Cave Exploration [Jounin Exams]

So this was what her Jounin exam would be? Seemed pretty lackluster to Homura. The entire idea behind this was to "survive", but Homura's been doing that since she was a fresh-starting Genin. Well, maybe it was too soon for Homura to think that she could handle everything. After all, there was supposed to be monsters, or something, in the caves as well. But, if the problem couldn't be solved by burning it for Homura Uchiha, then she would be screwed either way.

"You guys ready?" Homura looked to her teammates. She was lucky enough on the draw to be given these guys for her partners. Homura knew Tenri, that's why she could trust the girl. Some of Tenri's techniques probably would be dangerous inside a narrow space like a cave, but her lava abilities could be the most useful advantage for their team. Then there was Rei Uchiha, her cousin. He was a lot older than Homura was, but she still trusted him. He had a strong will among the Uchiha clan, and his skill with Genjutsu was undeniable. Homura would probably be relying on Rei's abilities a lot more during this trip, as either she or Tenri fighting would make a lot of noise. If they wanted to keep quiet and not draw attention, Rei's illusionary techniques would be the way to go.

"The minute we step in, there's no telling what we're going to be dealing with. So, everybody, keep your wits about you. I'll be moving in the front to watch for anything ahead of us. Rei, you move behind me. Tenri, you move behind Rei to make sure that nothing from the back gets to us. We'll call this the worm formation- maybe."

Homura would wait for everyone to offer their ideas on what should happen, then she would start to enter the cave once everyone was in the same mindset.

It would seem that this exam was unusual, not only unusual, but deadly. Though that may have been the case, Rei Uchiha was confident. Confident in not just himself, but his two teammates as well- two shinobi he knew from his own village. One was his younger cousin, the energetic Homura Uchiha: one of the few people that Rei dropped his guard around, for he knew she would never betray him under any circumstance. Not just because they were from the same clan, but because they were family. She was a skilled younger shinobi, quite good with Ninjutsu- she was nearly the opposite at Rei Uchiha in everything. Personality and skill, yet she complimented his preferred fighting style, quite well.

The other participant in his team was another female, one whom he had gotten to know very well in a long series of missions. Tenri Terumi, a powerful and mature young woman with the dangerous lava release. Rei Uchiha knew that the two ladies on his team knew each other to a degree, they were friends that he sometimes saw them hang out together. Peronally, he couldn't have asked for a better team. Two Uchiha and a lava user against everything within the depths of narrow tunnels. Fire, Lava.. Genjutsu, all of their skills were deadly to any would-be predators or attackers.

Rei would listen to his little cousin as she thought up a strategy. He didn't have any objections to the plan, it was solid. A fire power user in the front, a support Genjutsu user in the center and a lava user in the rear to provide both attack and defense. While Homura could incinerate frontal targets, Rei could immobilize enemies from his protected range... and Tenri could incinerate any ambushes... or even seal off the cave behind them by melting rock and slag. There were a few concerns on his mind, but as he stood with Homura and Tenri, waiting for the exam to start: he would keep his thoughts to himself until he was certain that the other teams could not hear them. "A solid plan. Homura-chan. I'll provide my particular skills in the middle of you and Tenri-chan." he would say, glancing towards Tenri momentarily, before his eyes darted passed Rei Kaguya- the third Johokage. This kaguya had killed Rei Uchiha's father in a skilled but quick battle. Yet Rei felt no ill will or regret when he looked at the silver haired man.

Rei Uchiha's father had been a joke of a kage. Rei Uchiha had been planning to kill him and his very mother at some point, Rei Kaguya had just saved him a bit of trouble. Rei Kaguya caught his glance and just smiled at Rei Uchiha, whom bowed his head slightly with respect and then returned his attention back to his team. 
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Homura gave a quaint nod to her cousin who accepted her plan. That was wonderful. With this, things would go faster. Had it been with someone else, someone less accepting of Homura's ideas, she likely would've ignored everything they said and gone about things her own way. Luckily for her, these two were well known to Homura, they knew her nature as she knew theirs. There wouldn't be much argument between any of them.

