
The clone nods and performs a hand sign. Any puppet not destroyed in the battle will suddenly disintegrate themselves as if using Body-Elimination Technique on themselves, leaving only wrecked remains of those few that were destroyed behind. The clone will then disperse into water and he will slink back into the shadows. He had to rest, and after that....important things to do.

(OOC: you can either detail what happens in the aftermath or you can time skip right to picking up back in Otogakure, I don't mind, White Oni's done for now)

[Rater202]

Senko's priority right now is Menko.

Eventually, the serpent stirs and rolls over.

"Ugh... This is worse than the time I stole some of granny's sake."

"Menko, are you alright?"

"Yeah... Yeah I'm fine."

Menko shifts into human form... And Senko smacks her on the back of the head.

"What were you thinking!?"

"That it looked like you needed help?"

"You're not a fighter! If I can't handle someone then yu certainly can't either. Why would you... I thought this familiar contract said you didn't have to take pointless risks on my behalf."

"I didn't do it because you're my master, Senko-sama. I did it because... You needed help. You're my friend and, I love you."

Senko is silent for a moment. About... Nine beat panels worth of moments, really.

"...Why?"

Her heart breaking at just how genuine Senko's confusion is, all Menko can do is hug her.

After a few moments, Senko is able to stand. She walks over to where she ditched her robes so no one would think she was cheating, retrieves her cadaver scroll, and starts sealing away the bone shards and spilled blood from earlier. Nobody can be allowed to have any of her DNA. Not only would her bloodline getting out be dangerous, but with each successful cell graft her biomatter becomes more valuable and dangerous. She'll dispose of it or reabsorb it or whatever later.

Then she turns back to the room.

"Okay, role call... Who is not dead?"

[Lord Raziere]

Aftermath:
All the Genin raise their hands aside from Kimiko who if you check her pulse is also alive, just out cold. The civilians all seem to have escaped from the room when the attack happened and all the puppets went after the genin or whatever samurai where around to defend the palace, who seemed to hold their own as well. This attack didn't seem to be all that concerned about actually dealing damage to the nation of the village. Like there is probably some injuries maybe a couple losses military wise, but this attack didn't seem to be intended to cause damage, weirdly enough. Whatever White Oni's goal was, it certainly wasn't racking up a kill count.

When Jirou and the other chuunin arrive to investigate what happened here, they provide a similar story where a clone of White Oni seemed to attack Nozojo at first but then just spent most of the time fighting Ameoku then got killed by Jirou. After awaking Kimiko and getting the general story here Jirou concludes.
"Hm. The only thing that stands out is how this White Oni character went after the two of you. Its.....concerning. Given how this entire attack went, I'm pretty certain the whole thing about him being allied with Futility-San is a lie. As for these weird diamond things on your skin.....why did he go all this trouble just to put what looks like seals on two genin?"
He shakes his head.
"Well, we won't find out standing around here. Medic-nin, treat anyone who needs it until they are stable, when thats done we move out for Otogakure to examine you two with the best equipment we have. I don't think we can continue the Pre-chuunin exams after that anyways. Our shinobi seem to be what is attracting trouble to our Daimyo and I won't put it past Futility-san to attack as well if he catches wind of this. We'll decide who to send to the Chuunin Exams later."

Back at Otogakure:
Jirou, after undergoing numerous tests to see what these diamond things are will throw up his hands and say
"I have no clue what these diamond things are."
"You don't?"
"Well, I can say that the design around the black diamond is a highly advanced seal. Something far beyond me but clearly something following current fuinjutsu principles. The diamond itself however is something....I don't even know where to begin. Ever heard of sufficiently advanced technology being indistinguishable from magic? Thats the best I can glean from these things. Like I see signs of it being something incredibly advanced beyond anything anyone could make but.....what its even doing to you I can't even begin to figure out. It doesn't seem to be doing anything detrimental to you, your bodies seem the same, your chakra seemingly hasn't changed or anything. Whatever this White Oni did to you....completely eludes me. It certainly isn't to kill you- there are far easier ways to do that. If it was normal sealing I'd say its to control you, but....I wouldn't be able to remove either these diamonds or the seal anyways, and something tells me it'd be unwise to try surgery. And why place two things on Kimiko and only one thing on Senko? This whole situation seems bizarre.

But there are no negative effects I can find from any of this. Your conditions seem normal. So I will allow you to go about your regular duties but keep me updated if there are any...developments, and tell me if you ever see that White Oni again. I don't like this."
He sounds worried.
"Okay, Anniki." Kimiko says
He will let you go, to do what you will. Now, you will soon receive the decision regarding the Chuunin Exams to send Yuyuyu, Senko and Kimiko with Odayama as the leader to the Chuunin Exams. If there are any particular reasons why they made the switch, it is not stated to you, but she will arrive with a new little fox friend on her shoulder named Mai and knowledge of dancer-like snake taijutsu. If you care, there is also some ceremony where Jirou will be made the Third Otokage but its a lot of boring pomp and circumstance and such, Kimiko certainly won't be there and Jirou is fine with that, and if your required to be there its probably just a bunch of standing around silently while Jirou says some speech while Nozojo steps down anyways.

Anything you'd like to do, or anyone you'd like to talk to before we get going to Chuunin Exams? No missions, just things you want to do real quick or conversations.

[Rater202]

During the testing

"Right before he knocked me out, he said something about passing tests... If I had to hazard a guess, he has some purpose he needs people for, and these advanced seals are connected to it..."

Afterward

The first thing Senko does after being cleared is check in with Daichi: He has good news, he's secured land for a clan compound and gotten all the forms filed.

She is now Senko Senju, the young head of the Oto-Senju Clan, with Daichi Senju serving as her regent until she comes of age. This does provide her a degree of insulation if any of the other genin, or chunin who were absorbing the party, talk about Senko's bloodlines, but she's almost certainly going to have a long talk with at least one clan head sooner or later and it's going to be awkward.

She then heads to the laboratory, where she has the equipment needed to dispose of the blood and bone she shed.

And then she heads home. She's tired and would like to sleep on her own futon.

"Senko-sama? We need to talk."

Oh, now what?

"What is it Menko?"


"You know how Ichika-chan that you need to learn how to love yourself? How are you gonna do that if you can't accept it if other people love you?"

"...I am a monster Menko. I do not deserve—"

"Oh do not give me that bull****, Senko-sama. You have a power you can't control, you didn't ask for it, it's not your fault."

"I am aware of everything I am doing when I become that beast. My nonself is part of me, those urges for violence and bloodshed, to kill and consume... That is me. I killed my parents because I did not want to eat my carrots that night."

"Excuse me, but doesn't all of your research suggest that this thing is some kind of defense mechanism? It kicks in when you're stressed out, in danger, or too full of natural energy?"

"...Yes, but—"

"And aren't humans apex-predators hardwired to take down prey and threats alike with whatever happens to be on hand?"

"Yes, but..."

"Then what's more likely, that you, Senko, the girl who wants to help almost everyone she meets, even people like Ottomaru, even people she doesn't know yet, like DG, who wants to change this broken world into one where there's no needless bloodshed even if she has to do it by force, are deep down this violent person full of hate... Or that your transformed state is just ramping up all of your natural predatory instincts so you can better deal with threats?"

"Since when are you the serious and logical one?"

"Yeah, I've had to do a lot of growing up since I met you. You might be a genius prodigy but you do a lot of stupid stuff. Can I tell you a secret?"

"I guess."

"I kinda lied about being taken away from a clutch of eggs in a hole in the wall. King Cobras... They aren't like other snakes, they pair up and take good care of their eggs... Talking ones like me even raise the hatchlings for a bit. But I hatched alone. No siblings, no parents. I was abandoned, Senko-sama. Abandoned on her royal bigness's doorstep and pawned off on attendants who didn't give a crap about me. If I hadn't come out with white scales I probably would have been eaten."

In Ryuchi Cave, Yorokobi feels a sudden twinge of guilt. It's far from the first and won't be the last.

"Why are you—"

"Your parents knew they had this bloodline, right? And yet... Here you are. There's no way in hell you were an accident and even if you were they kept you. They knew the risks, and they still had you. They wanted you, they loved you. They'd have forgiven you."

Senko is silent. Tears are forming in her eyes

"Where I'm sitting, it seems like what happened is just that... You were upset about something silly, like what happens to all little kids... But your bloodline had come in before they thought it would and... Poof. You've been carrying around all this guilt over what amounts to a freak accident. Let it go."

"It's not that easy. Even if my parents would have forgiven me that... I killed almost the entire town, Menko. That doesn't just go away because..."

"No, it doesn't. But that doesn't mean you have to keep punishing yourself forever, either."

"Why? Why are you doing this? Why are you even still here? I hurt you in the cave, you could have severed our contract."

"Because I love you."

"...Why?"


