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Eiichiro replied not only politely but also with common courtesy offering his name in return to Ekitai who smiled happily with the man. He was glad he had not gone ahead and made assumptions as this ninja was now held in very high regards with the Hozuki. The Kumo shinobi confessed having very vague details about the mission as well making a small observation about the host. So it was as Ekitai had assumed, no one here knew exactly why they had been gathered or what the old man had in store for them. He had considered the possibility of one of the shinobi gathered today to have some familiarity with the gentleman and perhaps a little insight into his goals but after having discussed with the Kumogakure genin and taken in minor observations of the interactions between the people in the room he came to the sound conclusion that knew no more than he knew for the time being.

Just as his lips parted to continue the friendly enough conversation the sound of music rose up commanding all in the room to cease their conversation and redirect their attention to the well dressed man making his way down the stair case. Takumi watched him descending oddly disgusted with the similarities between the two of them in appearance, they were both men of etiquette clearly enough but there was always a clear line between those who behaved properly for it being the proper thing to do and those who put on the airs of etiquette as a method of conveying their wealth and good fortune. "It seems you were right, he does enjoy a good surprise. Almost as much as he enjoys flaunting his considerable wealth..." Ekitai mumbled quietly under the music more to himself than anyone else.

The sound of steel pounding in rhythmic stomps could be heard and soon samurai surrounded the main hall, lining the walls looking inward with hands at the ready on their blades. Ekitai glanced to his left then his rich casually taking into account the number of samurai, they were in more of a ceremonial formation than any sort of battle formation he had ever heard of. Besides even that though, Ekitai had long forgotten the fear of a blade even when wielded by the samurai of legend. They posed no real threat to him and should the need arise they were still human, flooding an enclosed room like this would result in drowning and a convenient means of escape. But again, it was not necessary so Ekitai simply returned his gaze to the man who had now reached the floor. He weaved a gloriously vague summary of what they were here for and the rewards that would follow but Ekitai dismissed it as useless as the letter he had received.

The man turned to leave and Ekitai would not be left as a coward who turned tail and ran, he would follow the butler out to another gate escorted by the strange battalion of samurai. Ekitai did ponder curiously about the samurai however, after all they were a neutral faction from the land of iron a long way from home. Had the samurai taken on new policies of selling their loyalty and skills to the highest bidder? It wouldn't be too surprising in all truth if this man was their financial backer and a large reason behind why they still survived to this day, despite how outdated the seemed to the rest of the world. After sometime his mind could no longer dwell on the samurai as the company found themselves presented to the man of the hour, the one who had gathered them all here. The twenty-four samurai fell on one knee as well as Muramasa, Ekitai however remained standing with a crooked eyebrow conveying curiosity at the old man.

A cool wind was blowing across the sea and over the island effectively blanketing Kirigakure no Sato in a shiver in unison. Ekitai had walked these streets many times for many reasons, but for the first time he could remember he had no reason or goal to meet as he strode slowly without direction. His brow was furrowed in silent contemplation about things that happened, current events in his life, and decisions he had yet to make. All these things were coming to a head that would force the young man to begin forging his own path in the world.

He had lived his whole life with a single purpose laid out before him, to protect and serve the royal family of Kirigakure no Sato without question. He was after all a protege from the Hozuki clan raised to serve the family from birth, and as a gifted member it also soon became his curse dedicating him to the service of another family before he knew of choice. Held back and exiled from the standard shinobi he barely attended the academy much less went on missions with other ninja until of course this month. This month he had been given leave to take a vacation and during his alleged vacation found himself called to arms in service to the war machine that was Kirigakure no Sato. During his time spent on missions with young genin, he found himself developing a fondness for the lifestyle the lead as well as the interaction between comrades. It was a much different relationship than servitude. But this feeling would soon pass and he would have to return to the way his life had been before serving the royal family. A simple and easy life that had great potential to pay off what little work was required and ensure his own rise into a higher social class among the nobles of Kirigakure no Sato in time. The only other option available to him, was to attend the chuunin exams he had been nominated for this year. If he accepted and went on to be promoted as a ninja the village would be far more eager to call him away from the royal family and demand his service. Dividing his goals would make it nearly impossible to rise in the social ladder of Kirigakure as a ninja as well.

In truth he enjoyed the teamwork and ninja he had worked with as well as the idea of more challenging assignments to take them on. It was always something new to do, and he had in fact already made up his mind to attend the Chuunin exams this year. His intentions were to escort some of the young kiri shinobi and aid them in the test in order to protect as many of his new young friends as he could. He had no doubt in his capabilities at all and knew he would pass with ease if he put forth the effort, but what he had yet to decide was whether or not he wanted to pass. Part of him knew his life would be easier for simply throwing his chances away and allowing some of the younger shinobi to surpass him in rank and move up the ladder.