Homura gave a cheeky and mischievous grin to Tenri after what the Terumi said. "You betcha. Let's hope this one is better than the last!" Homura was excited. She was ready to see what challenges the shinobi of Shikigakure could throw at her. She wanted nothing more than to test her new abilities and skills.

Tenri gifted Homura a bag. It was just like her to make preparations. Tenri was a stickler when it came to knowing where they were going and what they were doing, which was what Homura loved about her. Unlike the well-prepared Terumi, Homura had only brought a few provisions. Most notably she carried her pouch filled with all types of weapons and items for her to use. On her back was a large windmill shuriken that she sorta took a liking to, and in her pocket was her favorite lighter which she often carried because she thought it made her look cool to have it. Her pouch also had things like candy because she really thought she could live on nothing but sweets while inside the cave.

Homura placed on the backpack Tenri gave her, then headed towards the mouth of the cave. "Alright, we're ready." She gave a nod to each of her teammates, then moved into it.

The mouth of the cave was actually a hole. Homura had to squeeze her way through it. She made several grunts as she struggled just to get past the tiny space. She had to immediately start crawling, with her arms and legs scraping against the dirt ground. She thought that she could feel some sticky substances attach to her every once in a while as she crawled. She hoped that whatever it was she touched, it at least wasn't disease-ridden. She was okay with touching some disgusting things, but if it was poisonous, she would start to freak.

"You guys alright back there?" She would ask her teammates every 10 meters in. After a few hundred feet of crawling, Homura would feel an opened space. She would feel an area that was wider than the tunnel they crouched into and she would make her way towards the widened area.

The opening of the wider tunnel hung high in the air. When Homura made it out, she felt her body falling a little bit before she finally landed on a solid surface. There was a splash that accompanied her landing, which signaled that she was near water. She stepped to the side so that her teammates could follow her. "Be careful when you come out!" She said to them as she waited for them. "It's a bit of a drop."

She dug into her pocket and pulled out her lighter. She flicked it a few times, trying to find enough oxygen to light its fuse. She eventually clicked it just right, and the darkness of the cave illuminated just a bit. Since they were deep inside the cave, there wasn't any light source for them. They had to use their senses and intellect to find their way through.

"Okay, the first thing we should do is..." Homura said as she began to think. "Tenri, can you make some lava on the side of the wall there? We should be able to see the area around us. Be sure to keep a lookout for anything that might try to attack."

It was fortunate that Rei Uchiha had decided to wear something other than his fancy and colorful kimono and haori. This was likely the first time that Tenri had seen him wear anything manly, though Homura had seen him wear such- hell, Homura had seen him naked as children. To this particular exam, Rei had decided to wear dark clothing, black and easy moving yet concealing of most his skin. He wore a black mesh-net long sleeve short underneath a solid black short sleeve shirt. His plants were black and long but tight-fitted to his legs top to prevent snagging or tearing while inside tight spaces. His ninja pouch was also black, tied to his left waist to be easily accessible while not getting caught when crawling on his belly. His shinobi sandals were also black, but the leggings of the shoes were much longer than average. These particular shinobi shoes were moth like boots, tight-fitted to his legs and reached up almost to his knees, his pants tucked into the leggings. His clothing was very unusual and bland compared to his usual pretty clothing, even going so far as to dawn his shinobi headband on his forehead. This was an official exam and other villages were included, he needed to represent his village and clan. Fashion would be the least of his concerns today.

He received the backpack Tenri had provided, supplies to get them through the long journey through the cave. Normally, this would have been awkward- to wear something like this in a kimono, but his fortunate change of attire lessened the awkwardness. He would nod his head in gratitude to Tenri as he recieved the pack and slid it onto his back. Then he changed his mind as they approached the cave entrance. It will be better for me to push this pack ahead of me as a crawl, otherwise I'll never fit through. He would rationalize to himself, surely Homura and Tenri doing similar.

