Comfy Cozy with a Tele

[Sand Council]

OC: As requested.

IC:

It was well advertised, free beer and hot wings also video surveillance of the exams. The space was actually a large room in a posh hotel in the heart of the city. The cost of traversing the front door would exceed the average person's monthly wage, however on this day it was completely and entirely free to not only enter but to also enjoy their amenities in the 'Bunker Conference Room' as they called it. It was a rather good sized space wqith several rows of reclining chairs as well as a wall of television sets. The cameras appeared to be cleverly placed out of sight, for the most part the participants gathered would be unaware of the location of the cameras and come to think of it the placement of some of these cameras would seem impossible. Some there placement was obvious, in a wall someplace or even the ceiling of a room. but some cameras panned and seemed to look at the examinees. They were were in many cases looking through the eyes of a third-party.

In the back of the room would be snacks, LOTS of snacks and they would all be free. Beer, candy covered sugar, sugar-covered candy, popcorn and other salty snacks, hot wings, even vegetables for the health conscious with a not-so-healthy dip. The place was too good to be true and considering the price (free), it was also too good to pass up.

For those who wanted to watch every exam IC at the same time. Here you are.

 

[Aburabuta Yutaka]

Kageoni - Otogakure Grand Master - "Otokage"

The enigmatic man named Kageoni had sequestered himself in the viewing room of the expensive hotel which had been advertised to be the place where they were hosting the televised surveillance of the various exams. He had no interest in the food or drink they had available but rather was only here for the appearance and was thus surprised to have found the room entirely empty. Perhaps it was better that way. He wished to see how his shinobi interacted with the others and their exams without having the looming threat of him on their shoulders at all times. They were bright enough kids that they likely surmised that he would have found a way to keep tabs on them, and they were right certainly even if there hadn't been such a viewing room established for the exams, but still there was a difference between knowing that their Grand Master was watching and having him stand within a hundred years in person. Even still it seemed as if some of the exams they'd invented were not the sort that he'd have been able to spectate in person to begin with. The Genins apparently had been taken deep out into the desert, not a place that Kageoni was anxious to return to, and the Chuunins had been separated into solitary puzzle rooms to face individual challenges.

The first viewing monitor he observed was the on-going debacle of the Genin Exam. It appeared that whatever had been planned had been disrupted by the emergence of a sandworm and while that seemed unexpected to those that were present for the exam... it did not surprise Kageoni in the slightest. After all, what did they think was going to happen when they destroyed the Diamond Maelstrom? Even the proud and powerful ancients did not often choose to cross the monolithic sandworms, such was their power and durability. A rampaging sandworm could have been a threat to all but the most mighty of ancients if it were old and large enough... and it was unlikely that the ancient which ruled in dominion over them would care to divert them from her kind. That was simply not her way. The desert did not take sides, after all.

Next was the Chuunin Exam and Okitsugu. Takayuki aside, Okitsugu was the examinee that Kageoni was the most interested in seeing perform. He was a student of Master Tarou, his principle rival, and thus his performance would dictate a great deal of the future. Okitsugu was a prodigy even among his fellows and had crafted much of the artificially armored body that he wore himself at an even younger age. He was driven and ambitious... but also very much lacking in scruples. If Okitsugu proved himself a valuable enough asset the Grand Master had no doubt that he could make a convincing enough offer to tempt the soon-to-be chuunin away from Tarou. The other Master would be upset... but ultimately unless Tarou wished to declare a vendetta between them there was nothing he could do but sit back and congratulate his star pupil on gaining the attention of the Grand Master.

Such was the way of the Sound Village.

Then finally was his own examinee; Takayuki. Takayuki was a strange case and perhaps the exact opposite of Okitsugu in temperament. Both prodigies in their own right, Takayuki had a strong moral conscience in him that drove him to fight for his own justice. He'd lost much at a young age and that had brought him to Kageoni... and Kageoni had made him strong indeed. He'd sacrificed much along the way and been made to make many more hard decisions than a boy his age should have been forced to make but it was only through adversity that power could be gained. By putting the boy through a crucible of suffering and pain he had forged Takayuki into a powerful warrior not unlike the way a blacksmith forged a blade. It seemed as if he'd put Takayuki in another situation where those strong ethics of his would be tested once more as the crowd descended upon the shinobi taking the test after a few of them had been injured by what looked to be sabotage.

"How will you do it, Takayuki?" The Otokage asked of the empty room as if Takayuki were sitting right next to him as he lounged back in the chair he'd decided was the best for keeping track of his children. "Can you protect all of those people without starting an international incident?"

Kageoni's face split wide in a cruel smile as he thought about it. An incident wouldn't be the worst outcome for Sound. After all, nobody really knew where their village was and very few of the shinobi here in Soon's Haven were a match for him even if they threw together their power.

 

[Sunaku Shikai]

Shikai had searched for some official place to visit without luck. The girls who helped people with entry into exams were long gone by the time he got back out there. He had choosen to change his attire to that of a commoner before going any further. It didn't take him long to hear about this place. To be able to watch every exam from one place would be perfect for what he needed now. The Genin, The Chunnin, Jounin, even The ANBU exam would be visible from here. He could keep eyes on everything.

