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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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@MMKII
Slightly reduced word count to get it under 500. I'm on my phone though so I don't have the exact number of words.
[x] Action Plan: Sealsmith of the Gods
  • Find Jiraiya ASAP to discuss the assault (high-OPSEC, include siblings).
    • Most of these ideas are Jiraiya likely already thought of, but Hazou mentions them on the off-chance he didn't.
  • Equipment:
    • Distribute seals from our loadouts among the strikeforce as Jiraiya sees fit. Suggestions:
      • Give everyone tons of explosives, and Banshee Slayers + Earbusters/Banshee Fuckers.
        • Sonic damage seems rare, and hard to defend from. Spam it?
      • For Jiraiya: Implosion Seals/Directional Explosives and Goo Bombs (potential live capture).
      • Equip Leaf contingent with Skywalkers.
        • Zabuza surely informed Mist already, and Akatsuki could have reverse-engineered them. Reveal them fully?
    • You can draw more seals, but probably can't learn new ones (concussion).
  • Strategy ideas:
    • Wakahisa Exploitation:
      • Quickly test if Keiko can transfer chakra water to the Seventh Path. If yes, team Uplift should stay in Mist and get Wakahisa Clan's cooperation. They'll supply chakra barrels, which Keiko will transfer through Jiraiya.
        • Possibility of harmful bloodline/summoning interactions?
        • If that's impossible, the strikeforce should take a number of Wakahisa and chuunin along as chakra batteries (leave them in the rear).
        • Equip some combatants with chakra water bottles.
      • Per above, the strikeforce will get effectively unlimited chakra. Summoners should summon everyone they can before combat; others should cast Elemental Clones equipped with seals.
        • This should ensure overwhelming numbers advantage.
    • Pangolin Guard:
      • Keiko could get chakra from Noburi and send her Pangolins along. They can focus on mooks, tank some hits, and support the strikeforce with Maneuvers or buffing ninjutsu (Defend the Log).
      • Warning: Pandaa previously stated that Akatsuki's "dragon" resembled an archaeopteryx, which are Pantokrator's servants. Pangolins are very religious — unlike other summons? — so this might cause a loyalty problem.
    • Its a Trap!
      • Team Bloodrage was incompetent and attention-grabbing; suspiciously incompetent, given how few leaks Akatsuki permitted. Why do we trust their intel?
      • Could Nagi Island be a trap for the desperate EN, with the goal of assassinating villages' leadership via a WMD (or the opposite: drawing S-rankers away to make villages easy targets?)?
      • Not much to do, except stay ready to escape to the Seventh Path?
        • Arrangement: summon the smallest toad to keep on person. On signal, it desummons, then reverse-summons Jiraiya.
    • Backup Plan: Operation Murder
      • Itachi's relationship with the Crows may be strained: he apparently slaughtered one of their political factions.
      • Pantsaa had implied that he'd be able to forcibly bring Keiko to the Seventh Path if she betrayed him.
      • If true, Jiraiya could assemble a team of summoners, either negotiate with or attack the Crows, then have Karanium summon Itachi into an ambush.
      • May be worth contacting Orochimaru/Tsunade via 7th path for it?
      • Could work with Kisame's Sharks too.
  • To Jiraiya: If you don't come back but Naruto finds his way home, we'll take good care of him. You owe us one massive victory party, one wedding and one awesome adopted brother, so don't you fucking dare die on us, sir.
    • Hug Jiraiya.
  • Work on the above as per Jiraiya's orders.

Edit: Of course I got ANBU'd and now the Kagome part is missing from my version. But that's only 9 words and my version is currently below 490.
 
