Voting is open for the next 13 hours, 36 minutes
Lifespan is tricky. If the whole population has long lifespans. Then does it also take longer to consolidate absolute power?
Although 7path lifespans are uneven, some live long but others don't. Maybe within the pangolins, some have long lifespans while others have short.

And you mention a support base. Maybe Pantsa alone couldn't change xenophobia. Instead requiring Pantsa and his support base combined to do it.
 
Lifespan is tricky. If the whole population has long lifespans. Then does it also take longer to consolidate absolute power?
Although 7path lifespans are uneven, some live long but others don't. Maybe within the pangolins, some have long lifespans while others have short.

And you mention a support base. Maybe Pantsa alone couldn't change xenophobia. Instead requiring Pantsa and his support base combined to do it.
Shrug, you need a damn good excuse for allowing genocide on your watch and Pantsaa falls far short of that by any standard. He's a physical god in his territory. (Cannai can literally see lightning descend from the sky). He needs no careful politicking to build an unassailable coalition in Pangolin politics, and he's had plenty of time to do it without using his prowess as a tool.

The Condor genocide continues because of his indifference or malice. In the end, I don't think it matters much which of the two his primary motivation is. He shaped the Pangolins as they are, and he's had literal centuries to implement his preferred cultural changes.
 
i was wondering, how were Jiraiya and Orochimaru able to keep their respective research secret without being from a clan?
and i don't mean after being S-rankers, but when they were genin.
Was all that just pre-Kage Sarutobi and Tsunade covering for them when the clan heads got pushy or did they become world-famous researchers only when Hiruzen got the Hat/ they were able to say "make me" and have entire clans wet their pants?.
 
Lots of replies, trying to get to all of them in order.

That is exactly the problem with giving up FOOM. "Try to talk your Kage out of mass murder" isn't exactly...a good plan. Especially because he's emotionally motivated in killing Rock, and possibly the other villages. Add to that the fact that Asuma is probably among the better ninja in Leaf and we can see the problem with selling FOOM.



With what authority exactly? Asuma can just order to help the ninja he selects and no one can refuse the orders of the Hokage, especially if FOOM is not a clan secret, that is not.



What S-rankers?
Oro would be happy to have that much bodies. Naruto would probably back Asuma after the collapse. Tsunade doesn't care enough to oppose as the War meeting shows. And we are not S-rankers. More importantly, if he has FOOM, he decides who gets to be S-ranker/EJonin.

EDIT: If you mean us, it means we are strong enough to force Leaf to follow our policies and therefore selling FOOM is useless, because we already reached our objective regarding Leaf. It's just selling FOOM for the sake of selling FOOM.

Seeing returns on FOOM takes enough time that FOOM!Asuma won't be a problem since our immediate team started FOOMing sooner.

We have to share the secrets of FOOM or we can't use it on other people we want to train (I don't think we can bluff our way passed Asuma if he starts asking why we want to teach so many people SC). The Tower holds the authority behind who does and who does not get to learn SC which no one can FOOM without.

The problem is that in a world like MfD these people don't necessarily exist. Uplift-aligned people aren't really a thing outside of Hazou and a few close followers. Closest thing is Rock Lee, which has its own problems........

I don't think we have a single good candidate right now. Look at Haru. He's a strong ninja, but his version of Uplift is not aligned with Hazou's. We can raise academy students to follow Uplift, or we can trust people of dubious utility function. Those are pretty much the options right now.

I'm in favor of raising academy students to follow Uplift because... shouldn't we be doing that anyway? Honoka is the poster child for our ability to turn otherwise unremarkable students into "overlooked prodigies". Would you be alright with Honoka having additional training to prepare her for SC so that she can FOOM as soon as possible?

I don't want Uplift to die with Hazou if the worst was to come to pass. Slowly subverting (or more palatably, arguing that the Will of Fire taken to its logical conclusions results in Uplift (that does tie in neatly with our assimilation by Leaf though...)) the Will of Fire to promote Uplift should be one of our long term goals.

You declared FOOM a clan secret. She is legally obligated not to share it. EDIT: It's complicated. See subsequent discussion.

I am confused. The thread since this post does not seem to come to a definitive conclusion whether or not that Kei has told the Nara about FOOM. If it would not give us too much OOC knowledge, could you clarify Kei's position as a member of the Nara who knows about our maybe-not-technically-a-clan-secret training regimen and how likely she would be to tell them about FOOM because of its nebulous status?

The idea that Kei would actively defect this hard from uplift is laughable

With how self sacrificing Hazou can be I can totally see Kei spilling some of Hazou's self-proclaimed clan secrets if he has mental episode that could (from her point of view) possibly have been caused by raising his resolve too high above his other stats.

There are some extreme situations where she would act in his best personal interest over honoring his previous wishes because she would not want Hazou to die or become braindead. She's more loyal to Hazou as a person than to his wants and desires and Hazou can't discipline her as her clan head because she's a Nara now.

