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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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I think I like just returning their word-halves in private. It's a peace gesture without coming across as very patronizing, and helps them get into the tournament since their positions are less than completely secure. Giving them more, I think, or doing it in front of an audience, would come across as a power play and taint our message that we still want to be friends with them even if we're politically opposed.
 
MMKII said:
It is actually amazing how double edged this sword can be. Not only can we make this appear as a very good natured and kind hearted gift IC, but it also all but guarantees the Hyuga's humiliation on an international stage when we beat the tar out of Hinata. We can do both with one stone. That's just fantastic.
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Publicly humiliating Hinata when we don't have to is a bad idea. She seems a lot more reasonable than her father, and we're bound to need to work with her in the future. Publicly slighting her now would only serve to create enmity, and make dealing with her in the future harder.

I'm also against giving away the bulk of our word halves. At best, I could see giving them back their word halves so the don't get docked however many points they would have lost due to that.
 
MMKII said:
Aside from @Noumero's points above:

I don't understand your point here. How is this inconsistent or hypocritical with our IC beliefs? These word halves were not given to us by some sort of pre-existing bias of the MfD-verse. We ultimately earned them by our own merit. If we want to use them to butter up the Aburame and Inuzaka a bit, as well as a small apology for beating the living tar out of them and stabbing/deafening them in Round 1, or maybe make utilize them to further our own agenda somehow(or all three!) then it is entirely within our rights to do so.

Furthermore: All this does is ensure that there is a very public and very deliberate beatdown in a nonlethal setting (Finals) while also coming off as a decently large favor/gift. A beatdown that we are obligated to do, really, if we end up being matched together in the finals (which we almost certainly will). If anything, we are not rewarding the Hyuga with anything they didn't deserve: a big fist to the face.

Edit:

It is actually amazing how double edged this sword can be. Not only can we make this appear as a very good natured and kind hearted gift IC, but it also all but guarantees the Hyuga's humiliation on an international stage when we beat the tar out of Hinata. We can do both with one stone. That's just fantastic.
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Noone's going to care in the long-term because all anyone will remember is the tournament. But in the short term it'll piss off a lot of the smaller country-nations and not gain us much at all. How is it embarrassing to the Hyuga's? The only way I can see it is a balance between Hinata not even making the tournament and Hinata being in the tournament but getting crushed by us (if we are even able to do this). That's taking a major risk on our part when there's already embarrassment enough should Hinata not even make it.

Why assume it butters up anyone else? They (Aburame, Inuzaka) could just as easily interpret it as us soft-blackmailing them *we did you a favor, if you take it you owe us back*.

If Jiraiya tells us to do it I'm behind the idea (because I trust his endorsement as a superior analysis of the political climate/ramifications), but I see WAY too many holes if this is a spur-of-the-moment thing we make Hazou decide to do
 
Oneiros said:
@faflec to address some of your concerns

With regards to Noburi I don't expect him to actually go anywhere to research them. I want him to talk to other Med-Nin and see what they know. Hopefully we can actually get contact with someone who has actually been there

With regards to the Yakuza. The reason we can't just ask Jiraiya is he will just tell us not worry about it. We need to build a case on our own first and then bring it to Jiraiya. The Yakuza are one of our best contacts outside of Jiraiya. I don't expect to get much information out of them but at the same time developing a deeper relationship with them is valuable on it's own.

With regards to the rumors we need to shape the narrative so that it follows the direction that we want. Taking a less firm hand now could let things slip away. We want the association with the Sannin because they equal summoners. That plus the huge political capital we can gain from it makes me favor a more aggressive path
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I can accept your thoughts with Noburi, though I worry that it might not turn up much.

The Yakuza thing...alright, that makes sense. I'd thought the plan was to get the scroll as a primary objective, but depeening relations would be good. Though I would point out that we don't want to be seen as the junior in such a relationship.

I do agree we want to shape the narrative, but reiterate that getting bards or books to sing our praises feels presumptuous. Just a thought.
 
"We're going to tell you the real story" which is inevitably going to be the least flashy version instead of stories that went through ninja telephone then through civilian telephone which will very little resemble reality.
 