"Did you miss all the stuff I said about you wanting to help people? Is that not good enough? How about because you keep carrying on even though you think it's pointless? Because you've helped me more than you could even know without even trying? Because we have the same eyes? Because you always try to do the right thing even when you falter? How about because you deserve someone who loves you, and it's my choice, freely, with no obligations, to be one of those people? Is that a good enough reason?"

Senko wipes her eyes. "I thought you weren't into humans." she jokes, trying to deflect.

"I'm not. That has nothing to do with this." You know it's serious when Menko is being serious. Menko looks at the tanto that Senko has hung on her wall. "You know... You got that sword so you could do the 'honorable thing' if you failed to get control before you got too dangerous, but... Isn't that just admitting defeat? You see that thing every day, it can't be good for you up here." She taps Senko lightly on the head. "And I can think of a better use for it. But we can talk about that later. Better get you to bed"

After changing for bed, Senko lays down with Menko holding her in a sisterly embrace. Menko hums a melody that she doesn't recall from where she first heard. Surely the older attendants never sang or played anything like it.

But she hums it until Senko falls asleep.

In the lead-up to the exams

Over the next few days, Senko does a few things.

First, she finally has a proper funeral for her parents. It's nothing fancy, she makes by hand a pair of origami figures representing her mother and father and sets them aflame, accompanied by some incense. She says the goodbyes and apologies that she has been unable to voice for the past four years, takes the ashes in her hands, and scatters them to the wind. Then she wipes the tears from her eyes and moves on.

Second, she begins speaking with Tomoe a bit and summoning a few snakes who she's never summoned before. And buys a few things from the blacksmith and the apothecary.

Third, she grafts herself with some cells taken from the scorch release user. Waste not, want not, and each elemental affinity as a new route by which she could perfect the control of her chakra and thus achieve sage mode.

Fourth when Team 3 is confirmed to be Sound's representatives in the Chunin exams, Senko asks Ichika, at her next session with the older girl, what the exams are like: Ichika might be a career genin by choice, but she's been to the exams at least once.

Fifth... She tries to see if there's some way to smuggle Tomoe to the Exams with them. If her new job teaching swordsmanship and chakra flow to the academy students could spare her for potentially a month. Either officially in her capacity as Senko's retainer or as like... Some sort of auxiliary hired mentor to compensate for Sound only being able to use Chunin as instructors for Genin teams.

Her logic is that Team Three's track record for both official missions and formal events going as planned isn't good. They can adapt and have done very well under pressure, but... Senko would feel more comfortable having an extra friendly in hand in case the Leaf Village gets invaded by another village while they're there or a Jinchurki loses it and starts rampaging in full tailed beast mode during the third round.

Sixth... she asks the team, at a meeting, if it would be okay to take a brief detour on the way there. To stop at the ruins of her home village. She has something she needs to do.

It's near the border, it should only be a few hours out of their way at most.

[Lord Raziere]

Yuyuyu: Reintroduction
When she gets back she will wave and say
"Hey Senko! Kimiko! Back on the team. I've learned so much now and look! I've made a new friend!"
She gestures to the little fluffy orange fox on her shoulder, her eyes basically being brock-like.
"This is Mai, my new companion. Mai, this is Kimiko and Senko my teammates."
"So your the two brainy friends she keeps talking about" Mai says, snickering "I'm disappointed. I expected your foreheads to be bigger, but alas your brains are not big enough to be burst out of your skulls. Disappointing, but maybe you'll get there in time." She snickers again.
"Don't mind her she makes jokes like this all the time, her entire summoning clan is a bunch of comedians and pranksters."
"....How did you come by a fox summoning contract anyways? Aren't they and the raccoon summoning clan against being summoned by shinobi or war?"
"Ah well funny story.....I went on a C-rank mission to a small town where a bunch of pranks were being done to villagers to investigate what was happening. I caught this little fox here and she told me that the foxes and raccoons were having a pranking competition and had yet to win. So I went to their clan heads to try and convince them to have it take place somewhere else and the conversation got.....weird...."

Spoiler

Show

Nonsensical Discourse of Fox and Tanuki
Yuyuyu walks into a forest clearing where a big fox and big tanuki about the size of humans, maybe a little larger were sitting around kotatsu table, sharing tea. They seem to be in the middle of a conversation:
Fox: "War! What is it good for?"
Tanuki: "Spending money on art pieces that for some reason are used to kill people"
Fox: "Shame that, seems like a waste"
Tanuki:" Indeed, weapons companies would be better off as art galleries, or museums."
Fox: "Would be better looking too."
Tanuki: "Yet alas, they tragically pay so much money for a pile of things to kill fellow customers and fans of their products!"
Fox: "Might as well skip the middleman and shoot money at people, might even still kill them."
Tanuki: "Ah but why not just bribe entire armies to not fight? Might actually be cheaper than the war."
Fox: "Alternatively the two nations can just have a contest, where they gather all the money they are going to spend on the war into two piles and set them on fire. The pile that burns bigger and lasts longer is the winner of the hypothetical war, accomplishing basically the same thing without any loss of life in one day."
Tanuki: "Capital idea, Fox. Really the world should promote us to be the CEOs of War, we'd make it so much more efficient and simple!"
Fox: "Ah! But then they would have to admit that their flags aren't beautiful with bloodstains on them."
Tanuki: "Ah yes yes, hard thing to admit. Might hurt the flags feelings, saying that."
Fox: "Indeed you wouldn't want to be rude to the flag. Got to enforce proper etiquette when talking to it."
Tanuki: "Indeed flags are very sensitive, got to be on your best behavior"
Fox: "got to follow all the rules like being in the marching band, give it nothing but compliments, sing its favorite song and of course die for it."
Tanuki: "Just common courtesy towards flags really."
Fox: "I forget what was the punishment for not respecting a flag?"
Tanuki: "Death, I believe."
Fox: "Why, yes of course! What other punishment could there be for not respecting a flag?"
"Um excuse me..." Yuyuyu ventures "May I speak with you two?"
"No you may not" says Fox "Don't you see that we're talking about flags here? We have to respect flags above all else you know, and your just human and therefore lesser than a flag. But do so anyways."
"Yes we'd love to hear what your definitely not speaking to us about." says Tanuki.
Yuyuyu blinks
"What. I...may I speak to you or not?"
"Your doing so right now." says Fox
"Even though we disallowed from doing so, what a naughty kunoichi" says Tanuki
"Which means your doing your job correctly as far as I can tell" responds Fox "A ninja that doesn't break the rules? Ridiculous. Practically a waste of resources, given how they're used."
"Indeed why invest in a blade that does not cut?" asks Tanuki
"I suspect the Senju would have an answer, but what do they know? They follow Hashirama of all people." answers Fox
"Well he's a corpse now so I imagine that would involve a lot of standing around. Can't really move anywhere when you come down with the sickness of Corpse." Tanuki says back
"Annoying affliction is it not? I hope I never catch it." says Fox.
"Um....." Yuyuyu's head is hurting just listening to this nonsense. "I need to speak about a matter that needs addressing? Hello?"
"By the Sage, your still here!?" Fox says in mock surprise. "Tanuki! This is unprecedented."
"Most unprecedented!" Tanuki says in agreement "Most humans would be driven mad from hearing us talk by now."
"How are doing this, child?" Fox asks Yuyuyu
"....I'm....just listening and being kind of....bemused?"
"Bemused!" says Tanuki "What sorcery is this! She is a most fearsome foe Fox, we need to be careful." says Tanuki
"Indeed Tanuki, she is what we, the Fools of Truth dread the most: a reasonable person, for we cannot make fun of them." says Fox
"Wait what, fools? How are you fools?" Yuyuyu asks
"Simple, we're both leaders therefore we are fools, like all leaders are. But because we admit we are Fools, we are uniquely able to comprehend and speak the Truths of Fools, and thus be the Fools of Truth." says Tanuki
"This is an enlightenment no human can truly reach you see. Its very deep, you will never understand it." says Fox.
"Yes, yes your very funny, but I need to ask you to stop pranking the nearby village." says Yuyuyu. "Its been getting real annoying and they can't find you themselves."
"No, we can't do that." says Tanuki "Its apart of the joke."
"Apart of WHAT joke?"
"We can't tell you that." says Fox "You don't explain jokes. Even we the Greatest of All Fools, know that."
"We can however tell you why we are doing this." says Tanuki. "It is simple: it is about our flags"
They put two napkins with badly, hastily scribbled drawings of a fox and raccoon on them in front of her.
"....And? what about them?" she asks. Why did the conversation circle back around to flags?
"Well its simple." says Fox "These are our flags. The village don't respect them, thus we prank them mercilessly until either my clan wins to get the village respect this flag..."
"Or respect my flag" says Tanuki
"We do this by pranking them mercilessly until they give in and raise our flag." says Fox.
"...But these look like napkins you made today. They probably don't know these "flags" exist." Yuyuyu says "The whole competition is pointless as its just dragging people into your competition over whose flag gets to raised upon the....village."
She suddenly breaks into laughter as she suddenly gets it.
"Ah, revelation has come upon you!" says Tanuki.
"Laughter is the sound of enlightenment after all" says Fox.
"Okay...ahahaha, nice joke but....I still have to tell you to stop." she says "Or at least take it elsewhere because its really causing a nuisance."
"Where then?" asks Tanuki
Yuyuyu thinks about it. It has to be someplace equally funny to appeal them.
"How about....a featureless field, but you draw a line in it, prank each other and arbitrary redraw the line back and forth every time one of you makes a bunch of pranks on the other, and only do so for a couple inches in either direction."
They consider this, sip their tea and smile
"Yes, I find this sufficiently funny. What do you think, Tanuki?" asks Fox
"Yes indeed, we can put it near a road so people can watch and be confused as to what we're doing too!" Tanuki says back
Fox then hands her a Fox Summoning Contract
"Here, you seem too reasonable to be pranked or made fun of, so we hate you affectionately and thus want you to sign this so you can help us find people we can point and laugh at while speaking nonsense at their expense. Your one of the few humans we find worthy of doing this. This is not an honor, but a threat." There seems to be no actual indication that this is a threat at all.
"Oooooo...kaaaaaay?" Yuyuyu says, eyebrow raised.

