Ebisu shrugged. "I try to maintain a realistic assessment of the world. I'm a mediocre field ninja but the best trainer of my generation. It makes no sense to have a home-front ninja be a Summoner, so that's out. I have more money than I know what to do with—shoot, I give most of it away—so getting debts paid off or taxes refunded isn't really a big deal. I love what I do and I hate dealing with bullshit paperwork, so managing a huge estate or being on the Council or head of a new clan has less than zero interest for me. Beyond that, no single ninja is going to win this on his own when competing against entire clans, so taking the credit myself doesn't matter. I have no need to put something in just to show the Will of Fire; my entire life is the Will of Fire. I set aside personal glory years ago and devoted myself to a life of service; I have achieved riches and respect for that, but not glory. You, on the other hand, desperately need to earn your place in Leaf and the respect of your peers. This will help, and of course I will help you achieve that; you demonstrated the Will of Fire by opening my eyes to a better way to serve."
EBISU: You were right, kid. Here, let's lift up the clanless to become our rightful brothers and sisters in full. Also, your clan is new but earnest, so have this idea for free
HAZOU: Wait, what?
EBISU: Cat got your tongue? Spit it out.
HAZOU: I'm... just not used to being listened to.
EBISU: Must've been a mouthy brat, kid.
HAZOU:
*thinks about all of Mari's tutorship*
HAZOU: Once, yeah. Now I can spin it as earnesty.
"The children that I saw fry themselves were typically able to get through six or seven months before the damage became visible. The deaths were usually boys who decided that they were 'too awesome' to listen to the safety precautions put forth by their fuddy-duddy instructors and decided to teach themselves something 'cool' like tree-walking because they 'knew better' about what they could handle. They ended up rupturing their coils and dying. Girls have that problem less often because they tend to listen better. Their issue is typically overtraining and burning their coils. They end up crippled—sometimes paralyzed, sometimes palsied, sometimes brain-burned. Rarely dead, though that's hardly a mercy.
"Based on the little I know about your uncle, I doubt he'll be willing to change his mind until he sees evidence that he's wrong, which basically means until the girl is irreparably harmed. Fine. Maybe he's right about this girl, in which case Leaf will end up with a strong ninja and he can learn the lesson with his next student. Maybe he's wrong and she'll end up crippled, in which case he'll stop assuming he knows better. Risking one child is worth it if it keeps him from damaging others, but I strongly suggest you go back to giving her daily checkups. Under no circumstances should you allow him to take on additional non-graduated ninja students. Ever. If he wants to be able to teach children, have him come to me and I'll talk to him. If I decide that he's actually able to listen then I'll consider teaching him how to do it safely. If he takes on young students other than Yamamoto then I will report him to the Hokage. Understood?"
Okay, funnel funds to have her checked out by some medic nin --
good medic nin that don't hate the clanless, like Kabuto or Tsunade, or ones approved by those two --on the daily. Maybe we can talk to Tsunade? She doesn't hate us too much, right? We're trying to spread education and explore new ways of sanitation. All things she's literally made her life's mission. Maybe she's at least willing to hear us out.
A thing to consider: Mist did it this way for years and didn't have the explosive results that Leaf does when they try. Maybe Mist introduces their Academy students to chakra-training in a different way than Leaf does? Mist, for all its savagery under the Third Mizukage, would be practical enough to save their students' lives. I mean, Yugara wasn't Madara-insane, so he'd at least value the Academy students as a resource to cultivate. Maybe a few burnouts, but the fact that Mist had it so well-incorporated into their educational system implies that their introduction to chakra-training was, at least, safer than Leaf's --even if not
objectively safe.
"Good morning, Gaku," Hazō said, ducking into his office to find his secretary waiting."
"Good morning, sir," the older man said. "There is tea is in the storage seal. I have your morning briefing."
Hazō dropped into his chair with a sigh and unsealed the tea, pouring for himself and for Gaku. "Hit me."
So my dyslexia turned the first line to: "Good morning,
Haru," which threw me for a
biiit of a loop.
"Why, Noburi! Are you suggesting that I should authorize a mission to steal clan-secret fish from a very much more-or-less allied nation? I'm shocked. Shocked, I say."
Noburi laughed. "Oh, no sir. I'm sure you would never authorize such a thing. In fact, I'm sure you've never even heard of these fish at all, so how could you authorize it?" He paused for a moment, smiling. "Of course, everyone knows how impetuous Hazō is."
"Indeed," Asuma said, nodding sagely. "Terribly impetuous. Always rushing off, making dramatic speeches and insulting elite jōnin. That young man is wildly out of control. Probably get himself killed some day, but what can one do?" He shook his head in exaggerated sorrow. "It's not like I can keep watch over him every minute."
I like Asuma and Noburi. Asuma is quickly becoming one of my favorite characters in this quest, alongside Mari, Yuno, and
maybe Ino and Ami --depending on how they're further developed.
I wonder if that's what Asuma thinks of us... Actually, that's probably how the
world sees us. As either an impetuous child or a potential Hashirama reborn. If Hazou lives to see jonin, I can expect the other villages to have an
unusually large bounty on his head just because of this. Hell, some of the more proactive ones might've already done so.
"Hear me, my clansmen!" Hazō cried, projecting his voice as much as he could. "Hear me, people of the Gōketsu."
Insult the other clans:
check
Raise our moral high ground:
check
Set ourselves as Tsunade's spiritual successor:
check
Set ourselves as Ebisu's spiritual successor:
check
Paint target on our backs:
double check
Hm... Actually, I think the best way to handle the Honoka thing is to do a bit of research. Ask Ebisu where records on that kind of thing would be held, get permission to look at and share them with Kagome, and point out that X out of every Y ninja whom have gotten that kind of training has died.
Kagome doesn't respond well to arguments from authority, but he does respond well to arguments from logic or numbers.
I'd vote for a plan with this. I'd vote so hard for a plan for this. Maybe Kagome's doing something different --and by Wind and Flame, I hope he is --but the knowledge wouldn't hurt. Whether we spend a fate point for the info or we trust in Asuma, I'd vote for a plan that involves us getting that info.