Citrus said:
Noone's going to care in the long-term because all anyone will remember is the tournament. But in the short term it'll piss off a lot of the smaller country-nations and not gain us much at all. How is it embarrassing to the Hyuga's? The only way I can see it is a balance between Hinata not even making the tournament and Hinata being in the tournament but getting crushed by us (if we are even able to do this). That's taking a major risk on our part when there's already embarrassment enough should Hinata not even make it.
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I don't see how this pissed off smaller countries? By our calculations our Red Team One fellows are not harmed by this.

I don't see how this is a major risk at all. It's a gesture of good faith IC that
Why assume it butters up anyone else? They (Aburame, Inuzaka) could just as easily interpret it as us soft-blackmailing them *we did you a favor, if you take it you owe us back*.
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"Buttering up" or "soft blackmail" is essentially the same thing.

If Jiraiya tells us to do it I'm behind the idea (because I trust his endorsement as a superior analysis of the political climate/ramifications), but I see WAY too many holes if this is a spur-of-the-moment thing we make Hazou decide to do
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I'm explicitly doing absolutely any of this with the large disclaimer:

All psuedo political maneuvering happens at Jiraiya's express approval only.

With that including this, the Yakuza thing, etc.

Enjou said:
Publicly humiliating Hinata when we don't have to is a bad idea. She seems a lot more reasonable than her father, and we're bound to need to work with her in the future. Publicly slighting her now would only serve to create enmity, and make dealing with her in the future harder.
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As far as they're concerned this should come off as a friendly gesture.
I'm also against giving away the bulk of our word halves. At best, I could see giving them back their word halves so the don't get docked however many points they would have lost due to that.
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If we give them 1/2 of the word halves then it literally doesn't matter how they distribute them mathematically: it won't change our spot in the finals.

Each word half could be worth +1000 points and they still couldn't boot us out of the finals with that. It simply doesn't matter as far as the math goes. As long as we don't give them a majority share in word halves (>50%) then we're fine.

Perhaps we can share slightly under 1/2 and get away with it, if you find this sufficiently not paranoid.

Also its all up to J's discretion anyway.


 
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MMKII said:
It is actually amazing how double edged this sword can be. Not only can we make this appear as a very good natured and kind hearted gift IC, but it also all but guarantees the Hyuga's humiliation on an international stage when we beat the tar out of Hinata. We can do both with one stone. That's just fantastic.
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I know, right?
Enjou said:
I'm also against giving away the bulk of our word halves.
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Why? There's no plausible way for them to affect our position even if we give them all our word-halves, but there's no possible logical way for them to do anything to us if we give them half of them or less. We'll still have our half; if we have 100 word-halves and each word-half is worth a million points or something, they'll score ~100,000,135 points and we'll still score 100,000,586.

Edit: Ninja'd.
 
MMKII said:
There can be no true dictatorships (military or otherwise) in MfD-verse because you need support and a resource base. Ninja need to eat,sleep, etc.

Rational! Dragonball Z likely would be a different story.
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Speaking of which, I've been meaning to write something for that. Thanks for the reminder.
MMKII said:
Dear Politicking and Word Half Distribution Plotting Friends:

In light of thoughts about Jiraiya's tenure as Hokage and various political considerations to that end, I have just thought of an excellent point to this end that may score us some extra credit:


As far as I was aware: Inuzaka and Aburame were not blood allies or anything with Hyuga. They can still potentially be swayed. As such, maybe NOT making a spectacle of the word half thing and only doing it between us, them and ISC would be beneficial. Kiba and Shino will go back to their clans and report that we did them a solid in the name of Greater Leaf Domination. This will likely raise us up a few points in the Aburame's and Inuzaka's eyes.

Something to consider.



Ah. @Cariyaga we will have to settle for doing him a serious solid in some other way. Maybe gift him a few years salary worth of explosives and invite him to board game nights henceforth? In addition to the medic thing.

Also talk to the Yakuza.

Another thing:


It really bothers me that some of y'all were getting on the fence about a bluff speech to literal strangers on grounds of making them not like us or ruining our general public image as nice guys...

...But at the same time are totally willing to do this Ami thing for no other reason than an in-joke, when this may open up a serious can of emotional worms with Keiko.

Do we not care about Keiko? Relatively speaking, I care more about the general opinion of Team Uplift on actions orders of magnitude more than I care about how Named Ninja 43 from Rock Village feels about us and general things he might say afterwards that won't effect things too much in the short to medium term.