First was Homura into the manhole, then followed by Rei. He waited a moment to allow Homura to travel several meters before he himself entered. Getting stuck and being too close together in such a small tunnel could prove deadly after all. Of course there was another danger, specifically for Rei. Fortunately he had appropriately planned ahead. As normally in such a crawling manner, he would be forced to look forward- this would reveal more of Homura's female body to him than he wished to see. Though cousins, she was still a young woman. It was also a common practice for such noble clans to marry within the clan to keep bloodlines pure. In fact, Rei was quite certain that if Homura kept improving as a shinobi, Rei's dear mother may target Homura to be a possible bride for him. He pushed that thought away for the time being, just as he pushed the pack forward in front of his face to avoid seeing the fine lines in Homura's clothing between her legs.

As the three of them would travel through the narrow entrance of the tunnel, they would converse every few meters to ensure that their ally behind them was safe. Eventually the tunnel began to widen and become somewhat moist. A clear indication to Rei's raw hands that there was likely a source of water nearby. With Homura in the lead, she found the wider passage first, deftly dropping into the wide cavern tunnel on solid ground with a little splash. Likely a thin layer of water covered the floor- which meant there was possibly an underwater passage nearby.

Second was Rei to find the wider tunnel. As he pushed along the backpack, he would feel the slight drop in elevation as the pack became a little heavier. This allowed him to gauge when and how he exited the hole, more gracefully than Homura. But then again, he had always been more graceful than his wild and anxious cousin. As Homura messed with her flint lighter to get a small light in the dark chasm, Rei would wait beside the small hole to the entrance for Tenri. He would extend a hand to assist her to finish crawling through the hole and down the small drop into the larger cave room. By then, Homura had managed to strike a light in the room. Although normally dim, it seemed far brighter in the dark corridors of the cave. Bright enough to hurt Rei's eyes which had become accustomed to the dark by now. "It would be more wise to travel in the darkness and have our eyes adjust to the deficiency in light. With a light, we stand out as an easy and aggravated target to all other shinobi teams and deep-dwellers in this cave." he would say in caution.

As if on que to his logical explanation, there was the reverberating sound of growling coming from the very direction that Homura had requested Tenri to set ablaze with lava. Several sets of red feral eyes stared out from several holes in the wall, aggravated by the light of Homura's lighter and Rei's voice. It can't be helped now... Rei thought to himself, a little exasperated. "Tenri-chan... If you would be so kind". he would say in a slightly more urgent voice, encouraging his Terumi teammate to set that very wall to lava before the pack of feral beasts could think of exiting and surrounding the trio.
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Homura gave a quant nod to her cousin. "Your concern's a valid one," she said. "But think of it this way. Whatever is down here, no matter how dangerous it may seem, has grown adjusted to the darkness. Its eyes have never seen the light, so that is our greatest advantage. The only thing we need to concern ourselves with are shinobi. And, well, I have a way to deal with them. But first, let's deal with the creatures of the cave."

Homura felt a sense of goosebumps wash over her when Tenri performed her jutsu. A rambunctious smile displayed on her face. That was Homura's friend for her, always pulling through when Homura needed her. The feral animals all yipped together as they slowly crumbled from the power of the lava. The first set of creatures they met had been reduced to nothing. Homura was a little saddened that their bodies melted so badly that she couldn't take a glance over them, but at least that was one problem that was dealt with. Now for the other.

"Nice going Tenri," Homura said after giving her friend a hard thumbs up. "Alright, we're going to move soon. Tenri, every once in a while drop lava on the walls. Those will be our markers. When we get this scroll, we'll follow the path you made back to here."

Homura moved to the opening of their little room. There was only one. It led deep into the darkness, where Homura could barely see. "Everyone, watch your footing," she told them. She stepped closer. However, the minute she did, she heard the mumblings of a low growl. More of the monsters had come out of the shadows. It appeared that Rei was right. Though, so was Homura. Even though they appeared out of nowhere, they wouldn't step into their room. The light frightened them and stopped them from moving forward. Even though they probably smelled prey, their eyes probably told them of danger, thus they remained away.

"Rei, more creatures in front of us," Homura informed. "I'd say I want to burn them, but I actually want to look at them first before we kill them. Can you put them to sleep somehow?" She crouched near the opening to their next pathway and squinted her eyes. She wanted to see the creatures there, but there was no way she could. They hid too far into the darkness. "Tenri, be ready. I'm going to ask you to look at the animals here to see what you can tell me about them." Tenri was smart. If anyone knew how to read and find weaknesses in monsters on this team, it would be her. Though, first, they needed to be subdued somehow. That was where Rei came in.