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Rafin said:
@MMKII
Slightly reduced word count to get it under 500. I'm on my phone though so I don't have the exact number of words.
[x] Action Plan: Sealsmith of the Gods
  • Find Jiraiya ASAP to discuss the assault (high-OPSEC, include siblings).
    • Most of these ideas are Jiraiya likely already thought of, but Hazou mentions them on the off-chance he didn't.
  • Equipment:
    • Distribute seals from our loadouts among the strikeforce as Jiraiya sees fit. Suggestions:
      • Give everyone tons of explosives, and Banshee Slayers + Earbusters/Banshee Fuckers.
        • Sonic damage seems rare, and hard to defend from. Spam it?
      • For Jiraiya: Implosion Seals/Directional Explosives and Goo Bombs (potential live capture).
      • Equip Leaf contingent with Skywalkers.
        • Zabuza surely informed Mist already, and Akatsuki could have reverse-engineered them. Reveal them fully?
    • You can draw more seals, but probably can't learn new ones (concussion).
  • Strategy ideas:
    • Wakahisa Exploitation:
      • Quickly test if Keiko can transfer chakra water to the Seventh Path. If yes, team Uplift should stay in Mist and get Wakahisa Clan's cooperation. They'll supply chakra barrels, which Keiko will transfer through Jiraiya.
        • Possibility of harmful bloodline/summoning interactions?
        • If that's impossible, the strikeforce should take a number of Wakahisa and chuunin along as chakra batteries (leave them in the rear).
        • Equip some combatants with chakra water bottles.
      • Per above, the strikeforce will get effectively unlimited chakra. Summoners should summon everyone they can before combat; others should cast Elemental Clones equipped with seals.
        • This should ensure overwhelming numbers advantage.
    • Pangolin Guard:
      • Keiko could get chakra from Noburi and send her Pangolins along. They can focus on mooks, tank some hits, and support the strikeforce with Maneuvers or buffing ninjutsu (Defend the Log).
      • Warning: Pandaa previously stated that Akatsuki's "dragon" resembled an archaeopteryx, which are Pantokrator's servants. Pangolins are very religious — unlike other summons? — so this might cause a loyalty problem.
    • Its a Trap!
      • Team Bloodrage was incompetent and attention-grabbing; suspiciously incompetent, given how few leaks Akatsuki permitted. Why do we trust their intel?
      • Could Nagi Island be a trap for the desperate EN, with the goal of assassinating villages' leadership via a WMD (or the opposite: drawing S-rankers away to make villages easy targets?)?
      • Not much to do, except stay ready to escape to the Seventh Path?
        • Arrangement: summon the smallest toad to keep on person. On signal, it desummons, then reverse-summons Jiraiya.
    • Backup Plan: Operation Murder
      • Itachi's relationship with the Crows may be strained: he apparently slaughtered one of their political factions.
      • Pantsaa had implied that he'd be able to forcibly bring Keiko to the Seventh Path if she betrayed him.
      • If true, Jiraiya could assemble a team of summoners, either negotiate with or attack the Crows, then have Karanium summon Itachi into an ambush.
      • May be worth contacting Orochimaru/Tsunade via 7th path for it?
      • Could work with Kisame's Sharks too.
  • To Jiraiya: If you don't come back but Naruto finds his way home, we'll take good care of him. You owe us one massive victory party, one wedding and one awesome adopted brother, so don't you fucking dare die on us, sir.
    • Hug Jiraiya.
  • Work on the above as per Jiraiya's orders.

Edit: Of course I got ANBU'd and now the Kagome part is missing from my version. But that's only 9 words and my version is currently below 490.
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Thanks, I appreciate it!

I'm also on mobile at the moment, so i'll probably end up going with these when I can get back to my laptop and edit the plan in a few hours. I want to do some decently large wordcount/phrasing optimization of my own.
 
No-one of Importance said:
Sorry to butt in from the peanut gallery, but why are people so confident that Akatsuki are the bad guys? So far as I can see Hazo's great contributions are being party to Summon Genocide, killing a bunch of mooks and arms dealing. If whoever took Madara's place in this version of the timeline had a convincing enough case to unite S-Ranks from so many diverse backgrounds and nations they might have a better plan for 'Uplift' than Hazo does and better implementation capacity than the squabbling Kage do. Debateably even just taking away the Bijuu and Akatsuki S-Ranks from the villages is a net good by reducing the casualties their wars can inflict.

I'm sure I've missed a lot of things not going through all of the discussion, but was Akatsuki's Evil Plan explained somewhere?
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Beyond taking the bijuu, the deaths involved in doing so, and prior bad acts, I haven't really gotten a sense of their motives or morality.

If I were to imagine a more rational Akatsuki, they would have to be a mix of some the versions I've read about on ff.net.

Their primary goal would still be obtaining the Bijuu and controlling them.
A secondary goal would be resource denial. (Obtaining or destroying powerful ninja, taijutsu, seals, summons, ninjutsu, weapons, chakra beasts, etc from major or minor villages)
Third might be creating exotic uses of chakra or exotic forms of chakra for themselves.

But the ultimate goal is less destructive power for the villages, more control for themselves, and encouraging an aversion to ninja world wars.
 