Lost in thought and direction he turned a corner sharply before he saw a pale young man wearing a skull mask helmet. Pale features only helped to bring out the teal tinge in his eyes that stood out noticeably against the rest of the man. Kaito Hanahasu. Strangely enough, he had been one of Kirigakure's latest shinobi to pass the Chuunin exams himself. Ekitai watched him for a moment with a weak smile upon his lips looking down upon a cat that encircled him rubbing up against him. This man was the cold blooded killer Ekitai had heard rumors of during last years Chunnin exams?

After Ekitai had finished he glanced curiously at Deacan as he withdrew and began recording information on some ninja info cards, strange things for a young genin to have but Ekitai merely shrugged. The boy then explained that he was a medical capable of basic Iryou as well as a few other techniques and of course it made sense why he had ninja info cards. The kid was a class A bookworm, fine by Ekitai as the village needed all the medics it could get these days. Not all shinobi could merely turn into liquid like he could but that was neither here nor there, he smiled at the boy and nodded approvingly before turning his attention to the girl. She gave a short introduction explaining that of course she was in fact an Inuzuka but also another medicinal practitioner. If he had to make a guess at her psychological profile he would have to say anti-social with a streak of fuck off in the mix. Two medics for partners to a Hozuki to track down and kill a pack of wolves, none of it made sense but frankly it didn't need to.

"Everyone acquainted then? Yes? Good. Then the foremost step we should take is finding these wolves so we can do the assignment given to us," he withdrew his copy of the mission that had more details on it holding it out to the Reiko, "I believe as we are tracking animals that falls under an Inuzuka's specialty. Would you mind leading us miss Reiko?"

Ekitai awaited her to accept the scroll if only to hurry their minor expedition, although he wouldn't say it out loud to them his largest pet peeve was immaturity. These two didn't seem immature yet, but they were clearly young and didn't exactly hold themselves in the most dignified stances. There was likely a chance that any any moment they could and would become a pile of sniveling children. Ekitai's day job was too look after royal blood and this was supposed to be a vacation, how was looking after children anyway to relieve stress. Either way, he would simply have to wait and hope that these two proved themselves a mature pair of medics. Maybe they could even learn some common courtesy as well as a few sophisticated mannerisms by following the Hozuki's example.

Ekitai stood proudly upon the upper tier of the battle ground 20 meters from the waterfall where the current wasn't quite strong enough to over power his stance and sweep him down over the edge. He removed his monocle cautiously wiping some of the spray from the falls off the lens before replacing it back over his eye carefully and folding his arms across his chest. He had underestimated just how monumental this... monumental landmark was and now he stood upon it proudly feeling inspired and ready for a fight. Hard to explain and hard to define the feeling simply came over him and he grinned maliciously knowing that it wouldn't be long now... before the others would soon arrive.

Ekitai made his way through the village calmly as people moved out of his way as he appeared to be a very important man in fine clothes. It made travelling much simpler when people truly appreciated that the formal had the right of way and were most likely in a position to do something about it if you didn't get out of their way. The corner of his mouth curled into a slight smirk at the thought of it as he continued down the roads alone towards the mission compound. As he went he passed by a peculiar site, a young boy standing by his name written in the dirt... strange but for the moment none of his concern as he continued to up the stairs to the mission compound before stepping inside.

Once inside, again the shinobi found even ninja of the village departing from his path as he made his way to the front. Strange he had never been in this building before in his life while serving the village faithfully, but he had been retained by his family at the request of Kiri's royal family for a more personalized style of work tending to the family and their needs. However there was little to do and the family had given him a 'vacation' from his work. During his alleged vacation he received a letter saying informing him he was to report for Genin work doing missions like any other ninja during this time. What was the point of a vacation if you simply changed jobs?

Either way, Ekitai made it to the front desk and asked the woman for his assignment only to discover she had allowed another shinobi to take it as his partner and go out to search for him. The Hozuki held his own head in his hands rubbing his temples from the headache this caused him to learn he had passed his partner out on the street already, not to mention he had been given a partner! Undeniable annoyance seemed to seep from every pore in his body as he considered that they considered him such a novice to work with a team, but quickly grabbed hold of a copy the mission reading over the scroll before regaining some measure of composure.

He stood at the counter thinking back to the boy outside of the compound who had written his name in the dirt and stood for a moment pondering his merits from what he had seen. He was young, but then again most genin usually were much younger than Ekitai himself so that was nothing he could judge him on well. His clothes though... his clothes had actually been nicer than most of the casual clothes by kiri shinobi, if only just. Ekitai considered it to be some what casual/formal but that was still leaving room for formal which was far better than he expected out of most shinobi these days. He was about to leave when the lady called him back to attention snatching the scroll from him before editing the word partner to partners and scrawling yet another name on the scroll...

"Reiko Inuzuka?" He questioned out loud almost to himself more to the woman before fixing her with a gold stare from behind his monocle. "I've never even heard of her, how do you expect me to find her?"