Tenri's technique had been super effective, very evident by the pervading smell of burning flesh beneath the lava- which quickly turned into the smell of overly burnt meat. Rei's eyes were no longer accustomed to the darkness, from Homura's lighter and then Tenri's lava ninjutsu. That wasn't necessarily a bad thing at this point, as Tenri's lava provided a steady but soft source of light for the trio. While his insight was clever and useful, the situation had already turned to the point of no return. Inevitable, so he conceded and accepted Homura's leadership and method for dealing with the darkness. The three of them would be a shining beacon, seemingly easy prey- but they were more like an angler fish in the dark depths. Attracting potential predators and turning them into easy prey.

Their second visitors, more feral canines were wary. Maybe it was Tenri's intense heat and smell of burning flesh that warned the beasts of eminent danger, or the crude light the lava provided to their dim and mostly blind eyes. They were used to hunting in the darkness and in silence- the three intruders were anything but dark and silent. Those were Rei's preferred methods however and part of him felt quite uncomfortable with their method, but he went along with it anyways. Leave it to his younger cousin to bring him out of his comfort zones! Homura conveyed her desire to pacify the creatures so that they could get a solid look and understanding of the creatures' physique. Knowing their bodies and natural weapons like claws and teeth would allow the two Uchiha and the Terumi to plan countermeasures.

Following Homra's suggestion, Rei performed a short series of handseals and raised his right hand up, two fingers extended and performed a loud finger snap. This was super effective against the predators in the dark which relied heavily on their sense of hearing to coordinate and "see". The sudden snap of Rei's fingers would set them on high alert and they would rush forward viciously- or so they thought. While the pack of beasts intended to rush their prey ad tear them to shreds, they actually remained completely still. A Genjutsu. The beasts were under the illusion that they had lunged forward in attack of the intruders, but their physical bodies remained perfectly still, almost like statues. Rei himself would signify this opportunity as he would step alongside Homura and walk into the shallow darkness. He would grab one of these feral canine and drag it back into the light for closer inspection. "There are about seven more of them back there. They will remain stupefied like this for some time. I recommend killing them and leaving their corpses as a trap or distraction for other nearby predators after you are well acquainted with their physiology." he would say to Homura and Tenri. They were unusual beasts, hairless feral dogs with glazed eyes. Their skin color was a deep but soft grey, easily allowing their bodies to blend into the background of the cave rocks. No fur meant that they carried little to no scent. Almost invisible and almost no scent made their packs effective for taking even bigger predators by surprise.

Spoiler:

"Oooo. That's pretty impressive." Homura witnessed her cousin perform his Genjutsu. Without even doing a single hand-sign, he lulled the mutts into a deep rest. They were statues now. If Homura hadn't heard them growl at her a minute earlier, she would've thought they were lifeless. "Have you ever thought about joining the Anbu, Rei? I think the Joho officials would really enjoy this."

Next to do work was Tenri. As Homura predicted, the Terumi gave a spot-on analysis. From what Tenri told her, these were just regular animals. There was nothing that big to differentiate them, other than the increased hearing, the blindness, and the possible disease-riddled teeth. "We can handle these," Homura stated. Her hands reached for her kunai in her pouch. "As long as they don't have some deep connection with chakra that makes them stronger, these creatures won't be difficult for us." Just as Rei had advised, Homura slashed through creature's neck, silencing it while also forcing it to bleed out. She then moved onto the other 6 mutts, doing the same thing.

After she finished slaughtering all of the feral dogs, she set them up as lures for any stragglers that fell behind them. Since she didn't have much to go by, Homura used the lava that she already made as the deadly piece of the trap. This took half an hour to do. When she was finished, she was ready to go.

"Alright everyone, let's go find these scrolls!"