I think it's worth considering that Jiraiya's time is more valuable currently than some of the ideas we exposit to him would be worth.

e: (whoops didn't notice the plan had major edits ignore this for the most part)
 
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I swear to Jashin, Hazou needs Hana in Leaf. If Jiraiya gets a bad roll there is going to be a succession crisis. Absolutely nobody else he can really trust has the chops to navigate that. Nobody. At all.

At this point his next-best fallback options are Noburi and Kagome (don't pretend that Mari isn't going to implode if Jiraiya dies before her wedding.)

Hana is a willing and desperately needed resource- fucking use her.
 
[x] Action Plan: Sealsmith of the Gods
MMKII said:
Find Jiraiya ASAP for a quick discussion about the assault (high-OPSEC conditions, include Keiko and Noburi).
  • Most of the ideas below are something Jiraiya likely already thought of, but you mention them on the off-chance he didn't.
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Click to shrink...
Should suggest that we test + ask Keiko and Noburi these things beforehand (as possible), so that we don't waste Jiraiya's time. Like the chakra water transport.
MMKII said:
Distribute seals from your loadout among the strikeforce as Jiraiya sees fit. Suggestions:
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Should we offer some of the bigger explosives we have, like stupid boxes or firelog macerators?
MMKII said:
Wakahisa Exploitation:
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Doesn't necessarily have to be through Jiraiya, if we can find another Summoner whose clan territory is close enough to the Pangolins or the Toads. It's also a convenient way for us to get information on who has what summoning scroll :p
MMKII said:
Pangolin Guard:
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I'd also point out that Keiko could go, summon her Pangolins, and pop back to the Summoning Realm while her Pangolins follow Jiraiya or something.
MMKII said:
Its a Trap!
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Relatedly, what was Orochimaru planning with his Liberator schtick? Is he an Akatsuki who was trying to bait the EN to search there while Akatsuki was elsewhere doing their schemes?
MMKII said:
Backup Plan: Operation Murder
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I might suggest asking Keiko to just give him this intel in a Pangolin missive, which he can read when he has some free(er) time. You know, since this sort of plan won't be useful for the invasion but could be useful for mopping up the stragglers.
 
faflec said:
Relatedly, what was Orochimaru planning with his Liberator schtick? Is he an Akatsuki who was trying to bait the EN to search there while Akatsuki was elsewhere doing their schemes?
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Zero evidence that Orochimaru was there, joined the Akatsuki, or that his organization was there for anything other than opportunism.
 
Kiba said:
Zero evidence that Orochimaru was there, joined the Akatsuki, or that his organization was there for anything other than opportunism.
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Velorien said:
"This doesn't make any sense," Jiraiya said quietly, almost to himself, as he paced back and forth across the main room of the hideout. "Orochimaru is the last person I'd expect to start a war – he finds disorder, or what he thinks of as disorder, to be utterly disgusting, to say nothing of how he feels about 'crude implements'. Besides, he's survived this long despite being an acknowledged S-class threat partly because he takes care not to draw any attention to himself. When the Liberator goes public, it'll be the equivalent of dancing the yosakoi on top of the Hokage Monument during the Heroes' Day assembly, butt-naked and with extra-loud clappers.

"But then again, how many other ninjutsu researchers who use immortal snake symbolism are there? And if it is him, what could push him into doing something so violently out of character?"
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I mean, Jiraiya seems to think he was at Iron, and he was being rather OOC in doing so.
 
faflec said:
Should suggest that we test + ask Keiko and Noburi these things beforehand (as possible), so that we don't waste Jiraiya's time. Like the chakra water transport.
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We should do it like, right now. Sitting in the bath. We already have an ANBU watching our backs.

e: Besides, I like the characterization of "literally just woken up from concussion, still shivering in the bath; gives optimizations anyway".
 
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Also, unless we're going to undermine Hazou's intention to adopt Akane (possibly posthumously), he should probably mention that to Jiraiya in advance.



Kiba said:
Zero evidence that Orochimaru was there, joined the Akatsuki, or that his organization was there for anything other than opportunism.
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Velorien said:
"Ick. Thanks for that mental image, Yumi. I'll be taking that with me to my grave. Maybe I should just go find one of those Brotherhood guys and get them to give me a free lobotomy now."

The woman's voice deepened and took on a distant, faux-mystical quality. "We of the Brotherhood of the Sacred Immortal Eight-Headed Serpent have one purpose and one purpose only, and that purpose is not to lift a finger to help our allies or to learn the very basics of social interaction. Now begone, mere mortal, before we harvest you for materials."
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@MMKII, I've condensed the plan and implemented some of @faflec's suggestions.

