What worked for Keni to ease his nerves worked for Keiyaku as well. When they'd greeted each other at the arena's gates, he felt the Kyoujouran's warm hand wrap around his, squeezing a little. It brought a soft, tender smile to the Inuzuka's face, glancing at the guy briefly. His thumb run over the back of Keni's hand, before giving it one last squeeze to wish the new Sennin luck as he headed for the announcer's podium.
Among the throng now, Keiyaku and Morutobu watched as Keni took his place and made his announcement; his lack of participation, and his new promotion. Having already been dealt the news about this previously, it didn't shock either of the Inuzuka brothers, rather they both just beamed up at him with a fierce pride, supremely excited someone so deserving had been granted this highest honour. But it was back to business all of a sudden. The event's host had found his voice and had begun to delineate the rules.
"Search and rescue?" He mused, his eyes falling upon the adolescent Shiba at his side who returned his glance, barking excitedly. Yeah, this was Moru's wheelhouse.
Just then, Mitsuha, or at least her clone, stepped up to the two of them and offered to form a team. The Inuzuka always had mixed feelings about Mitsuha; the first time they'd met she was so shy, and then on the immediate next visit, she went insane and physically assaulted Keni, and then, when they'd been helping Ayeka together, she's completely changed beyond recognition again. Every time Keiyaku saw her, she changed in some dramatic way, such that he was unsure to the extent he could trust her anymore. Even Moru seemed to glance at her with restrained suspicion.
"Yeah, I don't see why not," said Keiyaku, hitching a smile onto his face, his eyes darting over to the real Mitsuha who was seemingly trying to recruit an older-looking girl, "I guess that makes three huh?"
Stepping away from the clone, he approached Mitsuha and Aki who seemed to be the midst of performing a summoning jutsu. Watching the figure a little cautiously, his face broke into a rogueish, slightly fanged smile as he extended a claw-clad hand to Aki. Moru took the slightly less restrained route of jumping up playfully at her legs.
"Guess Mitsu's quick off the mark, huh? I'm Keiyaku, this is Morutobu. I think we got a good side here, eh? I can sniff out an injury pretty good, and Moru here's a regular bloodhound when he gets goin'."
The Inuzuka was sure he hadn't met Aki before, with her unfamiliar scent and generally colourful appearance, "yeah, with all three of us, I'm sure we can crush this pretty good; we've all got something to bring to the party. Question is though, quality over quantity? We gotta have a different strategy based on whether we're gonna rescue as many as possible to deny other teams their prey, or if we rescue a handful and work on patching them up real good. Personally, I'd say the second is our best bet; we should divide and conquer; Mitsu and I could work on retrieval, with you, Aki, checking out their injuries with this friend of yours, then we can meet in the middle again and patch them up as good as we can together. How's that sound to both of you?"
Among the throng now, Keiyaku and Morutobu watched as Keni took his place and made his announcement; his lack of participation, and his new promotion. Having already been dealt the news about this previously, it didn't shock either of the Inuzuka brothers, rather they both just beamed up at him with a fierce pride, supremely excited someone so deserving had been granted this highest honour. But it was back to business all of a sudden. The event's host had found his voice and had begun to delineate the rules.
"Search and rescue?" He mused, his eyes falling upon the adolescent Shiba at his side who returned his glance, barking excitedly. Yeah, this was Moru's wheelhouse.
Just then, Mitsuha, or at least her clone, stepped up to the two of them and offered to form a team. The Inuzuka always had mixed feelings about Mitsuha; the first time they'd met she was so shy, and then on the immediate next visit, she went insane and physically assaulted Keni, and then, when they'd been helping Ayeka together, she's completely changed beyond recognition again. Every time Keiyaku saw her, she changed in some dramatic way, such that he was unsure to the extent he could trust her anymore. Even Moru seemed to glance at her with restrained suspicion.
"Yeah, I don't see why not," said Keiyaku, hitching a smile onto his face, his eyes darting over to the real Mitsuha who was seemingly trying to recruit an older-looking girl, "I guess that makes three huh?"
Stepping away from the clone, he approached Mitsuha and Aki who seemed to be the midst of performing a summoning jutsu. Watching the figure a little cautiously, his face broke into a rogueish, slightly fanged smile as he extended a claw-clad hand to Aki. Moru took the slightly less restrained route of jumping up playfully at her legs.
"Guess Mitsu's quick off the mark, huh? I'm Keiyaku, this is Morutobu. I think we got a good side here, eh? I can sniff out an injury pretty good, and Moru here's a regular bloodhound when he gets goin'."
The Inuzuka was sure he hadn't met Aki before, with her unfamiliar scent and generally colourful appearance, "yeah, with all three of us, I'm sure we can crush this pretty good; we've all got something to bring to the party. Question is though, quality over quantity? We gotta have a different strategy based on whether we're gonna rescue as many as possible to deny other teams their prey, or if we rescue a handful and work on patching them up real good. Personally, I'd say the second is our best bet; we should divide and conquer; Mitsu and I could work on retrieval, with you, Aki, checking out their injuries with this friend of yours, then we can meet in the middle again and patch them up as good as we can together. How's that sound to both of you?"