The gave had several twists and turns and narrow points, probably following a seam of some weaker mineral.  Tomo could tell based on the change in tones around him that the 'real' cave was quite dark.  He found the plant, and the monster, within a few seconds of each other.<br/><br/>The creature was incredibly strange, like nothing he'd ever seen before-- even in picture books.  It had a fairly humanoid form, but with elongated limbs with no signs of joints.  Its 'head' was vaguely circular, with one long, thing patch lighter than the rest.  He didn't bother to stop and calculate what the actual colors were.  And behind it...  Tentacles.  Not like those of an octopus.  There was no symmetry about it, no uniformity.  They ranged in length (as far as he could tell; they were pretty well-jumbled) from eight inches or so (arranged in a frill near the neck) all the way up to several yards (along the spinal column).  They ended in more different kinds of protrusions than he had shinobi tools.  The one unifying feature was that they all seemed extremely strong, albeit with different concentrations of muscle, in the same way that a martial artist and a body builder both look strong.<br/><br/>He rested a hand on its forehead.  Five seconds, and...  But that wasn't the plan, and if he wound up waking it up it could cause all kinds of problems.  So he turned and worked his way back to the cave's entrance.<br/><br/>Tomo moved to stand directly in front of Amaya before deactivating his technique.  Shinobi survival rule #1: never surprise a Jounin.  Then he reported.<br/><br/>"The entire thing was fairly straightforward.  One direct passage without branches, one monster, and the plant you described only grows in one place in the entire cave.  Where the monster just happens to be sleeping soundly.  I swear, it's like the entire thing was set up in advance."  He was mildly suspicious.  But the girl had been in actual pain.  "So do we all go in together, to maximize our chance of surviving if the thing wakes up, or do we send in one person alone, to minimize the chance that we'll have to fight at all?  It seems to be a sturdy creature.  I can't imagine why it's here or what it eats for sustenance, really."