Mai snickers at the recounting of the tale
"I hope I am as enlightened in the Way of Fools as Fox and Tanuki someday!"
"Okay but if you don't like war, why did you let her sign a contract with your clan?"
"Because we like Yuyuyu."
"....Don't you still have like, jutsu and fighting capability though?"
"Yes. but we're not warriors, we're fools!" Mai says snickering
Kimiko opens her mouth to try and say something then closes her mouth, not knowing how to respond to that. Mai only snickers harder at this result.

Lead up:
Tomoe is allowed to go as apart of the Sound Village entourage. Lots of people are allowed to go to the Chuunin Exams, some ninja just go to view the teams to see if there are any promising ninja they want to take as an apprentice, as long as Konoha documents her getting in and she doesn't help out when your actively taking the exam, there is no problem. There is precedent after all for getting training around Exam time after all. Heck, Jirou might or might not go as the Third Otokage to see the third round if Team 3 gets there, who knows?

Ichika's experience is that there are generally three official tests but they change up the tests a lot, at least the first two, and different villages have different values and what they test on, though it can also vary by specific proctor who may have a specific philosophy or thing they test on that isn't necessarily indicative of the wider village, things like to constantly keep people on their toes. However you generally arrive a week before the Exam starts and that getting to the Exam is a bit of a test unto itself as they want to eliminate people so there is an unofficial test amid that first seven days where you have to figure out a way to find where the first Exam is being held amid meeting the other Genin, it shouldn't take up too much time though. Also Kirigakure hasn't hosted any chuunin exams for foreign countries since the end of the Third Shinobi War or sent ninjas to other Exams making them quite mysterious.
Jirou tells much the same to Kimiko.
"also keep an eye out for someone named Mojin Uchiha, Kimiko. We fought during our Chuunin Exams and was a right arrogant prick who thought his Sharingan made him better than me. Don't know what has happened to him since.

Other than that, use your time in Konoha well- there will be numerous shinobi there from many nations, not just our enemies. This is an opportunity for you to find allies, forge friendships across nations and get connections you normally can't here. We need every ally we can get and bonds forged early are bonds for life."
"Got it, Anniki! Don't worry, I'll show Konoha the true power of my genius!"

Mitsuko will embarrassingly, hug Kimiko before they leave the village for the Chuunin Exams and say
"You show those Konoha bastards who the real seal masters are! Especially the Uzumaki. Never surrender either in fuinjutsu, or in the culinary superiority of sushi over ramen."
"Moooooom..." Kimiko says back, groaning.

Odayama, being an understanding fatherly kind of guy will say yes to Senko's request and Team 3 will go on this short detour.

[Rater202]

"So, Yu-chan, how was training with Yorokobi-sama?"

Menko seems rather eager to hear this.

Detour: Debuita

The ruins of the town aren't very large, as it wasn't a large town.

The first thing you see as you come across the ruins is a makeshift cemetery, a series of unmarked wooden markers lined up in neat rows.

"Do not ask me which ones are my parents. I do not know. I have not been here since..."

The rest of the town doesn't seem to have been touched since the bodies were buried. The remains of destroyed buildings have been left to be reclaimed by nature, the dirt road is unmaintained, plant growth is out of control, etcetera, etcetera.

It might just be a trick of the mind but... It seems to be a bit chillier here than it was just a short distance from the town borders.

Senko stops in front of one house and after looking at it for a moment, steps inside through the whole in the wall.

She's not gone long, she returns holding a framed photo that she's wiping the dust off of.

Detour of the detour accomplished, she walks to what used to the be the town square. Like the rest of the town, it's horribly overgrown.

"I... Am not a particularly spiritual person. I do not know if anyone is here, or listening but, if you are... I owe all of you a debt that I can never repay... But that does not mean I can not try."

She turns to Menko who comes up next to her and... tilts her head back and makes a gagging sound. Then from her throat, she pulls out what Kimiko might recognize as the tanto from Senko's wall. Except there's something off about it... The metal's a darker color.

"I got this sword... so that if I could not control the power that caused this, so that I could kill myself. I wanted to do it properly, I know that throat-cutting is more womanly but I would live through that. But... That is just passing the buck, is it not? Assuming that I cannot control it even as I try to, passing off blame and then dodging the consequences. Setting myself up for failure. My... A friend who loves me convinced me of that. So I arranged for it to be reforged for a new purpose, by my new friends at Ryuchi Cave."

Senko holds the blade in her left hand, then pulls it, cutting open her palm and letting her blood spill onto the ground, letting it soak into the soil.

"I hope this offering of my blood appeases you if you are here if you are angry... But know that this is not some empty gesture. On my blood... On my personal Sword of Kusanagi, I swear that I will control this power and that I will do everything in my power to help others like me so that, if any gods who exist allow it, a tragedy like what I caused shall never happen again."

"And know that, if it ends tomorrow or in a thousand years, I will carry my sorrow over what I did here for the rest of my life."

Senko then exhales and then starts bandaging up her hand.

She then turns to Tomoe.

"You are hereby formally released from your agreement to serve as my kaishakunin. I will not be needing one anymore, and... If it comes to that I do not want the responsibility to be on anyone's head but mine... Pun not intended."

Tomoe... tries not to look relieved. She had... Misjudged Senko's mental state when she agreed to that.

"And... That, and checking if any photos were still here, was all I wanted to come here for. If anyone would like to hear what this place was like before... This, I can tell you but otherwise we should get going."

Meanwhile, Menko is swallowing the sword back down.

"You had better learn the sword-storing technique fast Senko-sama, getting it in and out is really uncomfortable." she says as if this whole thing wasn't her idea in the first place.

[Lord Raziere]

Yuyuyu:
"Oh, it was great Menko! She taught me this new taijutsu about dancing and was real encouraging and patient. I also signed the Snake Summoning Contract because y'know, why not? Best to have connections to call upon when you need them. I'd love to learn from her again"
"As Fox likes to say: The Power Of Friendship is truly unstoppable." Mai says "After all Governments get corrupted by it all the time! kehehehehehehe...."

Debuita:
Everyone is somber at this. Yuyuyu will say
"Say whatever your comfortable with sharing Senko. I know this is probably hard to revisit."
Mai is silent. She has no jokes for this.
Kimiko with her arms crossed, won't be sure about what to say. She didn't know how to mourn or reflect upon the past. When one seeks immortality and knowledge, how was one supposed to look upon its opposite, upon something like this without some measure of mixed feelings? Apart of her can't help but see this as something to prevent or avoid.
"Sigh. I'm not good at this, let the past remain in the past, I say."
Enough of the past, Kimiko thinks. She looks towards the future.

Start of Chuunin Exams Arc: Arrival In Konoha
After Debuita, you will of course cross the border into the Land of Fire. Along the way you will pass through many fields and rivers and other sights of greenery and plentiful bounty- this country is a verdant one and any farms you see are far more varied in their crops than the ones in Rice. Often larger to. The roads you notice, are well maintained even nicer than yours. But as you go deeper in, closer to the Konoha, the more the trees grow thick, until your walking through probably one of the biggest if not the biggest forests in the world, only the road keeping you on the path. You notice that it gets noticeably warmer as you get nearer, as Konoha is more south than Otogakure in terms of climate and thus the hotter side of temperate.