As he arrived he found the place a tad more luxurious than he was used to, but that did not stop him from helping himself to a little of the free items offered. He would find a seat not far from the Otokage to get a clear view of the screens. He would not move too close to him though. Shikai clearly sensed the power emitted from this guy and the way he held himself, told Shikai that he was a man of stature.

As Shikai looked at the screen he could see his fellow Stoner Kurokawa in the Chunnin exam. There was blood everywhere slowly seeping into her. On the Med nin screen he could see Rina as she merged with someone Shikai did not recognize. It seemed drastic but he saw the sand worm fall soon after that so perhaps it was necessary. Shikai would take deep breaths before looking from the two screens towards what was left of the ANBU exam. Seems the big guy chained to the wall was not free and holding the woman who had died. Maybe death was not the answer for her after all.

Lastly the Jounin exam. Shikai saw fellow Stoner Jomei stand amongst Titans. He could spot Shoma and Hissori as well and the crowd seemed rather worked up. Something had clearly gone wrong over there. Unlike the other places Shikai could see where the Jounin part was held. Not in the middle of nowhere or in a tower, or underground. His plan to visit the Daimyo in search for answers to this matter had yet to bare fruit but at least if he saw anyone wearing the Sand Daimyo robes or a crest that would link them to him, on the cameras, he would be able to move out. The attempt to spoil one of the exams seemed absent proper strategy. It reeked of politicians trying to set a military man or woman up. They did a poor job. Not only did the Daimyo hold this event according to public record, but suddenly he was mentioned in these schemes as well. Had this been a Kages doing it would have been more stealth or not done at all for fear of the repercussion.

"Come on Kuro and Rina. You have a least one Stoner rooting for you from the stands now. Wherever you are located."

[MFT]
[WC: 491]

 

[Sand Council]

Kageoni is not run by me -- just making a post to draw attention here for Kageoni.

The young ANBU would arrive at the Bunker Conference Room shortly after departing his exam. The room had a warm, pleasant atmosphere that usually only wealth can afford. The oversized recliners were lined nearly before large screen televisions. The screens seemed to follow the various exams -- the remnants of the ANBU exam being the confused and still confined prisoners, the dead and injured being mourned. Another, the aftermath of a sandworm attack that left one scared, one missing an eye and one missing a limb. The other, a group of Jounin hopefuls contending with an angered crowd as well as in-fighting between a Kiri and an Iwa-nin. Finally, the Chuunin exam had one standing stationary in a room, the other had found her way outside.

The question now -- what is with all this fanfare?

Everything was being recorded perhaps for posterity or possibly another reason that has yet to be defined. Very little made sense, at least here. These elaborate 'traps' seemed to foster little more than paranoia and the exam itself seemed to support dishonesty among the participants.

The young man, once he partook of the snacks provided on the table he would feel a rumbling in his gut. Not that of dissatisfaction but rather ravenous hunger. When was the last time he ate? Even if it was only a reasonable time, he would find a voracious appetite that would seem all-consuming.

[The food was trapped: it summons a gluttonous nature.]​

 

[Sunaku Shikai]

Shikai was very focused on the screens when he tried out the food. He found himself standing there fixed on the screens instead of going back there to sit down. Suddenly he felt quite full and yet hungry at the same time. He looked down and saw that he had been dipping into various samples with all 6 arms and eaten from each of them whenever one was done stuffing something down his throat. He quickly took a step back but felt the urge to go back to food and keep eating even though he was stuffed to the point of bursting. He formed seals and used a medical jutsu to restore his system and remove the hunger. Stuffed to the brink he waddled back to a chair close to the Otokage and sat down. On one hand he really should go regurgitate some of the ravenously consumes refreshments but on the other hand he did not want to waste good food. Also he did not know what expelling stuff from his body would affect is contagiousness. He had developed a slight cough and fever with meant that his highly trained immune system was already hard at work fighting off the disease but he did not know for how long he would be sick or how much it would spread. Best to keep the physical spread to a minimum at least.

After sitting down he would notice that Rina and Kurokawa was no longer in different zones. Also one genin hopeful seemed somewhat less hopeful seeing as she had just randomly left the place as if she did not come here for the exam, or just lacked the cognitive development to grasp the concept of teamwork, or work at all for that matter. Same seemed to be the case on the screen showing the last Chuunin hope who still stood idle in a room full of mirrors. Since the lesser exams seemed all but concluded Shikai would keep his attention on the jounin exam. Seemed like The Tsuchikage, Shoma and some demon-looking guy were still going at it.

[Unmastered System Restoration used to remove the latest debuffs.]
[MFT]
[WC: 348]

 

[Sunaku Shikai]

Seemed like not much was going on in the Medical exam other than a rift in the sand suddenly appearing. And what was that creature standing behind Kurokawa? Turning over to the ANBU cam the thing had stalled out. From the prisoners he knew that at least one, well now two people were most likely infected with some random disease but he did not know if his own prisoner was. If she had been infected so would he be, so he needed to go by some medic soon to get pre-emptive measures set up.

Shikai looked over to the Jounin exam and spotted a flare going into the air. A call for help. The cameras showed that it came from Jomei, and that the Tsuchikage was yelling out orders left and right. He'd better get going. Shikai packed up his stuff and left the room.

"Shit!"

[Topic left. Instantly since there is no activity in here from anything PC related.]
[MFT]
[WC: 146]

 

[Sand Council]

Sorry about that, your thread did not show up as having been posted in.