For approximately three hours, Homura, Rei, and Tenri would explore the caves. They would not move aimlessly, however. Homura made a few Shadow-Clones along the way. She commanded these clones to run ahead of her and scout the best path for them. If there were branching paths, her Shadow-Clones would make more clones, and those new clones would go and discover new paths, where more clones would be created. Some clones got eaten by mutts while traveling. Others got destroyed by traps. Some were lost in the different branching paths, some were destroyed by cave-ins, and there was even one that ran into another shinobi team. Homura avoided all of these paths and followed the one clone that traveled the safest way.

Eventually, through following this method, Homura, Rei, and Tenri made it to a place that Homura couldn't comprehend.

"What is this..." Homura said when she came upon it, a giant room filled with mushrooms. The mushrooms weren't regular fungi, either. They gave a glow that brightened the area, illuminating the dark cave just enough for everyone to see. The room was probably as long as a football field, with holes at the bottom of it, likely to challenge the shinobi. Homura could see, sitting in the middle of the room, an amber rock the size of a boulder. When she squinted her eyes at the rock, she saw that there was something inside of it. The object looked very familiar to her. Is that what we're searching for? she conjectured.

Faced with a dilemma, there was only one thing Homura could do. "Alright guys," The young Uchiha said as she faced the team. "Any ideas on what we should do here? I think this is the lowest level this cave can travel, but I'm not sure. I also think there's something incased in that amber rock, but it seems a bit dangerous to go over there. Should we leave this alone for now?"

Homura's question struck Rei as queer. He had been groomed to become the next Johokage. His father was dead now however... he was free to choose his own destiny. His father had not been dead for long before the Jounin exams had been held. Though his dear mother grieved their loss, Rei felt absolutely nothing. He never liked the man Kiba Benimaru. He had never been mch of a father, only an expectation that the young man was expected to surpass in the future. He was dead now and for once in his life, Rei considered the possibility of choosing his own path. For the moment, he wouldn't say anything in response to his cousin's suggestion about joining the ANBU. It was actually a rather fond idea to him, but he wanted to research it and study some of its shinobi before applying himself. Instead, he would just give her the typical response she had likely come to expect from him when he didnt wish to divulge his thoughts on a matter. "Maybe." he would say, possibly enticing a rebuttal from his younger cousin.

Following their brief discussion, would be Tenri's assessment of the domesticated feral dogs. Spot on for the most part, even her speculation of disease was quite possible if they were bitten. Homura showed her ruthlessness as she went one by one and slit the pack of dogs' throats. An act Rei had already intended to do if neither of the females on his team did it, or wanted to do it. His hands were quite dirty... but then again, so was Homura's and Tenris.

The three of them would travel afterwards, using Homura's shadow clones for information, Tenri's lava for light and offense, and Rei's Genjutsu as support. They would travel for what felt like a whole day, although it had only been a few hours. Smooth efficient and tactical movement allowed them to reach the bottom-most floor of the cave before anyone else. The large statue rock of amber loomed before them, six scrolls suspended in the the amber, each one bearing a number. Were they supposed to take only one? Maybe the scroll with their team number on it? Or was there an importance to these scrolls? Should they take all of them before the other groups arrived? Tenri and Homura were higher ranked than Rei was, so he would leave the decision making to them and just provide support. Although he would supply his own suggestion or insight if the girls asked him. "Tenri-chan, Homura-chan. Decide what we should do here." he would say, putting the spotlight on them as his eyes shifted to the newcomers to the chamber. ANother team arrived and watched them warily(Neah, Kumori & Nana).

Meiko had been wandering around in the Shikigakure cave system for what seemed like an entire day, but in reality, it had only been around half a day. One of her comrades had run off into the caves before she could even become acquainted with him and the other jumped off and disappeared. Although she had lost a comrade, Meiko decided that she would venture into the caves and work with the other person on her team. While she was crawling through the jagged mouth of the cave, Meiko called out to her teammate but received no response. It seemed that her other teammate had ditched her as well. She was on her own from there on out. It was apparent that neither of her comrades were very friendly, and neither was the jagged mouth of the caves. The mouth of the cave left her with some small scratches, but it was of no concern to her for the time being. She was more focused on getting into the actual cave system before tending to her wounds.