Sooner or later however, you come to Konoha's massive northern gate, its faded green gates are about eight person-lengths tall, the rusty-orange brown of the wall itself and its roofs extending into the distance in both directions giving you the impression that you are on the edge of a really big circle that is Konoha's wall. The gates are just wide open. However right next to these open gates is wooden table serving as a makeshift desk with a couple chuunin manning it. You get called over by them and one of them begins to explain in a tired tone, sounding like he has said all this before to many people.
"Oi, you here for the Chuunin Exams right? The Sound Ninja we got word about, Team 3 led by Odayama? Here's the rules. They're gonna start a week from now, so until then your going to be staying a hotel assigned to you. We already got word that you were coming from the border check in station, and a place has been arranged. What you must know however is that each hotel assigned is separate from all the rest; one nation, one hotel. You want to enter the hotel of any nation not your own, you have to get permission, same with entering any clan house. Official Konoha military facilities that aren't apart of the Chuunin Exams are off limits to all foreigners, or if need be allowed in with an escort with a specific business you want to discuss if that ever happens. If you want to meet with the Hokage you must schedule an appointment, but keep in mind he is busy and his time is valuable and if your business is not important it will be delayed for higher priority matters and people. If you are caught sneaking around where your not supposed to, we will assume your a spy, capture you, interrogate you then negotiate with your nation for reparations for you spying on us.

Next I'm obligated to say this to all the foreigners who come in here, but it goes double for you: Don't Cause Trouble. Some people will see the headband you have there and be a little too happy about punching your face in. Just a friendly little tip from me so you don't make my job harder.

Now here's your maps"
he hands each and every one of you a map with the hotel your staying clearly marked in pen on it, a map designed to be easy to read and navigate the village as one possibly could. From above, the village really does look like a big circle and trees seem to be mixed into the urban design here a lot.
"Read them, live them, love them because we won't be accepting any excuses about getting lost if we catch you somewhere your not supposed to be. Some chuunin will come along to escort you to the First Exams in a week at ten o'clock in the morning, don't be late. Until then, welcome to Konohagakure, we hope you enjoy your stay in our wonderful village."
You know from Ichika and Jirou that the part about chuunin escorting you is a lie- they're a trick to escort you OUT of the village to make you fail so as to eliminate as many as possible. A true ninja must find their own way, after all.

With that out of the way, you start walking into the village proper, Odayama going on ahead to get to the hotel and set things up so he can prepare you food during your stay here, he trusts you three that your competent enough to find your own way around-

Enter: Kitsuki Uzumaki
But before you can fully venture off into the village seemingly full of tension and danger to discover what lies in it, you hear an odd.....screaming coming from the sky?
".....aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
Kimiko looks up and down comes what looks like a horse-sized rocket come crashing down next to a tree near Team 3 in a wreckage, a girl about your age tumbling out of it and landing on the ground on her back in a daze, her hair is long, red and wild like its a carpet of long wild hair all down her back it does not much wilder than this, her eyes are blue and she wears a pink cheongsam. Senko you feel a sense of annoyance at this girl that is not your own, as if she has done this before. Yuyuyu naturally runs over says
"Oh no! Are you hurt!? Say something!"
Then suddenly the girl springs up from the ground as if nothing happened and proclaims:
"I'M OKAY!"
She looks at the three of you in confusion.
"...Your new. Hi new people! My name is Kitsuki Uzumaki, and my dream is to fly into SPACE someday! Dattebane!"
She pumps her fist into the air with a smile. Yuyuyu has no idea what to say to this strange girl. Kimiko realizes something and recovers saying
"An Uzumaki huh? Well My name is Kimiko Ishikawa, and my dream is to learn all jutsu someday! Of the Ishikawa Clan rivals to the Uzumaki clan in fuinjutsu-"
Her attempt at restoring normalcy through centuries old clan rivalries however, fails completely and utterly.
"*GASP* You like fuinjutsu too!? Nice to meet you Kimiko, that sounds like a great dream! Wanna be my friend?"
She sticks out her hand to shake with a smile like the sun to Kimiko who just looks at this strange girl in confusion, having seemingly utterly ignored the clan rivalry the two are supposed to have. You can't stop the positive energy on this girl. Maybe no one can. This situation is incredibly bizarre, and in all likelihood not how you expected your welcome into Konoha to go. What will you do?

[Rater202]

Immediately after leaving Debuita, Senko seems... Lighter. As if there's a burden off of her shoulders.

Like the last time you were in the land of fire, Senko's mood subtly improves as you enter the Land of Fire's forests.

She doesn't really say much when you get to the Leaf... Until Kimiko gets glomped by the clearly insane Uzumaki.

"Oh, how very refreshing. It is so nice to see someone who wants to do something new instead of wasting time on pointless rivalries between clans or nations. We all have so much potential but we squander it."

Senko extends a hand. "My name is Senko. I am a Ninja Biologist who studies chakra-enhanced genetics."

[Lord Raziere]

Team 3, Meet Team 7:
Kitsuki will shake your hand with her other hand, the first one still extended towards Kimiko, awkwardly crossing her arms as she shakes Senko's vigorously with her left or right hand to your right or left hand so that you can't actually grasp her wrist back and would have to twist your arm awkwardly to do it? Its really silly.
"Nice to meet you Senko! I'm more of an engineer and astronomer myself! I've been building rockets to try and launch me to the moon to begin my quest into space, but I haven't gotten real far yet."
Yuyuyu will say, extending her had as well.
"Nice to meet you Kitsuki, I'm Yuki Yuuna Yukimura, but everyone just calls me Yuyuyu."
Kitsuki even more awkwardly shakes Yuyuyu's hand with the hand that shook Senko's, her first hand still stretched towards Kimiko
"Nice to meet you to! Heheheh, your name is fun to say! Yuyuyuyuyuyuyuyu.....The only way it would be funner if was Aiya-ya, then we'd go "Ayayah!" every we speak it! Have you consider legally changing your name to that?"
Yuyuyu is bemused by this and goes
".....No? But it does sound funny."
"Maybe we should start a petition for that" Mai says
"No, I'm keeping my name as is!"
Yuyuyu says back with a >_< face while flapping her arms. Kitsuki turns to Kimiko still holding out the original hand
"C'mon! Shake it, don't leave me hanging here."
Kimiko examines herself, inwardly: She didn't know that you could just....not care about these things. Not in this context. Looking back, she realizes she never really care for the rivalries or feuds except as something she is socially expected to care about- and that really? She doesn't actually care about them, she never did, not when science could be done instead. So if this Uzumaki girl doesn't care....why should she? She shakes Kitsuki's hand.
"N-niice to meet you, Kitsuki."
"Yay! I've made three new friends today! Thats three more than I usually have! But where are my two first friends? They usually come find me when this happens."
Just as she says this Gisei Senju and Satomi Uchiha arrive on the scene, Gisei more hurried and worried while Satomi just....walks relaxed as if nothing is happening, the Uchiha having a relaxed slouch, wearing trendy clothing, the back of her hair done up in an upwards-pointing ponytail. Gisei speaks first.
"Kitsuki! Your alright! Oh thank the kamis. You always scare me when you launch a rocket like this."
"Dunno why you keep being worried about her man." Satomi says, shrugging "Every time she crashes she's always turns okay, right Kitsuki?"
"I'm okay!"
"See? she's okay Gisei, she said so herself. Kitsuki, who're the three Sound-nin you've met?"
Kitsuki blinks at this
"They're Sound Nin? I didn't notice!"
"Ah yes." Satomi responds with friendly sarcasm, teasing her friend "Those headbands with song notes right in front of you, so easy to miss, how could you have ever known?"
"I thought they were a band! Y'know, The Notes? Those gals?"
"Ah yes, the Notes, that band that does not exist that you just made up right now. I totally remember them, why wouldn't I?"
Kitsuki sticks her tongue out at Satomi who just responds with sly trollish smile. You can already tell: if trolling does not exist in this world, then Satomi has invented it. Gisei sighs
"Okay enough nonsense. Kitsuki, why don't you introduce us to them then?"
"Oh! Well that one's Yuyuyu she has a longer name I don't remember but thats okay you can just call her that, everyone does. Senko is a biologist and doesn't care about rivalry stuff. and this is Kimiko Ishikawa, her dream is to learn all jutsu someday! Though personally I think Aiyayah would a funner name for Yuyuyu and her fox agrees wanting to sign a petition for that but she doesn't want that. They're all real nice, I dunno why anyone says anything about them."
The information tumbles out of her as fast as she can talk, the genkiness of Kitsuki never slowing even for a moment. Satomi raises an eyebrow at this
"Really? Huh. Maybe I'll join in on the petition for that name." She says jokingly.
"No!"
"Heheheheheh....Anyways, you guys seem chill. Kitsuki is her odd self as usual which means she is happy, which means we're all happy. You don't seem to care all that much about those stupid old grudges and such either, which is great in my book, don't really care for them myself."
"Ah well, my opinion that such things are a complicated social/political problem that can't just be ignored-" Gisei begins to say
"Ah put away the Hashiramism for a minute. They're chill, Gisei, they're chill. You don't make friends by talking about political garbage."
"Oh right, Sorry."
"Your good, anyways." She turns to Kimiko. "Your Kimiko Ishikawa right?"
"Yes, Rising Star of Otogakure, thats me hyuhyu"
"Rad." She extends her hand to shake. "Hi, my names Satomi Uchiha. I think we have a lot in common, Kimiko and that we're going to get along just fine."
This time Kimiko shakes her hand without hesitation, something unsaid communicated between them when they looked in each other's eyes.
"Y'know what? I think your right."
Kimiko says with a sharklike grin.

