Target in sight

Naoki and the two others would appear in a rocky valley with a bubble of chakra shattering around them. Their ears would pop with the difference in pressure and the chilly mountain winds would embrace them; the environment was quite different from the one that had just disembarked from. They could see the snowy mountaintops through the frosted canopy of the forest around them.

This was as close as Naoki could bring them to the Iron Country. He would start walking downhill and gesture for his comrades to follow. "This way"

[Initiating travel to the Iron Country with Xyxer and Aryll]

Once Xyxer appeared in the new location he felt the momentary pressure in his ears yet he made no sign of it, instead opting to survey the rocky area they found themselves in. He had no idea where they were. Traveling from Tengakure had been much easier than it was to teleporting from a random location in the borders, he thought. The snow blanketing the mountains brought a feeling of relaxation to the Mizukage, soothing him before his appearance at the summit. He'd steeled himself for this day, having even read a single letter from Kumogakure signed by a Komori Hozuki. Interesting, his clan seemed to grow more powerful by the day.

Lifting his hand up, he fixed a ring on his left ring finger, brushing his thumb along the kanji spelling "South" on the front of it. He looked forward to detecting the presence of one of his old comrades in the Gokage Summit to see how they'd all progressed in this arduous world. Walking at the side of Naoki he steadied himself down the hill, gazing off into the distance. He felt no need to talk, rather he wanted to be as silent as possible before the event so that he didn't waste any more energy than needed, after all, he may need it.

[Potential exit but maybe not since Naoki has to do something]

Much as Xyxer remained stoic, the giant automaton and both of its inhabitants also remained quiet. Her byakugan active, she made use of her new Alterator, a contraption whose name was perhaps the stupidest thing she'd ever heard. Still, it would likely be of some help. Her own chakra was suppressed, regardless, her strings invisible. The Geist leaped down from his perch on Ludwig's arm, walking alongside the puppet, a hand outstretched. The threads entering his frame entered through that hand, and it gave the illusion of the Geist being the puppetmaster, with Aryll's form, cloaked via her chakra suppression, being nothing more than a mass of threads moving from within the puppet. It wouldn't fool a Hyuuga, but if any member of her clan dared to stand against her, she'd wipe them from the face of the earth. 

(Potential Exit)

Approved unless interrupted, just in case

The weather slowly got better as they moved from the mountains into the lower plains and forests. Xyxer did not seem to say much; his thoughts were likely somewhere else and he stayed focused on it. The other person to join them was quite interesting to Naoki. At first he did not know what to make of it, but with time he was able to figure out the trick (oh I have the ability to, trust me. I just don't want to give it away just yet). This was the Jounin Aryll, whom he has not met in person before now, but has heard of in passing. Finally taking his attention off the contraptions of wood and steel Naoki's mind would go into the thinking mode thanks to all the monotonous walking. As they would walk he would affix the Alterator gadget the received from Xyxer to his belt and also make some aesthetic changes to the Fabric. His appearance would change, the attire becoming a raven black armor of steel and a composite leather like material, covered in floral themed dark blue markings.

As they were walking and Naoki was making these changes, he would remember an idea he had previously. Yes, there was something else he could do in preparation for the summit. This was somewhat of a long term investment, but it was an opportune time to reap the crops and see what he got. Naoki would suggest a small pause and explain. Then he would perform the summoning jutsu and when the white smoke cleared the trio would be joined by Naoki's seal clone - exemplar - named Vigil. The boy would have been summoned straight from Kumogakure, where he had spent the last two years or so, studying the medical field, aiding the village's hospital, hoping to receive training from the Raikage Youka and most importantly gathering information. Now Vigil did not have any secret documents from the Cloud, as he was not commanded to obtain any of those. For him this summoning was most unexpected, in fact he was lucky he happened to have his most important belongings on him when it happened. After introducing him to the other two Naoki would have everyone continue the journey. As they were going towards the land of Iron, Naoki would explain to the seal clone that his assignment in the Hidden Cloud was over and it was time to hear everything he had gathered. The obedient to the death exemplar would not object or bat an eye - if his creator said so then so must it be.

For the remainder of the way Vigil would be explaining and telling about the many things he had learned in the village. He would explain that Youka had all but disappeared from the public view and the community itself, with an added speculation that if the man was still alive, then he was probably withdrawn from the world, spending his days in some secluded chamber or deep in the mountains. Then Vigil would tell about Maku's appearance and claim to leadership, the crusade that Maku had organized and the countries that Kumogakure had taken under his rule. He would finish about their leadership by saying that Maku has recently not been seen that much and that the burdens of leadership were lately being handled by the various Jounins and elders of the village, although not having met any of them in person Vigil was unable to elaborate on that further.
Next he would explain about the village's defenses. Now, he did not know about the specifics, their weaknesses or how they were made other than that all of the current monstrous defenses that Kumogakure has were Youka's doing. So, even though he never gained access to detailed information on any of that, having spent a couple years living there it would have been most spectacular for him not to notice the zombies, the fields of rot and bodies on poles, the never ending mist that shrouded the village making it difficult to approach and of course the sturdy and creepy walls that seemingly watch everything you do.
The exemplar would finish his report by mentioning that Kumogakure seems to have a stranded relationship with the distant village of Hoshigakure after Maku's attempted alliance failed over a year ago and that they appear to have nearly regained the strength they had before they were crushed and subdued by Youka.

Naoki would process this load of information was they entered the land of their destination; it was a short way remaining to the location of the summit and so the former leader of Shimagakure would command Vigil to stop here at the border as they proceeded. Since they were now almost there it was time to agree on a set of gestures in case they needed to swiftly and secretly communicate in the summit. As a last bit of preparation Naoki would cast and store the confining seal jutsu into his amethyst fabric gem, one of the three which now took the shapes of three rings on his right hand. With all of that done he would make the fabric hide his face under a black mask and have some symbols of allegiance appear on his attire.

941 twc.

[Exit, concluding travel into Iron Country
Vigil summoned into borders
676 w. towards finishing learning discounted Mental Fortress
285 w. towards mastering Cutting

Stored Barrier: Confining tech in Stone of Unknown Law]

Approved