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The news hit Shiro like a cannon to the stomach. He had heard all sorts of positive things about the Takayama Academy, and now it was gone. He himself had planned on attending that Academy, but in his efforts to escape with his life, he headed to the GNA. Any attempt at going to Takayama would easily result in the destruction of the Academy at the hands of Endbringer, and he wanted to prevent that from happening. But now it looked like it made little difference, with the exception that he was still alive.

"The Academy was......destroyed? How? When? Who attacked? Couldn't your Elites take care of any attempted attackers? They were among the top in the continent, alongside Storm and Mirage nin...."

The words that left her mouth were like a river of bloodshed spilling over the gates of hell to Shiro. It made sense, not many could dispose of an entire academy, let alone Takayama's Elites. The Mask comment was all that Shiro needed to hear to confirm his fear.

Now calm down Shiro.....there's no proof that it was Him that attacked. Land of Shadow is in the opposite direction of the GNA in relation to Storm country. Why would He be attacking there? It didn't make sense. Plus, plenty of nin wear masks, maybe it was another? It could've been ANBU....but no ANBU could dispose of an entire academy, no matter how strong they were....

Shiro began to sweat. He swallowed to clear his throat a bit before beginning to interrogate Keioko about the attacker.

"This mask the witness claims to have seen.......would it have been a white porcelain mask.....covering half of the attacker's face?"

Keioko's answer would hopefully give Shiro the answer to his question.

A sigh of partial-relief left his chest.

Good.....if it was indeed Him, the witness would have specified that it was a half porcelain mask. Such things aren't exactly a common sight, and in such a time, one would not miss such details.......still...

Even though he tried to convince himself that it was just a coincidence, the small piece of doubt still lingered in the back of his mind. He simply supressed it at the moment, and tried to change the mood.

"Well, come on inside, I'll make some tea....you must have travelled quite a long way, even overseas to get here. You must be tired."

He looked back to his student.

"We'll finish up here later. For now you need to work on physical training and incorporate the needle jutsu into your movements. Good job with the flip, by the way."

He flashed Star a thumbs-up and opened the door to the Kaze dojo with a gust of wind. He made his way towards the door, escorting Keioko as he did so.

As they entered the dojo, Shiro escorted Keioko to a spare room. It was a fairly simple room, usually reserved for guests. It was odd for a ninja dojo to have rooms for guests, but it did have its advantages in times of crisis. It made capturing and withholding easier, and with that came interrogation, torture, and sometimes, exectuion. The room was under close watch at all times, thanks to the very many hidden cameras. The security devices were hidden so well that nobody could possibly discover them without prior knowledge of their existence and location. After all, what kind of ninjas would they be if a 'guest' of usually a Jounin level could find their security devices?

Nevertheless, this time it was actually going to be used without torture or execution. There would, however, be a manner of interrogation. The room was almost barren, with the exception of a small empty trunk, a small cot and a folded hammock.

"Here. Just rest here for a while while I prepare the tea."

He left Keioko in te room and headed for his private office, which he recently took for his own. He approached one of the large stained-glass windows and walked right through it. His private office was of moderate size, and it was neatly organized. He sat down in his desk and pulled out one of the drawers and removed two packets of tea and a small vial of dark blue powder. He set a kettle of water to boil on a hot plate and retreived a small porcelain tea set from his cupboard.

He set the tea leaves into the cups and waited for the water to boil as he looked through his scrolls.

The kettle soon began to whistle, and Shiro looked up from his scroll and smiled. He picked up the tray with the kettle and cups and walked over to the kettle. He shut off the hot plate and poured hot water into both the cups. He made sure he had a small bowl of sugar and some milk along with the set. Before he left, he poured a small dose of the blue powder into both of the cups. It was a special agent that 'prevented kinks in the truth'. In short, a 'truth powder'. Precautions, you know?

He poured it into both in case she decided to pick the one without the agent. He himself had developed an immunity to it, as it was administered to all children of the Umezawa clan for two reasons: One, to prevent lying to family, and Two, to allow their systems to get used to it and develop an immunity to it and similar truth serums. The powder was tasteless, odourless and scentless. And the particular formula hid its true intentions quite well, the truths the victim admitted would flow with the conversation, and it would be virtually unnoticable to a witness, and unrememberable to the victim in the future.

He exited his room carrying the tea set and walked back to the room. He entered slowly and subtly, as to not startle the newcomer.

"Here."

He set the tray down on the trunk and offered a cup. He looked down at the kitten and got an idea. He removed a saucer from under his cup and poured a small amount of milk into it and set it on the ground for the kitten. He then took his own cup and sipped it a bit.

"Try it, it's good."

Shiro returned her smile with his and took a small sip of his own tea. Any interrogation would have to be subtle. Made to look like a conversation. Luckily, that was a skill Shiro had. He smiled and laughed a bit at the cute kitten lapping up the milk.

"He's cute.....so, why did you decide to come here, to the GNA? Isn't there another academy in the Village of Colour? It's much closer than the GNA."

"Hmmmm....."

Shiro seemed satisfied. It was a trick question, after all. Village of Colour's main academy sent it's Chuunin to Takayama for training to the Jounin Level, after which they were sent back to Colour to train the younger ones.

"What about Storm or Mirage? The academies at Mirage are unmatched, and Storm are just about the next best thing. Why not try there?"

Another trick question, sort of. She should know about Storm Country's state of political chaos, and nobody from the outside has ever found Mirage's academy.