Little did they know, that this handshake would change the world.

But enough about that for now. Satomi turns to you guys in general and says
"Anyways, if you want I can show you around the Village. My clan makes me memorize every street so that we know where to patrol respond to crimes as quickly as we can. I practically know Konoha like the back of my palm. Though if we go to your hotel I won't be able to enter without your permission, its basically your little temporary embassy while you stay here. And if not, I'll simply tag along for now. You seem interesting. If you have any questions about our fair village, feel free to ask."

(OOC: and with that, Konohagakure is open for you to explore! from here on, it depends on what you choose and who you want to meet/interact with, which we can discuss in the OOC or you can just go wherever in the IC and we can play it by the ear.)

[Rater202]

"Yeah, we are sound Ninja... We are here for the Chunin Exams... Well, the thing they say are Chunin exams. In practice they are really the 'come look at our children being cool, do you not want to spend money on our village' exams."

"As for why people say things about us... There are two reasons. One would be a valid reason—a lot of people lost their lives in the War. Someone who lost friends or family to a Sound Ninja will naturally hold a grudge. The other... A lot of people do not like the idea of a village outside of the main five trying to rise out 'above their station' which is just a load of bull****. Everyone is trying to improve their station, unless they have been brainwashed."

"Of course, even the first one deserves an asterisk. Yes, the Sound Village killed a number of ninjas during the war, but it was a war. People die in war. Everyone on both sides knew full well that they might not come back, so really the grudge should be less against the sound village and more on the specific individuals in power who decided that throwing lives away was a better idea than fair and open diplomacy."

"Though really that is not really something I care about. I do not think I was even born yet when that happened, it has nothing to do with me. The future is so much more important."

Senko double-checks her map.

"I see that there's a prominently featured hot spring here. Is that a natural spring? And how would you rate it? I know that this is not a vacation but when am I ever gonna be here again?"

It is, in fact, a natural spring. And not the only one in the village, either.

Senko has thought long and hard about how to reveal her status as the snake sage. Hizuka-san had a point, too much of a tweak to the nose would just provoke an aggressive response. So the best way to do it is to treat it completely casually. Visit a public bath, let people see the snake-shaped contract seals tattooed to her arms, and let the grapevine carry her status to the relevant people without her personally making a big deal of it.

And... she was not lying. Bathing in a natural hot spring would do good for her connection to the natural world, and thus her "root" if the Seven wheels hold any validity, so she would be remiss not to take the opportunity when it's present especially if she might not have a chance later.

Menko, who has yet to introduce herself, is staring off at some grey-haired girl in the distance.

Tomoe, in her capacity as part of the sound entourage, left with Odayama.

[Lord Raziere]

Gisei:
"By the way, I should introduce myself: Hi I'm Gisei Senju. Heir to the Senju Clan. And the three of us? are Team 7 of Konoha. No hard feelings if we face each other in the Exams right?"
He smiles, he is a guy with slightly tanned skin, brown hair with a pony tail and wearing a green coat that looks more homey than cool.
" I don't think that will be a problem."
Yuyuyu says

Satomi and Gisei:

"Yeah, we are sound Ninja... We are here for the Chunin Exams... Well, the thing they say are Chunin exams. In practice they are really the 'come look at our children being cool, do you not want to spend money on our village' exams."

She laughs at this, honestly laughs.
"Ahahaha, too true. Too true. Whats the point right? I like a good fight, but its not as if winning would get us any real power."
"Well, the Chuunin exams was conceived as an alternative to war. And from a utilitarian perspective it accomplishes that, vastly lessening the amount of lives lost. Now there are admittedly problems from a humanitarian perspective, but a lot of things in our world are problematic from that perspective and bigger problems need to be solved in order to get a truly peaceful world, so its more of a patch job than a permanent solution. That and its kind of exciting, like a competition, an adventure unto itself, and competitions like sports bring people together all the time."
Not that Gisei was entirely sure that he wanted a peaceful world or one more exciting. If he solved war, would things like the Chuunin Exams become more boring and safe as well? There are two wolves in Gisei, one which wants to go on heroic exciting adventures and face danger, and the other which wants to make a more peaceful world for everyone, and he's not sure which one he will choose.
"Giseiiii, your talking politics again." Kitsuki whines
"Hey she started it, she heard Satomi tell me to me stop and said it anyways, this is on her. Also should I tell them about...y'know?"
"....Sure, do your thing, they're new."
"Alright: The problem is, Senko is that ever since the end of the Third Shinobi War, the cultural memory of Sound ninja suicide bombers using the Last Shout has left an impression on people and shinobi alike. Konoha now has this villain minion archetype of screaming demons and shouting thugs spread throughout its media in films, books, radio, you name it. On top of many people in my clan considering the technique a form of terrorism. There was a strong push in my clan to make the technique a forbidden one by international law and I'm pretty sure they still want to do that. Though the depiction of another culture in such a negative light is problematic unto itself, as people will judge you by those depictions."
"Are you kidding? None of us even know the Last Shout! Honestly I wonder if the Otokage forbid people to teach it to the "Hope" generation and just forgot to tell anyone."
"Sorry, just telling it like it is. And Hope Generation? whats that?"
"Oh its just something the Second Otokage likes to call us because we're the hope of their futures or whatever." Kimiko says rolling her eyes
"Sounds cheesey and naive. You think like he's related to Hashirama?" Satomi quips with a smirk
"Shut up, Satomi" Gisei says affectionately.
Satomi just chuckles at this
"As for caring, well, you cared enough to talk about it. and I cared enough to answer."
"Anyways, Spending your mandatory "Come Look At Our Children Being Cool, Do You Not Want To Spend Money On our Village" Exams time to soak up a hot spring sounds a great idea to me- I won't tell anyone if you won't." Satomi says "And yeah, you have good taste, that hot spring is all natural, and I'd rate it highly. Come on, I'll show you the way."

Satomi: Traverse the Streets
Satomi guides you through Konoha and as you go through it, you start noticing various things namely....Everyone is richer than you. There is no one indicator of this, but rather it seems to be like background radiation: Everyone's clothes are nicer, the buildings are bigger, the Village itself bigger, the buildings are cleaner in places, when you go through a market there is clearly more food more goods on sale than back in Otogakure, more variety things to buy, just more, bigger and better than anything you could ever get in Otogakure. Stores bigger and full of books you've never seen, more people than you've seen in Otogakure at once all mingling and trading and talking. You also notice people look at you darkly when they see your Otogakure headbands but quickly either look away when they see symbols of great clans of Konoha with them and if you notice anyone talking about you to the side or behind your back they quickly shut up and act as if they weren't no matter how much one insists- the impetus to not disrupt the social order was strong in the shinobi nations. When Yuyuyu checks the map she notices that there isn't any particular district that seems particularly poor, when she asks Gisei he says
"Aw yeah, that, my clan funds a lot of the homeless shelters and other charities to minimize poverty and such. Its to the point that even the poor people of the Land of Fire has a higher standard of living than everywhere else, with no slums to speak of. We take Hashirama's vision for a better world very seriously."
"Speaking of which, why do I feel like I'm poor walking through here? I just passed by what looks like a clan house bigger and fancier than mine!"
"Oh that?" Satomi says "Thats just the Inuzuka's house, they're one of the less powerful clans in Konoha. Really puts things into perspective, doesn't it? I'm sure there are ninja out there that have it even worse than you"
Meanwhile Kimiko and Kitsuki will be talking to themselves about Fuinjutsu, finding themselves getting along despite her ego and the others oddness.
"So wait you use THOSE kind of runes? But thats so chakra-inefficient! Everyone else switched to more efficient runes years ago."
"Yeah but those runes don't work well with Uzumaki stores of chakra, we figured out that we could do the same but we'd being losing out power and effectiveness by doing so because we have enough chakra reserves that spending more per fuinjutsu isn't as big a problem for us."
"Yeah but with better chakra control we can create runes that do more with less chakra, because it allows better understanding of how to replicate that control in fuinjutsu form."
"We still have to pour the chakra into the fuinjutsu though, otherwise its just a bunch of scribbles and if we put in too much chakra its ruined which is more of a problem for us than for you."
Its just goes on like this. Apparently the Uzumaki just use a completely different system of fuinjutsu from everyone because of their bloodline that just isn't suitable for anyone else but similar monsters of chakra reserves to use.