Not pointing any fingers. Just taking the opportunity to say that.
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I can't speak for others, but I vote for what I want to read. I like Keiko, Hazou, and Noburi as charachters, but my estimation of our and is such that I suspect I could very quickly come to enjoy a new charachter, or new social dynamics, quite easily. As such, while my enjoyment of the status quo is high, my projected delta enjoyment is much lower, and I am thus proportionately more willing to do things that sound fun largely on a whim (hence my support of Ami shenanigans, succeed or fail, and my precious InaZou backing. You might not feel the same way, but that's where (at least one of us is) coming from.
 
faflec said:
I do agree we want to shape the narrative, but reiterate that getting bards or books to sing our praises feels presumptuous. Just a thought.
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Ohh it totally is presumptuous. People will joke about it first. But when we completely obliterate our competition in the tournament people will be predisposed to believe it. Then well @Vecht said it best

Vecht said:
Put another way, if you continuously exceed all expectations, people will start to wonder where your limits really are. Merely "well above average" doesn't get you that level of awe and respect.
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[] Action Plan: One More Day in Mist


  • Hang out with Hana.
  • Give a note of thank to the Yazuka.
  • Talk to Team Downfall.
  • Keep on a lookout to purchase a telescope.
  • Gifts for Kagome:
    • Mist-exclusive carving supplies?
    • Paper?
  • Last minute grocery shopping. Bring the taste of Mist home.
    • Seafood and other ingredients not found in Leaf.
 
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Kiba said:
[X] Action Plan: One More Day in Mist


  • Hang out with Hana.
  • Give a note of thank to the Yazuka.
  • Talk to Team Downfall.
  • Talk to Telescope Merchant and hopefully purchase a telescope.
  • Last minute grocery shopping. Bring the taste of Mist home.
    • Seafood and other ingredients not found in Leaf.
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Suggestions:
  • Get a gift for the Yakuza, something simple as thanks for their role in helping us for finding the last Event or two. Dunno what it should be though.
  • Delete the Telescope Merchant, please. We don't want to get hurt by metagaming.
  • Maybe buy some Mist-exclusive carving supplies and/or paper for Kagome?
 
faflec said:
Suggestions:
  • Get a gift for the Yakuza, something simple as thanks for their role in helping us for finding the last Event or two. Dunno what it should be though.
  • Delete the Telescope Merchant, please. We don't want to get hurt by metagaming.
  • Maybe buy some Mist-exclusive carving supplies and/or paper for Kagome?
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Commission a bound notebook for him with sealing-quality paper.
 
Hey all, tried my best with this as a decent rough draft. Ping for edits or steal + cannibalize as you wish.

I tried to frame the word half thing amicably.

I don't recall specifics of Kagome's birthday gift. Someone remind me so I can put that in?

I thought I'd try to shove the Akane thing in here as well but will remove if people desire.

LOL nevermind no way no how.

This covers two days:
1)I left open the possibility of familial interactions to Nobby and Keiko.
2) Two days is reasonable for tying up some loose ends I think

With all this done, I think we would be ready for training.
EDIT:

I will carefully edit the crimson stuff in the night before the deadline. BBCode editing on this site sucks.

Word Count: 413
[X] Loose Ends

General:
  • Every section titled in crimson requires Jiraiya's approval in some form.
    • He can make suggestions and criticism of his own.
    • Talk in Summoning Realm only:ASAP
    • Tell Keiko with handsignals.
  • Spend ~2 days in Mist, then go back to Leaf.
  • Ask Jiraiya for someone to shadow us while we're in the village
    • Failing that, do not get separated
  • Strict OPSEC is to be maintained.

Naruto:

  • This is a long shot
    • Check plausibility with Keiko beforehand
  • Do you have a blood sample?
  • Can you sign a summon contract for him in absentia?
    • Have toads reverse summon him immediately after signing.
    • This might buy some time.
  • Hazou et all treat this portion with the highest level of paranoia and OPSEC.
Yakuza:
  • We should thank the Oyabun for his assistance so far.
  • Try to meet a lieutenant or leave a message for Oyabun failing that.
    • This is a relationship we want to continue.
    • Consider getting another present a la Pangolin carving.
  • Ask him politely to have his agents spread rumours of our flawless victory in Event 5 throughout bars and taverns in Water.
    • Intent: Pre-empt the nations rumour mil to our advantage. Build up our general fame and notoriety. Lay the foundation for further such manipulations.
    • Polite observation: It would be beneficial to both of us in this relationship if we were ninja of great repute.
    • Pay them with a portion of the (unused) explosives we received from Kagome.
  • Jiraiya helps us word everything correctly.
Families:
  • Suggest everyone spend some time with families if they wish to.
    • Don't press if they do not wish to.
      • Hazou treats this with the sensitivity it deserves.
        • They are as sensitive to this as he is to people insulting his mother.
        • Be extra sensitive to Keiko.
  • Hazou spends time with Hana
    • Catch up: Talk about anything!
      • Opsec sanitized.
    • Talks about and asks for honest advice on Akane thing
  • Start to assemble Kagome's birthday gift
    • A book of all the things he's taught us.
    • Suggest to Jiraiya: Maybe turn some of the basement space into a fancy sealing lab too?
    • Bring back Mist cuisine (as much as we can) + cookbooks?
    • Some nice and exotic wood for carving?
Misc:
  • Apologize to Nakano for the rough treatment
    • How can we make it up to him?
    • Invite him to next board game night
  • Team Uplift has a short conversation with Team Downfall
    • Do in barracks with friendlies on overwatch
    • No hard feelings?
    • Try to part amicably.
      • Noburi keeps wisecracks to a minimum.
 
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[ Loose Ends

I would really like to add something about Hazō makingelatu up with the Kurosawa clan. Trying to have slightly better relationships would be valuable
 
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Remember to tell Jiraiya our Naruto reverse summon scheme. It's still a longshot but the slim chance it would work makes it worth it to at least suggest.
 
Oneiros said:
[X] Loose Ends

I would really like to add something about Hazō makingelatu up with the Kurosawa clan. Trying to have slightly better relationships would be valuable
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If I fit anymore then @Velorien might complain about being tired of writing social, and then him and @eaglejarl will swap polarity for a bit and then @faflec hears and I'll hear him screaming across whatever physical distance in atomspace separates us.

Inferno Vulpix said:
Remember to tell Jiraiya our Naruto reverse summon scheme. It's still a longshot but the slim chance it would work makes it worth it to at least suggest.
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I basically don't want to bring this up until Leaf. Is Jiraiya not coming back with us?
 
MMKII said:
If I fit anything then @Velorien might complain about being tired of writing social, and then him and @eaglejarl will swap polarity for a bit and then @faflec hears and I'll hear him screaming across whatever physical distance in atomspace separates us.
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Personally I think you could add it to the talk with Downfall. Just tell Shin that we are open to talking to the Kurosawa clan in the future
 
MMKII said:
Everything in crimson requires Jiraiya's approval in some form.
  • He can make suggestions and criticism of his own.
  • Try to get ASAP, use hand signal language if necessary
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Why can't we just ask him in the Summoning Realm? Don't we have a check-in at sundown (which is when the Fifth Event ends)?
MMKII said:
Word Halves:


  • Suggest to Jiraiya that we redistribute word-halves equally among ISC and Team Kurenai
    • Give slightly less than ~1/3 to each, in case they have some of their own stashed away (also accounts for ISC having their own + some extra).
    • Message: We stand for Greater Leaf Dominance, and will work towards village interests as we see them.
    • Subtle Intent: Butter up Aburame and Inuzaka clans, ease any personal tension between Team Kurenai and us. Piss of Hiashi.
  • Do so privately with the 9 of us: Noburi acts as the diplomatic one.
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I'm kinda...no, on this one, since I'm pretty sure us doing this will fuck us for the tournament (read: for getting into the tournament). Is this really necessary?
MMKII said:
We should thank the Oyabun for his assistance so far.
  • This is a relationship we want to continue.
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And thank him for his aid in the most recent Events. *cough*more presents*cough*
MMKII said:
  • Start to assemble Kagome's birthday gift
    • A book of all the things he's taught us.
    • Suggest to Jiraiya: Maybe turn some of the basement space into a fancy sealing lab too?
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Also suggestions: Make Mist-style cuisine (with raw ingredients) + a cookbook; Mist-exclusive woodstuff for carving.
 
MMKII said:
I basically don't want to bring this up until Leaf. Is Jiraiya not coming back with us?
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We can talk securely on the Seventh Path, and if it is possible then we want to get on it as fast as we can, since we don't know how long Naruto's got left. We can also directly ask the Toads what they know about summon scroll mechanics and get their opinion on its viability.
 
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