After crawling for a decent amount of time, Meiko slipped out of the mouth of the cave. She landed in a small puddle of water that left the front of her robes wet. After pushing herself up from the ground, she activated her Byakugan. The veins that run along her temple protruded. Upon activation of her Byakugan, she was greeted by the growls of what looked to be four mutts. Meiko took a second to think about precautions she should take and how she should deal with the creatures that had been waiting for her. She decided that the best Jutsu to use on the foul beings was the Chakra Scalpel and that she'd have to use her speed to avoid getting wounded. Meiko performed the hand seals required for the Jutsu and gracefully took down the four mutts, dodging most of their attacks. She had been left with a small laceration on her lower leg, but she was better off than the beasts who were left crippled and bleeding out internally. Meiko took a moment to heal her wounds before pressing onwards. It was better if she wasn't slowly bleeding out while she navigated the cave system. After all, she was going to be in the caves for more than a day.

After having navigated the tunnel systems for a few hours, Meiko decided that it was time to take a break. She had taken down a few small groups of mutts on her own and avoided a few traps. It was tiring having to fight off groups of the mutts alone. While Meiko was relaxing, she looked ahead and noticed that every pathway had been sealed off except for one. It was apparent that a group had already passed through this area. She decided that the best course of action would be to follow the route that they took through the cave system. It'd be smooth sailing from there on out if the group had survived long enough to clear out the monsters that lingered in the caves.

After around ten minutes, Meiko decided that it was time for her break to come to an end and she started to walk down the path that had been carved out for her. Walking down the path was like a breath of fresh air, she didn't have to worry about the dangers of the cave because the team ahead of her had already taken care of them. Sadly, she still had to worry about one thing. She knew that she couldn't run into the team ahead of her because there was a chance they'd slaughter her. Meiko decided that the best course of action would be to activate her Byakugan and make sure that she never got too close, so she did exactly that. She caught up with the team quickly and made sure that she stayed a couple of meters behind them.

Eventually, Meiko came across a can of beans with a note placed under it. She took a minute toe quickly eat the beans before reading the note. She followed the instructions provided, making sure that she kept her distance. After walking for a little while longer, she noticed that the group came to a sudden halt, so she stopped moving as well. According to her Byakugan, they had encountered a group of two people and what looked to be a summon. Meiko decided to get close enough to hear the two groups speak. She wanted to find an opportunity to approach the two groups. After all, she wasn't going to make it out of the Jounin exams alive alone.

As Homura made her way into the opening, there was a glimmer of red in her eyes, a signal that her sharingan had been awakened. Everything about the room opened up to her. She knew there was a strangeness to it when she arrived at first, but now what she saw only confirmed her theory. Chakra flowed throughout the cave and towards one single point, the amber at the center of the room, the place where the scrolls were held. No doubt, the amber itself was rigged with a trap that would activate if anyone tried to take a scroll. With her special observant eyes, Homura was also able to see how durable the amber was. A single swing with her kunai wouldn't be enough to destroy this compact structure. She would need to use a powerful technique.

No sooner than when she noted all of this did another team suddenly arrive. Homura glanced her eyes over at them. They were two individuals and one giant cat. The cat was riddled with power which told Homura all she needed to know about it, and it carried a child with its tail. The child was seemingly playful and harmless. More than likely, it was a genin who was going through these trials to become a chuunin like Rei. The third person was a male. This male had strange markings on his face that Homura had never seen before. He was the one to speak for his group, and what he said clearly grated Homura. The man seemed to want peace between the two groups, though he performed a shabby job at maintaining that peace. He was rude from the very beginning, walking up towards the amber statue without offering for the team to work together. He assumed that Homura and the rest would let him go first and grab the scroll first. To top off this rudeness, the male had the audacity to summon a giant snake in the middle of the room, blocking off Homura and the others from getting to the amber. "Watch my back," he told the snake, as if the snake opposed a threat to Homura's team.

Either this guy was stupid and didn't understand the simplicity of diplomacy, or he just didn't care what Homura and her team thought.