Soon you arrive at the hot spring and Satomi turns to you.
"Here you are, the all natural hot spring bathhouse. A lovely example of how our village blends nature with civilization. Cheaper too, the artificial bathhouses here like to go for luxury and I don't think I need complimentary drinks when I'm getting my soak on y'know? We'll wait out here, I don't think we know each other enough to take a hot springs bath together....y'know, in case you were trying for a ploy to see us all nude, Senko" She teases her with a smirk "Which if true, I'll say I'm flattered but....I'm saving that kind of relationship for when I'm older."
All the others in the group sputter and go "SATOMI!" in various ways of reacting to the frank mind-in-gutter insinuation, Satomi and Mai just chuckling at the comedy.

Yu-Nin: Be Team Rocket For Some Reason
They were on top of a rooftop using binoculars to search for the Jinchuuriki of the Nine Tailed Fox. They completely miss the six genin walking literally under their noses.
"This is stupid." says Hayaza. "Why are following the ideas of our eam's conspiracy theorist? Aren't you an economist, Maza?"
"Well yes." she says "But we need the money, like, really soon."
"This entire plan is crazy, y'know that? We don't even know who the Jinchuuriki is, what they look like or what we're doing. I think we're better off taking our chances with the Exams." Hayaza says back
"The Exams" Reizuki says "are nothing but an elaborate set up to benefit the secret lizardmen. We would be doing nothing but playing right into their hands."
"There are no lizardmen, Reizuki, we have been over this." Hayaza says
"And I agreed with that to fool them into thinking I have succumbed to their psycho-matic mind rays. A flawless plan as always, Hayaza together we now fly under their radar."
"Psychic powers don't exist Reizuki! its chakra. Its all chakra." Hayaza says again.
"Thats what they want you to think" Reizuki says back. Maza then finally spots the six genin near the bathhouse
"What are Sound Nin doing with Leaf Nin? Don't they like, hate each other?" she asks
"Didn't hate each other enough to not sign a peace treaty" says Hayaza.
"There is only one explanation for this" Maza and Hayaza groan at Reizuki pronouncement, knew what was coming. "Its a conspiracy!"
"Reizuki, you think not be able to get your favorite type of ramen for lunch is a conspiracy." Maza points out.
"No, its a conspiracy by the Sound Nin to get close to their Uzumaki who is actually the Nine Tailed Jinchuuriki so they can steal her away and use her as a weapon against her own village! I would know, the Uzumaki would only ever seal the Fox into one of their own. Its devious."
".....Okay thats more plausible than most of your ramblings" says Hayaza "But we don't know if that Uzumaki is really the Jinchuuriki. Your just jumping to conclusions. Why would the most powerful village in the world put their greatest weapon on a random normal genin team? It makes no sense. She's probably just a normal Uzumaki. If you could just waltz in take the greatest weapon in the shinobi nations off the street and whisk them away, surely someone else would've done it by now."
"But maybe we could-"
"NO." both Hayaza and Maza say at the same time, cutting her off before she can say any crazy plans.
"....Aow. Fine. We'll keep looking." Reizuki says as they turn back to look through the binoculars.
They still found it weird that Sound and Leaf Nin were being friendly with each other though.

[Rater202]

Senko blinks.

"I am ten."

"But Senko-sama, what about all that talk about the ha—"

"That was a joke, Menko!"

"I'm just saying—"

"You also said that you want to live on a beach and walk around naked."

"Yeah, but at least I'm honest about it."

"May I remind you that we first met when Team 3 busted you for dine and dash?"

Yeah, Menko's still there.

Meanwhile: Team Fuji

Shiroko Tatsushiro, last of the Ryu Clan arrives at her team's training grounds at around the same time Team's Seven and 3 get to the hot spring. she's a girl with grey hair, green facial markings, pointed ears, and horns that mark her as something slightly otherworldly.

"You're late," their Sensei, a middle-aged man named Fuji says in a tone that indicates that he feels like Shiroko is a worm in the dirt.

"S-sorry, there was a weird pale girl staring at me and I wanted to make sure she wasn't following me."

Fuji grunts.

"Whatever. The Chunin exams are next week, I've arranged for all of you to take them. If at least one of you gets to the third exam and is promoted I can have this team disbanded and we'll never have to see each other ever again. I know that none of you want to be here any more than I do, so I understand that this is in your own best interests as well."

"Tch, typical". That comes from Fudo Hyuuga, the son of an Uchiha and Hyuuga branch family member who maliciously abused loopholes in village law to escape their familial obligations and form a family together. Unfortunately, they were both killed on missions and neither family was willing to take him in unless the other ceded all claims, with neither being willing to give up their claims to the boy's eyes leaving him a ward of the state and full of resentment. His eyes are mismatched, as are his clothes, and he's a year older than Shiroko.

"In that spirit," Fuji says ignoring the interruption, "Here is the exact location of the first exam as well as some ideas that were floating around for secret tests to stop the damn foreigners from getting there. I don't know what for sure did or did not get used so memorize this and prepare for anything. And then burn them once you've got it committed to memory. If you get caught, you didn't get this from me. Do not **** this up... Shiroko."

Fuji-sensei tends to single out Shiroko like this on a regular basis

After passing out the notes, Fuji dismisses the team and leaves.

Fudo looks down at his copy, activates his Dojutsu—his dark eye turning solid white with the bulging veins of the Byakugan while his white eye becomes the Iconic Sharingan—and memorizes it instantly, before turning it off. "Wanna leave them somewhere where a foreign team can find them? Screw with Fuji-sensei?"

The team is a bunch of misfits that don't want to be here, and surprisingly that's a decent bonding experience.

"Well, I was going to head to the hot spring but that does sound like fun." The third team member is the youngest, only eleven. Benjiro Senju is a prodigy from the Senju Clan who... Wanted to be a Monk. But with his skill... No one forced him to go t the Ninja academy, but he felt the pressure all the same. He's rather grumpy on a regular basis.

[Lord Raziere]

Teams 3 and 7:
Satomi will raise an eyebrow at this reaction.
"Heh. Easy, Senko. I'm only teasing. Hi Menko, nice to meet you. I see my teasing has....brought up some prior incidents."
Menko probably has her human guise up, but Satomi has the Sharingan can see through illusions while also casting illusions herself- A subtle use of this is to activate the Sharingan while making it look like she hasn't so no one can tell if she has or hasn't. Satomi doesn't care either way- she can deduce that Senko is a snake summoner, but Satomi herself doesn't care about whatever Senko is doing by stealing the Snake Contract. Her goals are not Konoha's and she just doesn't particularly care what happens to it. So she isn't going to rat Senko out and just keep this filed away for later so she can make some deals with her later-stuff like this is all about building good will. Senko was a friend of Kimiko after all, and its best to be on good terms with friends of those you wish to do business with.
"Sorry if my little joke distracted you from your hot spring vacay."

Takano Honomi: Don't Be Naruto
He has already succeeded in doing so, though at an initial glance one might be confused on this point. Like Naruto, he has no parents. Like Naruto, he lives in a sparse, cheap apartment, like Naruto he has something sealed inside him, like he wants respect and like Naruto he subsists entirely on ramen. But that, is where the similarities end. When he gets up and eats ramen, its not because he likes it. He hates ramen. Its just all he can afford to eat on genin pay. While those bloodline bastards eat well with their families and fancy chopsticks surrounded by fancy decorations and a legacy that made them someone important. Not like him. He was nothing. He hated being nothing. Thats why he got what the higher ups called a demon sealed inside of him, something experimental, which was metal as hell. Not supposed to talk about it of course, fine by him. All the better for seeing the surprise when he whips it out in combat. He didn't really care what it was, as long as it made him powerful, made him somebody. Somebody to listen to, somebody to pay attention to. Somebody to fear.

But then a knock on the door and shout reminds him of who he really was.
"Oi! Brat! Your rent is coming up soon! You better have what you owe me!"
"I got most of it!" he calls back. He was just a few ryo away.
"Most is not all!"
"Its the Chuunin Exams old man! D-ranks are suspended until they end, dumbass."
"Brat, I don't care if the Sage of the Six Paths has rose from the dead to teach his enlightenment once again, you get me that money soon or I'm kicking you out!"
Tch. Typical. No one likes the orphan whose outgrown the orphanage. Oh sure, when the Senju preach about children in need and raise money its all "think of the children" but once they're done and all the cute little children getting older or becoming ninja, suddenly they're an annoyance no one wants, as if he was something that Third Shinobi War left behind for everyone else to deal with. People didn't really care. They went to the theatrics some big clan puts on at looking like they're saintly and virtuous, so they can look virtuous as well then when all the money is donated they all go back to business without a care and sooner or later the money runs out and its all back to normal. Its all a sham. He didn't need any charity, any handouts, any fake help. He was going to be strong, he preferred things like the apartment owner or being a weapon for Konoha; it was transactional. An honest exchange but not an equal one, he didn't owe anyone anything nor was he an object of pity, but the landlord held power over him by threatening to get rid of his apartment. It wasn't really a home, but he needed a place to sleep. He had their uses for them and they had their uses for him. Made sense.

