Mid-day Meetings [Village exit, Nobo]

Not over an hour earlier, at the docks, a Hoshigakure ninja had approached Kaito with the news. Both good and bad. Bad news first: someone had placed a bet on Ryuzaki Nara at the chunin exams, and because of his loss, an assassin had been hired to kill him. The good news, however, spoken in haste as the Raikage bent his knees to search for his charge, was that Ryuzaki had been able to dispatch them with ease. Fortunately, he was much more powerful than his performance might have led someone to believe, and as such the assassin dispatched thought they might be easy prey. Kaito had felt the weight of Ryuzaki’s strikes in the past. He felt bad for the assassin put up to a task they had no hope of succeeding in.

Having finished his business, he made his way to the gates. Earlier in the morning, but after Ryuzaki had already left, he received a notice his package had arrived at the dock and was ready to be collected. The big wooden box behind him that two hired men carried for him. He could very well do it on his own, considering he was likely far stronger than either of the burly men, given his training as a ninja, but the trappings of power demanded he bore no weight of his own unless needed. Back when he had received the notice at the inn, he had kindly asked the owner to inform Ryuzaki to meet him at the gates for the next part of their travels. Kaito needed to visit a… figure of interest, let’s say, and given Gin’s current participation in the tournament going well in his favor, Kaito thought he could take some time to see other parts of the world.

He wondered if Ryuzaki was well, but felt certain he wouldn’t be in any sort of danger; the ninja of the Hoshigakure might’ve informed him as much had that been the case. And to confirm Kaito’s suspicions, there awaited Ryuzaki, by the lightly travelled gate. “Greetings, Ryuzaki”, the redhead started. He was dressed in his usual garb, the Darkened Skies armor hugging him snuggly underneath the white robe of the Raikage, and the pyramidical golden hat of his position hiding the red hair with it’s white drape that went around the inside of the hat. His right eye, a mirror of Ryuzaki’s, was covered by a half-face wide patch that shielded from his forehead down to the cheek and jaw. The black left eye gazed upon the genin.

“Thank you gentlemen”, Kaito said, turning briefly to meet the already paid men, who dropped the box and took off after nodding at the Raikage. Kaito himself turned to Ryuzaki. “We're gonna go on a journey while Gin is busy, and I need you to look the part. Inside this box is a suit of armor fit for a Raikage Guard. Wear it, and we can trekk the mountains down towards our destination, the Wind Country.”