Tenri's response to the pompous male was appropriate, and Homura gave a nod to her best friend or all that she said. Homura had no inclinations to fight another team, since the mission didn't require them to kill anyone, just take the scroll. However, this male, who did whatever he wanted as if he had the capabilities to, made Homura think otherwise. Maybe a little fighting wouldn't be so bad?

When Tenri patted Homura on the shoulder, there was a mischievous grin on her face. Homura seemed happy that this male insulted the pride of the Joho shinobis. She glared at the him with clear devious intent and lifted her hand towards him-

But then pulled her hand back and made a firm fist. "We'll stand down for now," Homura said, then began walking away. "You can get your scroll. Just save one for us or we'll be coming for you." It would probably shock everyone in the room. Homura was always inclined to going into battle headfirst without thinking. If anyone ever disrespected her, she would be the one to fight them until they begged for forgiveness. To Rei and Tenri, it was how she was when she was young, and it didn't seem like it had changed for her as she grew older. This order for them to stand down seemed too out of place for Homura.

Which, it was.

As Homura walked away, she moved to her cousin. She patted him on his shoulder, then leaned in close to him so that her mouth was on his ear. "When he springs the trap, Genjutsu the snake," Her whisper was so silent that hardly anyone could hear. Maybe the cat would be able to with its sharp ears, but Homura made the whisper so low that it would come as an indecipherable muffles to it. She also covered her mouth with her hand so no one could lip-read what she said. Only Rei knew her words.

With that done, Homura would walk towards a wall on the cave and press her back against it. She would fold her arms as she watched, seemingly compliant with the male's request for peace. Though, she would have a confident smile on her face, a smile that only Tenri, her best friend, could decode as a smile that meant she was up to no good.

Two teams had made it to the final round. Out of five teams total, three of the teams seemed to have just disappeared. Technically three teams if they were to include their stalker(Meiko). Rei had noticed Tenri's compassion as she had taken a small portion of their food supplies and a note and left it on the path behind them. Rei wouldn't say anything. This was a decision from Tenri herself and he knew well enough that Tenri did things for a reason. Then there was the fact that if he verbalized his recognition to the action- the one following them, may think he too knew they were there. Rei simply wanted their stalker to remain oblivious to his knowledge of them. If they had decided to attack in ambush, Rei would be ready to counter them in an unexpected way. Undoubtedly, once they reached the bottom floor. Their stalker too would enter the room and remain at a safe distance to assess the situation that would quickly unfold between the two full teams.

Rei Uchiha eyed the one named Neah as he approached haphazardly and genuinely talked about peace and working together. It was a nice speech, but Rei knew Homura and Tenri well enough to know that his good intentions were but empty words once he summoned a giant snake as a precaution. Maybe his words were true and his snake was simply his means for self-preservation. The one offering teamwork, should have allowed the other team to retrieve the scrolls first. As a sign of trust. Not summoning a powerful snake to protect his back while his team takes a scroll first. Rei thought to himself, which was quickly verbalized by his two teammates.

Clearly this room was trapped, as Tenri had previously mentioned in her assessment. The beasts of the caverns refused to enter this room. It was more like a lair of a monster, a territory dominance. Tenri's laughter echoed through the cave room then, returning Rei to their present situation. Many plans and reactions were going through his mind up to this point. Ultimately, it was Homura who would make the call. Tenri had said all that was needed to be said, not that Rei would have given a strong verbal discussion with someone from Chozogakure anyways. A senju at that!

Tenri was heated up and Rei was almost certain that Homura would respond to Tenri's indignation from Neah. Yet Homura did the most bizarre thing. She refused to fight and instead allowed the other team to go first! Secretly surprised, Rei kept his poker face. His usual stoic dead-eyed look at Homura's decision. Surely Homura had thought of something, he knew his cousin too well to think she would let something like this slide without reprimand. Moments later, he would prove himself correct as Homura would recede backwards towards the back of the room and gently whisper into his ear what she wanted from him. I can do that. he thought to himself, assessing the giant serpent instead of the Senju boy. The snake was his target. The Senju could come afterwards.