He gets up and walks out of the apartment, a dark red jacket over a yellow shirt, his black hair sticking up in spikes over his brown eyes, walking out into the street and sees an academy student walking by. There was no one else around. That'll work.
"Hey, brat, gimme your lunch money."
"What? No, I need it to get lunch at the acade-"
Takano socks the kid in the face then slams him down into the dirt, placing his foot on his check
"Don't whine. You can go a few hours without food."
"Why....why are doing this!?"
He takes the kids money out of his pockets. Good. Enough to pay the landlord off. An honest exchange, but not an equal one.
"Look kid, the strong in this world take what they want from the weak, thats just how it is. The quicker you learn that, the quicker you'll learn to get strong so you'll get respect. The weak obey the strong who obey the stronger. Thats hierarchy. Thats how the world works. The only to escape that is to become so strong you don't have to obey anyone, so strong everyone will respect that strength. Someday? I'm going to be so strong, I'll burn like a fire, like an inferno. And the little ashes of the world will tremble in fear of me. Thats why."
"I'm....I'm gonna tell...."
"Tell? Tell them what? That your a little ash-wimp who couldn't fight me off? Tell them about some problem they don't have time for? Whine about not getting lunch when you've already had breakfast and still going to get dinner? No one cares about your problems kid. They're too small, and your too pathetic. It won't make a difference."
"But...but they said-"
He kicks the child.
"They LIE. They tell us it makes a difference. It doesn't. Talk is just that: Talk. You want results, you gotta knock some heads. So. Tell me, are you going to tell?"
"N-n-noo......"
"Exactly. Now go, before I decided to do to you."
The kid scrambles off. He turns and goes back to the apartment and pays the landlord his rent. Then he stalks off to meet up with the rest of Team 6. He had a Chuunin Exams to win. Takano Honomi, despite many superficial similarities, is nothing like Naruto. Not like him at all.

[Rater202]

Team's 3 and 7

While Menko's human form technique is Yin release, it's based on the basic transformation technique: Menko is physically human.

Her chakra, however, may have some distinctions and the Sharingan can see chakra so maybe?

Anyway, with the Sharingan active Satomi might be able to tell that there's something funky with Senko's chakra.

And Senko is, as it should be noted after the Yakuza game, rather perceptive. "Yes, she is a summon. I assume that the news has spread around by now..."

Senko rolls up a sleeve and shows the snake summoning contract tattooed to her arm.

"Sorry about that. I needed the Snakes' help and I had an opportunity to get it."

For the sake of fairness, Senko has already figured out that Kitsuki is the Nine-Tail's host... Kind of easy since she's been periodically hearing its thoughts and feelings since she gained some of its chakra and it is clearly annoyed at her, so she doesn't really mind her own reveal happening a little early.

[Lord Raziere]

Team 3 and 7:
Correction: the annoyance isn't aimed at you. It was aimed at Kitsuki, it felt, if you could put it into words "this stupid occurrence happens all the time" kind of resigned annoyance which doesn't make sense with being aimed at you since you got the chakra recently, in fact you only feel the Fox became aware of you just now when you met Kitsuki and suddenly all feeling got cut off. You still feel a connection but the Fox is now no longer sharing anything with you. As if he didn't realize he was doing that before and was now hiding his thoughts from you further.

Satomi nor Kitsuki seem to care about the Snake Summoner thing and Satomi wasn't going to say it out loud, but Gisei's eyes widen as you admit you summon snakes.
"Wait, you have the Snake contract? I'm concerned."
"whats there to be concerned about, Gisei?"
"She has a summoning contract that normally goes to our village, I think we should be a little concerned."
"So what if she does? What, you gonna tell? C'mon, be cool man. They're chill. Kitsuki made friends with them, thats like a minor miracle."
Yuyuyu notices this, Kitsuki seemed like such a cheerful, bubbly and passionate girl why wouldn't she be able to make friends?
"Yeah but.....Senko has clearly done something detrimental to the villages defense."
"Oh no!" Satomi says sarcastically. "A Ninja has done something detrimental to the defense of a nation they've been recently at war with! How shocking and unprecedented. Its almost as if we should speak with them as people and get to know them so that they don't have a reason to continue doing that. Isn't that kind of thing what Hashiramism is all about?"
"I guess your right, but just because I'm Hashiramist doesn't mean I can't see some points in what the Madarists make: we're are soldiers, we're supposed to look out for the defense of our nation and the people within it. Given that its our job, I think we should be somewhat concerned."
"I don't care what the Madarists say either, Gisei. You really need to learn separate your politics from your personal life."
She looks over at Senko
"....Your still not going into the hot spring you specifically wanted to come into? Taking an awfully long time to do it, but okay." She shrugs "Take your time I guess. I've got my own things to do."
She walks over to Kimiko still chatting amiably to Kitsuki about Fuinjutsu and says
"Hey Kimiko, I want to talk with you in private at some point. Doesn't have to be today, but I'd like to do so before the Chuunin Exams start, got it?"
"Hm? Okay, sounds good to me. How about....tomorrow when we are better situated and not tired from the road?"
"Yeah, thats reasonable. In the meantime, anywhere we'd like to go while Senko gets her soak on?"
"No idea." says Kimiko
"I've never been here." says Yuyuyu reasonably
"I wanna to go to space!" Kitsuki says
".....We know Kitsuki. Anyways it seems we have no idea, so lets just wander around a bit, see the sights. Maybe take a look at the Hokage Monument first since thats the tourist sight every comes to see. Its a landmark you can see everywhere in the village so, its good to navigate around with, and a lot of people gather there to get their bearings and meet up."
she says gesturing to the four big heads in the distance.
"So if you want to find us, Senko we'll probably be there."
"Oh wait!"
Kimiko takes out two square pieces of paper.
"There is a new fuinjutsu I came up with for situations like this, here have this one."
She gives one of the papers to Senko, it has a strange fuinjutsu seal on it, kinda similar to the Jashin circle but clearly has been heavily modified with Kimiko's additions
"Hyuhyu, Its a new fuinjutsu invention of mine, called Sympathetic Seal: Shared Sound. Simply use a bit of your chakra to power it then speak into the seal, and the seal will store and send it to the other seal on my end and the sound will come out. Works both ways, and limitless distance like a summoning contract. Only problems are that on paper, its real fragile and it can only be done with these two specific slips of paper unlike radio. A most brilliant invention of mine! even if it does need more work..."
"oooh, fuinjutsu walkie-talkies! Clever. Wait....if those truly have unlimited distance could use those on space missions since space is ginormous...."
"Thank you, Kitsuki. Nice to know my genius is appreciated, hyuhyu."
Yuyuyu, Kimiko, Satomi and Kitsuki will begin walking away in the direction of the Hokage Monument Tourist View.

Gisei stays behind and says
"....Look I dunno what your plan is, and I don't believe in that stupid "screaming demon" bull, but this is my village and I protect the people in it. I have a responsibility to. While I believe wholeheartedly in my clan's vision of a better world, I'm not naive enough to believe that everything can be solved by talking things out, so don't give me a reason to fight to protect them. No matter what my clan thinks, we're shinobi not diplomats."
You get the sense that Gisei isn't a perfect little Senju, even if he is a loyal shinobi of Konoha.
"Satomi and Kitsuki trust you for whatever reason so I'll go along with whatever this is. But I'm going to reserve judgment on a shinobi from a foreign nation that we have a bad history with until I can be more sure."

[Rater202]

"Gisei-san... I will be frank with you: I do not give a **** about village politics. I took the snake contract because I needed the snakes' help with something and I had the opportunity to travel there."

"Trust me, if I had my way war would not be a concern. Pretty much every war in recorded history can be traced back to one nation r another being headed by an idiot or a jackass. Te whole concept of Shinobi as we know it is precipitated on people hoarding power and fighting for no reason and that is holding us back as people. My goal in life is to fix that, even if it takes a thousand years."

"Even ignoring that... I have no reason to want to wage war on the leaf. I am with the Sound village because I randomly chose to wander north when my home village was destroyed. I could have just as easily ended up here, or the Hot Water Village, or even Waterfall assuming I didn't die in the unclaimed territories. "

"If you are that concerned that I have the contract, I am more than willing to negotiate an... Arrangement with the leader of your village. Though it is really such a minor thing and I am told that your Hokage is very busy, I would not want to impose especially since I might not even be in the village long enough for a real negotiation to take place."

"Besides, we are kin. I am a direct descendant of a man named Daisuke Senju and I have the records to prove it... Granted, he did not exactly part with the main clan on amicable terms but that was six or seven generations ago."

Senko does, in fact, have the records on her person.

Now the seeds are planted... If, that is, Gisei looks into who Dasikuke was and brings it up with the Senju head. And if the Senju have accurate records of trying to genocide the mutant branch. If not

"Good day."

Senko heads into the women's side of the hot spring at that point.

Meanwhile

Team Fuji has realized that they have no idea on where to find foreign ninja. It isn't like they can sneak into one of the hotels being used as an embassy...

