November 15th was to be a fine Thursday morning in Kirigakure, a day like any other. With a gentle rainfall accompanied by the Kirigakure mist, it was still postcard perfect, even the buses were running on time. The week-long storm had washed every sidewalk and gutter clean and a tincture of freshness still lingered in the air despite the traffic fumes. The vibrancy of the city had bounced back in the instant even with the rainfall, already the streets were a hum of activity. Downtown the skyscrapers shone silver in the morning sun and the sky was an unbroken backdrop of blue.

On this morning, Eso Tsumugi found the day so pleasant that he decided to ride the bus to work. He traveled through the morning rain to the local bus station near his home and walked across the Waterloo bridge spanning the river, melded with the sea of shuffling civilians coalescing into the avenues, and waited at the local bus stop to catch the bus to attend his scheduled conference meeting with the Mizukage.

No sooner did Eso catch sight of the gleam of the silvery bus approaching his stop, he felt this strange sensation strike him without reason or warning. He paused where he stood. It was as if his entire world just fell to a standstill, his limbs paused in motion and his mind a blank.

Then he let out a soft gasp of shock when he suddenly felt a sting in the back of his right thigh. It was a small sting, but it held the sharp prick of the needle of a pin piercing his skin.

Eso instinctively turned around, fully expecting to see someone armed behind him, but there wasn't much to see. He was still scrunched into the milling crowd of people with only a few behind standing out to him. A smartly dressed man impatiently checked his watch as his suit was soaked. An elderly woman in a bright red coat balancing her wooden cane. A young dark-haired girl clutched a rain-soaked umbrella, and beside her was a tall woman that was gingerly pulling her into the meandering horde of bypassers.

Nothing looked out of place.

With a shrug, Eso looked down to assess the minor damage done to his leg. There was nothing amiss, no tear or hole in his pants, and no feeling of blood trickling down his leg. The stinging still persisted so he laid a delicate finger on the spot, and almost immediately felt a small bump that stung harshly when he pressed it.

"Must have been a mosquito. They do love this kind of weather." Eso mumbled under his breath. Then the sudden screeching of the parking bus snagged Eso out of his thoughts, his concerns rolled down his back as he climbed on.

o o o —(O)— o o o

BREAKING NEWS

ASPIRING KAGE CANDIDATE AND REPRESENTATIVE; ESO TSUGUMI, aged 44, died in St. Kagume hospital from septicemia, a form of blood poisoning in the late hours of Thursday afternoon.

Authorities say they have reasons to believe Tsumugi was a victim of assassination followed by a series of six mysterious deaths across the nation and the third death within Kirigakure. This recent death is no more than nine months after the two mysterious deaths of the Kirigakure senior advisor Sumo Miyuki and Kirigakure Ambassador, Shaiwase Kanoe, who were both discovered dead in their respective mansions.

Authorities strongly believe that Tsumugi died of suspected poisoning, due to the claims Tsumugi made hours before his death. He claimed that he felt a sharp sting on his left thigh during his time at the local bus stop, however, he could not pinpoint what or who exactly inflicted the sting on him on Thursday morning.

Tsumugi was on his way to work to attend a conference meeting with the Sixth Mizukage and his senior advisors at Byakuren Estate.

Once he arrived, witnesses claimed that Tsumugi initially seemed in good spirits, formally engaging with the senior staff and his colleagues.

However, later on, Tsumugi began to complain that the site of the sting was swollen to the size of a pimple, making it difficult for him to sit down for a long period of time. He told at least three of his colleagues that he believed that he had been poisoned on his way here. Witnesses all claimed that they saw Tsumugi become severely sick minutes before he could meet the Mizukage, suffering severe bouts of vomiting and developing a 105 fever. Tsumugi was admitted to St. Kagume hospital where his condition significantly worsened upon arrival.

Tsumugi underwent a rapid decline in chakra level that caused an irregular heartbeat and a severe drop in blood pressure. He could hardly breathe and was answering questions in incoherent sentences. The medical staff followed procedures as much as possible by injecting her with drugs to try to bring his vital signs to normal. Reportedly when nurses removed the man's shirt to apply defibrillator electrodes, they noticed an oily sheen oozing off of his body. Medical staff also reported a fruity and bitter odor from his skin and claimed that the smell seemed to worsen as Tsumgi's health deteriorated. Nurses then placed a syringe in his arm to obtain a blood sample. His blood reportedly smelled strongly like ammonia.

During the procedure, one of the attending nurses, Kanao Cho, complained of sharp chest pain and was removed from the room. Shortly thereafter, another nurse, Saki Patel had to leave the room as she complained of nausea and lightheadedness. Rie Aoki, a respiratory therapist who was assisting in the trauma room, was the third to pass out. The staff was then ordered to evacuate all emergency department patients to the parking lot outside the hospital. Overall, 17 staff members were hospitalized suffering from various severe symptoms brought on by a mysterious chakra drop.

After forty-five minutes upon arrival, Tsumgi went into cardiac arrest and the doctors called the time of death at 0740PM on November 15th XXXX.

He was enclosed in an aluminum container and the emergency room was evacuated. The other patients and those exposed to Tsumugi outside of the hospital were taken into isolation and treated.

An autopsy and toxicology report is to be held in the coming weeks to determine what killed the candidate.

The Sixth Mizukage said he was 'shocked and saddened by his close companion's passing and paid tribute to a dear friend who loved serving the people of Kirigakure' before his life was brutally cut short.'