  • Find Jiraiya to discuss the assault (high-OPSEC conditions, include siblings).
    • Jiraiya probably thought about most of it, but in case he missed any...
    • Run non-secret ideas by Keiko/Noburi first. Test reverse-summoning with chakra water (immediately).
  • Strikeforce equipment:
    • Distribute seals from your loadout.
      • Give everyone tons of explosives, and Banshee Slayers + Earbusters/Banshee Fuckers.
        • Sonic damage seems rare, hard to counter. Spam it?
      • For Jiraiya: Implosion Seals, Directional Explosives, Goo Bombs.
      • Equip Leaf contingent with Skywalkers.
        • Zabuza surely informed Mist, and Akatsuki could've reverse-engineered them. Reveal them, equip Kages?
    • You'll draw more seals, but probably can't learn new ones (concussion).
  • Strategy:
    • Wakahisa Exploitation:
      • Can Keiko can transfer chakra water to the Seventh Path? If yes, Team Uplift should stay in Mist and get Wakahisa Clan's cooperation. They'll supply chakra barrels, which Keiko will transfer to Jiraiya (or another summoner; an excuse to get other villages' intel on scrolls?).
        • Possibility of harmful bloodline/summoning interactions?
        • If impossible, the strikeforce should take several Wakahisa and chuunin along as chakra batteries (leave them in the rear).
        • Equip some combatants with chakra water bottles.
      • Per above, the strikeforce will get effectively unlimited chakra. Before battle, summoners should summon entire armies, and others should create dozens of clones (equipped with seals).
        • Result: overwhelming numbers advantage.
    • Pangolins:
      • Keiko could get chakra from Noburi/Wakahisa and send her Pangolins along. They can focus on mooks, tank some hits, and support the strikeforce with Maneuvers or buffing ninjutsu (Defend the Log).
      • Warning: Pandaa previously stated that Akatsuki's "dragon" resembled an archaeopteryx, which are Pantokrator's servants. Pangolins are very religious — unlike other summons? — so this might cause a loyalty problem.
    • It's a trap?:
      • Team Bloodrage was suspiciously incompetent and attention-grabbing, given Akatsuki's overall competency. Why do we trust their intel?
      • Possibility: Nagi Island is a trap for the desperate EN. Goal: assassinate villages' leadership via a WMD, or draw S-rankers away then destroy villages.
      • Stay ready to escape to the Seventh Path.
        • Summon the smallest toad to keep on person. On a signal, it desummons, then reverse-summons Jiraiya.
    • Backup plan:
      • Itachi's relationship with the Crows is strained: he'd apparently slaughtered one of their political factions.
      • Pantsaa had implied he'd be able to drag Keiko to the Seventh Path if she betrayed him.
      • If true, Jiraiya could assemble a team of summoners, negotiate with/attack the Crows, have Karanium summon Itachi into an ambush.
        • Could also work with Kisame's Sharks.
      • Contact Orochimaru/Tsunade via Seventh Path?
    • Mention Kagome's information. May be relevant?
  • To Jiraiya: If you don't come back but Naruto finds his way home, we'll take good care of him. You owe us one massive victory party, one wedding and one awesome adopted brother, so don't you fucking dare die on us, sir.
    • Hug him.
  • Follow Jiraiya's orders.
 
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Lailoken said:
Mention. Hana.
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Can't we just get her express delivered with our Konoha Prime subscription when we need her?

(Yes, we have Konoha Prime. What do you think our allowance is used for?)

Noumero said:
@MMKII, I've condensed the plan and implemented some of @faflec's suggestions.