They've been wandering around aimlessly, given a bit of a wide berth due to Shiroko's presence.

"Don't... Most tourists head to the monument sooner or later? We could try there?"

"Yeah, I guess that's our best bet... Shiroko, you in?"

"Y-Yeah."

Team Fuji will arrive at the monument around the same time as Team's 3 and 7.

Team 7 may have been classmates with Shiroko, may know of Benjirou as a cousin of Ginsei's who was rushed ahead a few years, but probably only know of Fudo by reputation, and it's not exactly a good one.

[Lord Raziere]

Gisei: Report
"Sigh....I'm sorry for suspecting you of foul intent. That was in bad faith of me. Thank you for sharing that fact? I guess I'll go look it up but I don't see why that'd be important..."
He then walks home while you take a bath. He will take out the records, read them and realize that they do have records of it......from a Senju perspective. History is written by the winners after all.
"According to this....this mutant bloodline she is descended from is cursed to periodically become monsters and must be killed for the safety of everyone around them. The Senju wiped them out for the greater good, according to this. She is endangering people with her very presence."
He will further take this information to the clan leader, Ryugawa Senju who says
"So one of the....aberrant descendants of Daisuke Senju still lives hm? And she is a genin in our village, right now to take the Chuunin exams."
He mulls this information around in his head a moment
"....What am I supposed to do with this information, Gisei?"
"Isn't it obvious, Otou-san? She is endangering everyone by merely being here. We need to do something about it, before people get hurt."
"Quit thinking like that, your not a hero Gisei. No matter how much you want to be one. She is a guest in our fair village and to attack her in our own home is lose face, would bring shame upon us. Our village is our home and our home is open to all guests who wish to visit. Besides, she wouldn't have lasted this long without some way of suppressing the beast. There is likely someone in her entourage capable of restraining her if it comes to that. And while not ideal-even a cursed child dying is a tragedy- she could meet her end in the Chuunin Exams. The concern is making sure she doesn't cause a war between Konoha and Oto if she allows the beast to take over. The Peace must be maintained no matter what. To that end, treat her as a Jinchuuriki- do not provoke her any further, and do not allow any Konoha Nin to kill her, the Oto Nin might take it as an excuse to try and open hostilities with us."
"....Thats it?"
"That is it. We need not do anything else."
"....I think she'd be a bit ticked off about the rest of her clan being y'know, killed?"
"Yes. What about it?"
"Aren't we going to do something about it?"
"She did not send with you clear demands for negotiations with us, which I'd be open to doing and be able to get the Hokage to mediate if necessary as a clan head. It is upon the aggrieved party to bring up grievances to be settled. Until then the information you have brought me is interesting but nothing to act upon. This is a different time, and our "monster-hunting" days are long behind us. If she wants to talk with us, she need only ask. She has yet to actually do so, and I'm not a Yamanaka-I can't read minds. Perhaps she wishes to simply provoke us into doing something rash, which I will not be falling for. So remember Gisei: do not provoke her, do not let the beast kill, do not let her die to Konoha Nin, let whoever can suppress her beast form do so. Her true intentions will be revealed in time, all we have to do is wait."
He dismisses Gisei who walks away feeling.....conflicted. He gets what his father said, it made sense from that perspective. But apart of Gisei found the idea of the demon form appealing. It just seemed to fit: She was a monster that had come to the village, and he could be the hero to slay it and save people from it. Just like how Hashirama saved people from the tailed beasts with his world-walking quest to seal them all. People forgot that Hashirama was also a warrior, a hero who traveled the land righting wrongs and ridding the world of monsters, that before he was a negotiator and man of peace, that he was someone who protected mankind from the beings that threatened it with his strength. But he couldn't actually do it, could he? He'd be causing hostility by doing that, breaking The Peace. Breaking the Peace was unforgivable for Senju. Was he such a bad Senju as to contemplate such an action? Yet he can't help but think how irresponsible it was to just let her roam free, on the assumption there might be someone who can control her. What if there wasn't? What if she was just a bomb waiting to go off? What if she will cause hostilities anyways by killing a bunch of Konoha civilians?

What was more important? The orders of his clan, or the safety of his village? As he walks to the monument to meat up with the rest of Team 7, he is not sure of the answer yet.

Konoha, Bathhouse Effects:
Your plan requires shinobi to see this, for only shinobi would know what your deal is. Civilians on the other hand, when they see the tattoo you show off casually don't recognize it and are just confused as to who let a child tattoo themselves? Who forced a child to have one? They soon figure its a ninja thing and ninjas are always a strange folk doing things no right-minded person would do, best to stay out of that business, they figure. Also without the Oto headband they don't they're supposed to not like you and thus treat you like any other child. But there are some ninja in the hot spring that do carry the word of what is really being seen. The word will indeed travel up the grapevine.....all the way to the Hokage....

Hokage Himitsu Shimura, Introduction:
Himitsu Shimura looks out upon the village while his shadow clones efficiently do his paperwork for him. The greatest foe of all kage, it had been conquered by him years ago. He wondered why no one thought of it before. Well, it was a forbidden jutsu for a reason he supposed. It required a lot of chakra to pull off. So much so that one might consider expending so much chakra on such a humdrum menial task be an exorbitant luxury. But any Kage knew that this was necessary for one's own sanity. Paperwork was a foe not to be underestimated, it grows like a weed whenever your not looking. The Chuunin Exams made it grow faster than usual. So much exceptional stuff to approve, so much many things to organize. He was sure he'll know what they all are when his clones are done. That was after all, the point.

A shinobi opens the door coming in and bows.
"Hokage-sama, I have something to report."
He turns around, putting on Face #2: Private Serious Hokage. He had a lot of faces you see and he needed to use the appropriate face for the appropriate situation at all times.
"Go on, report." he orders.
"We have spotted the snake summoner of Oto. It seems she is a genin currently taking a bath in a hot spring, we have seen the tattoo to confirm it. What are your orders, Hokage-sama?"
He thinks: Hm. How can he set it up so that he wins no matter what is done in this situation? That is the question that is always on his mind. Think of it like a backwards flow chat: He sets a goal of "Himitsu Wins" then tries to plan out all the various probable ways this can go then figure out the ways he can manipulate those scenarios towards the singular goal of him winning and the back up plans when those go wrong as contingencies, so that all starts lead to one ending. The form of the ending can take a number of forms, but they were all the same: him, victorious. So what are the probable paths this can go down? what are all the ways he can define "winning" in this situation?
-Getting the Snake Contract back
-Making the holder of the contract his ally
-Getting something else out of letting her have it
-Figure out more about her to do something about her later
-Figure out how to use her presence to his advantage in some other matter
-Killing her? No. Not at this time. Peace is more beneficial to him at this point. Only kill her if its more costly to let her live.

Brainstorming things like that. An experienced shinobi like him had to be flexible and cautious with these things. The How of things was flexible, though generally the best way to do this was to be seen in the best possible light. Lesser manipulators lied, but Himitsu told truths, well constructed ones to be more true than reality. Perception was everything after all. Negotiation was probably for the best, he could get more benefit out of her that way. But how to go about this? It would be best to make a deal knowing as much as he can about her. This one seems new after all. And well, if she does anything against the law, the Uchiha or some shinobi would probably capture her and he can negotiate with the Otokage to exchange something for her release and that would be beneficial without disturbing the peace.
"....Send someone to observe this genin, from afar. Learn about her as much as you can. Don't engage."
"Yes Hokage-sama." says the shinobi and body flickers out of the room.
He turns back to staring out the window. He couldn't make any specific plans without more information on her. Unknowns must be eliminated and it was best not to act on no information.

Hokage Monument:
Satomi spots Team Fuji and says
"Hey Shiroko! The grumpy Senju and....Fudo treating you alright? Look who we've met from Otogakure: Kimiko Ishikawa and Yuyuyu they're from Team 3 of Oto."
"Nice to meet you."
"Hyuhyu! Behold, for you have met the Shining Genius of Otogakure, me, Kimiko Ishikawa. Don't worry, you'll know the full extent of my brilliance sooner or later."
"Gisei and their other team member are off doing things in case your wondering, I'm sure they'll catch up soon."

[Rater202]

Senko

Mission accomplished, she just continues to enjoy the hot spring. We'll catch up with her later.

Hokage Monument.

For a brief moment, Fudo can't help but glare at Satomi, but only for a second. Then he gives the side eye with the rest of his team. With the white one, so it's hard to tell. Sound Ninja, this is perfect.

"So either they're talking politics or Gisei is annoying them with politics?" Mr. Grumpy gills is a bit of a smart ass.

Shiroko... Seems to ignore Kimiko's boasting. She's looking over you with a keen eye... "Uh... Strange question, but... Were you at the village gates with a very pale girl earlier?"

...How much do Kimiko and Yuyuyu know about the unclaimed territories or the Ryu clan?