The snake was meant to be a bastion of defense against potential attacks from Rei's team. The serpent "Bachi" was to watch them and protect its master in case Rei, Tenri or Homura were to attack. If Rei had been wearing hi normal fancy clothing, this would have been much easier. Normally, his hands would be hidden beneath the large sleeves of his colorful kimonos. He was wearing tight-fitted black Shinobi clothing specific to this mission however. Thus he was forced to improvise. Just as Homura would turn to walk away from the center of the room and towards a nearby wall, he too would turn his back as if he were following his leader. Tenri would still be facing the enemy group at this point, so Rei knew it was relatively afe to show a moment of weakness.

As he walked slowly towards Homura's retreating figure, he would dismount the pack from his shoulders and pull it in front of him. From behind, it would appear simply as if he was rummaging through his little backpack that Tenri had prepared for her team. Instead, he was performing handseals. Monkey, Boar, Snake, Dog and Rabbit.

He stopped then, as the giant panther began to make its move. This was a simple and seemingly harmless action, as he was allowed to be both curious and caution of the enemy team's giant panther being on the move. He glanced towards the panther, carrying the little cheerful girl- but rested his eyes on the giant snake Bachi. "Snake! Who is your master?" Rei would call out to this summoning, "Bachi" Using the sound of his voice to catch the serpent's attention and once attentive, locked eyes with the giant serpent. That was when his Genjutsu would swiftly and subtly trigger and take effect. A simple and harmless question, easily perceived as curiosity from Rei- wishing to know the name of the Senju master who had summoned him. Given his question, he actually didn't care for the answer. He turned his back to the serpent and Neah and followed after Homura, taking a resting place at the edge of the room against the wall. He had already done his part, now what was left was to see how things unfolded.

Several quick and powerful swipes from the panther, shattered the amber statue which housed the scrolls. That beast concerned Rei. It was both swift and powerful. Strong enough to break down the very durable amber and remove all of the scrolls- which flew in many directions. One such scroll landed at Rei's very feet. The scroll labeled #6. He reached down and picked it up, just as the ground began to shake and the amber crystal reformed into an enormous autonomous amber golem. The first thing it proceeded to do, was attempt to use a dual-handed overhead smash on top of Neah and his serpent. A wicked smile spread across Rei's lips. This turn of events was very ironic. Rei and his crew were far enough away to not immediately get caught up in the fight, unlike Neah and his group. This would allow Rei, Homura and Tenri a moment of caution and planning. Rei stuffed the #6 scroll into his pocket for the time being.

Genjutsu effect:

The trap was sprung. Homura wanted to move quickly but was stopped dead when she saw what had been awakened. She whistled long and hard as a massive monstrosity made out of amber formed itself in front of them. Could this thing be as big as the bijuu Homura saw a while ago? Was this thing a bijuu too? No, it moved and spoke too sentiently to be one of those creatures. This was just a manmade object coming to life.

The giant beast first attacked the rude male, attempting to take him down. It rammed its fist into the ground which caused a powerful earthquake. For a moment, Homura wondered if the cave would collapse in on itself. Surprisingly, it didn't.

Her attention was diverted for just a second as the man before spoke to her. He had survived by digging a tunnel underground. The coward's way of doing things. His words were the least important thing to Homura, but what was important was the technique he used against the amber monster. Wood Style. This male was a Senju, the natural enemy of an Uchiha. The very fact that he thought it would be a smart idea to speak so confidently in the presence of two Uchiha annoyed Homura. Apparently, he didn't think Homura and Rei were a threat. If there was anything she hated more than the Senju clan, it would be a cocky Senju member.

As she started to inwardly seethe at the male, something lightly pressed against her foot. Looking down, Homura saw a scroll had rolled near her, probably after the Golem caused a shockwave from its first attack. She bent down to grab it just as Tenri snagged the golem in a large rubber net. Tenri's words reached Homura's ears, and the Uchiha found herself nodding along. "Well," she said. "I could always burn it into nothingness. I'm feeling extra angry right now, so turning that oversized pebble into molten rock sounds great to me." She pocketed the scroll in her pouch. The troublemaking part of her tempted her to run forward and burn that golem like she said, but she controlled herself for now. "Tenri, Rei, what do you think?" She looked to her teammates for the answer.