  • Find Jiraiya to discuss the assault (high-OPSEC conditions, include siblings).
    • Jiraiya probably thought about most of it, but in case he missed any...
    • Run non-secret ideas by Keiko/Noburi first. Test reverse-summoning with chakra water (immediately).
  • Strikeforce equipment:
    • Distribute seals from your loadout.
      • Give everyone tons of explosives, and Banshee Slayers + Earbusters/Banshee Fuckers.
        • Sonic damage seems rare, hard to counter. Spam it?
      • For Jiraiya: Implosion Seals, Directional Explosives, Goo Bombs.
      • Equip Leaf contingent with Skywalkers.
        • Zabuza surely informed Mist, and Akatsuki could've reverse-engineered them. Reveal them, equip Kages?
    • You'll draw more seals, but probably can't learn new ones (concussion).
  • Strategy:
    • Wakahisa Exploitation:
      • Can Keiko can transfer chakra water to the Seventh Path? If yes, Team Uplift should stay in Mist and get Wakahisa Clan's cooperation. They'll supply chakra barrels, which Keiko will transfer to Jiraiya (or another summoner; an excuse to get other villages' intel on scrolls?).
        • Possibility of harmful bloodline/summoning interactions?
        • If impossible, the strikeforce should take several Wakahisa and chuunin along as chakra batteries (leave them in the rear).
        • Equip some combatants with chakra water bottles.
      • Per above, the strikeforce will get effectively unlimited chakra. Before battle, summoners should summon entire armies, and others should create dozens of clones (equipped with seals).
        • Result: overwhelming numbers advantage.
    • Pangolins:
      • Keiko could get chakra from Noburi/Wakahisa and send her Pangolins along. They can focus on mooks, tank some hits, and support the strikeforce with Maneuvers or buffing ninjutsu (Defend the Log).
      • Warning: Pandaa previously stated that Akatsuki's "dragon" resembled an archaeopteryx, which are Pantokrator's servants. Pangolins are very religious — unlike other summons? — so this might cause a loyalty problem.
    • It's a trap?:
      • Team Bloodrage was suspiciously incompetent and attention-grabbing, given Akatsuki's overall competency. Why do we trust their intel?
      • Possibility: Nagi Island is a trap for the desperate EN. Goal: assassinate villages' leadership via a WMD, or draw S-rankers away then destroy villages.
      • Stay ready to escape to the Seventh Path.
        • Summon the smallest toad to keep on person. On a signal, it desummons, then reverse-summons Jiraiya.
    • Backup plan:
      • Itachi's relationship with the Crows is strained: he'd apparently slaughtered one of their political factions.
      • Pantsaa had implied he'd be able to drag Keiko to the Seventh Path if she betrayed him.
      • If true, Jiraiya could assemble a team of summoners, negotiate with/attack the Crows, have Karanium summon Itachi into an ambush.
        • Could also work with Kisame's Sharks.
      • Contact Orochimaru/Tsunade via Seventh Path?
    • Mention Kagome's information. May be relevant?
  • To Jiraiya: If you don't come back but Naruto finds his way home, we'll take good care of him. You owe us one massive victory party, one wedding and one awesome adopted brother, so don't you fucking dare die on us, sir.
    • Hug him.
  • Follow Jiraiya's orders.
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Thanks.



For those concerned about the Pangolin Guard portion, the point is that Defend the Log is bullshit and can be used to buff J ridiculously. Other Pangolins sent along for the ride are just to enable this.
 
Perhaps I have been insufficiently emphatic. I will vote, yes actually personally vote, for the first plan to include something along the lines of:

"Hey boss, ya know how everybody's going to be in waaay over our heads without you? Ya know who is literally the only person who has both a proven interest in my wellbeing and also the formal chops to handle a High Clan showdown during a succession crisis? -by the way, her generous advice was the only reason I was able to pull off that Zabuza stunt. Anyway, the hat isn't hereditary, so if you and Ren don't reinstate her now that loyal skill is lost forever. Now that I know her jounin-button and have the authority to curb her trust me to do it. It will be easy-mode compared to what else you just asked of me."​
 
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faflec said:
Isn't DTL limited to the same Zone the Pangolin casts it on?
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Melee. But yes. It'll be a one-off thing during the alpha strike, but something like +27 to J's [Damaging skill] for level 80-ish is +9 shifts. It's 14 to kill. Taking out one target would be a very big deal in a fight like that.
 
Cariyaga said:
Melee. But yes. It'll be a one-off thing during the alpha strike, but something like +27 to J's [Damaging skill] for level 80-ish is +9 shifts. It's 14 to kill. Taking out one target would be a very big deal in a fight like that.
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It would require the Pangolin to be in the same Zone, which limits it to Ranged Weapons users and makes them take their actions later in the queue (to get the boost). Unless you are proposing that the Pangolin has the Athletics and/or Alertness skill to keep up with S-rankers.
 
faflec said:
It would require the Pangolin to be in the same Zone, which limits it to Ranged Weapons users and makes them take their actions later in the queue (to get the boost). Unless you are proposing that the Pangolin has the Athletics and/or Alertness skill to keep up with S-rankers.
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Hm. @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail Can I ask if that's intended? That it's melee-with-the-Pangolin-only and only works so long as they remain there?

e: I ask because its area used to be fairly sizable.
 
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