According to Kagome the only scorch squads capable of detecting said civilians are the Leaf ones, and they use that to just kill said children instead of the whole settlement.

With the small number of people who are capable of Shadow Clone in the first place, I don't think there would be enough people for this kind of controlled trial, let alone Shadow Clone-capable ninja who are also not needed in the field. (I also do not think that 'give Shadow Clone to a bunch more people' would go over well as a solution to this problem)

But moreover, this controlled trial would have much the same dynamics as our own: at first FOOM would look unimpressive, then after about a year of training they've broken even and the results start looking interesting, and then a detour later it's clear that FOOM is impressive. The trouble is that those are the same benchmarks we've got, and by the time our controlled experiment would start to look compelling we'd already be S-Rankers flexing our FOOM-gained strength and that would be all the argument we'd need.

Personally, here's how I would go about introducing FOOM to Leaf's jounin: we can expect that Leaf is incapable of leaving too many of its jounin off-duty at a time, since jounin missions need to get done, but what slack Leaf does have can be made use of. Starting from the peak, take the strongest Jounin (including Asuma and other S-Rankers not named Orochimaru) and give it to them (note that they are also the ones with the best gains from FOOM as compared to ordinary Jounin) until Leaf runs out of slack (i.e. enough Jounin are tied up FOOMing that Leaf can't afford to spare any more hands on deck), then wait until some of that slack returns (it should be noted that post-FOOMing a given ninja will be significantly better at what they do, theoretically creating more slack to work with) and spread FOOM down the chain to the next most capable ninja. Extra provisions can also be made for ninja like Sasuke who are obviously very talented but who have not yet reached Jounin, as someone like him would be a very cost-effective choice to FOOM. Within a few years Leaf should have a solid handful more EJounin and therefore enough wiggle room to spread FOOM to every Shadow Clone user in Leaf, and then spreading FOOM will have been optimally accomplished.

For the record and context, I do not expect my personal FOOM spreading plans to fundamentally change the power dynamics in the Elemental Nations for at least a decade IC.

Maybe we can go even farther back and look for more academy washouts for us to mentor like how we did with Honoka. As a part of their instruction we can include training to prepare them for learning SC as soon as they graduate. Once they have met the requirements we can then divide them into the three groups I described previously for convincing Asuma while our team still FOOMs quietly.

We will still need Asuma's permission to teach these students SC but he should be much more amenable to taking a long shot on a bunch of kids who were not going to become ninja without our meddling in the first place (and as as long as we can prove our training will not harm the kids).

Once the first batch of kids show results by FOOMing we can finagle our way to restructuring Leaf's academy to teach Uplift combined with the Will of Fire as part of the curriculum. That's when mass production of Uplift Leaf FOOM soldiers begins and once we have enough graduates we can spread Uplift farther and farther.

AGrEE About KEi M@RrRI. DISZAGrEe AboutTakingTimeOFF DuringDoubleWar MoreThanWeHave.

I don't consider it time wasted so long as it helps Hazou become healthy sooner rather than continue on not-strictly-necessary-for-survival projects.
 
There's been some discussion in Discord about how people think it was dumb for the Sage Mode conversation to happen in front of the family instead of only in front of Team Uplift. There was nothing in the plan either way so I made the choice of "they are trying to act like family and include these people" but if that's not actually where the wind blows then I'm happy to retcon that. Quick poll:

  • [SageMode] Keep it to a subset of Team Uplift only. (Hazō, Noburi, Keiko, Mari, Akane)
  • [SageMode] Keep it to full Team Uplift only. (Hazō, Noburi, Keiko, Mari, Akane, Kagome)
  • [SageMode] These people are family. Let's treat them as such. (All Gōketsu ninja including Haru, Atomu, Rei, etc)
  • [SageMode] Write in the names of the Gōketsu you want to have at the table for this conversation.
Voting ends tomorrow (Tuesday) at noon Eastern.

I am conflicted. I want to vote for the third option because I want to see the reactions of our clan at large learning about a path to legendary power and I have no idea how it will unfold. However, I made a promise not to vote for things just because I wanted to see how they would turn out due to a certain incident.

[X] [SageMode] Keep it to full Team Uplift only. (Hazō, Noburi, Keiko, Mari, Akane, Kagome)

Strict OPSEC for now. We always can tell our clan about it once we know more about how it works and when we have a better idea of just how dangerous learning Sage stuff can be.
 
_The_Bomb: Asuma definitely knew about Mari's mental state.
I'm not convinced of that. Mari's mental state is a massive weakness that she and we have every reason to conceal. The only ones outside the clan who explicitly knew are Tsunade, Ami, Hana, and maybe Neira. Assuming they didn't tell (and there are various individual reasons why they wouldn't/couldn't), how exactly would it be visible? Besides her being out of the picture for a bit in the weeks leading up to BotG.
 
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Hurrah for my second ever plan! It's time to get back to the imporant duty of preventing the Great Seal from causing a premature Game Over. The HOWS are great, but they only delay the inevitable. We need more levels to pull on if we want to actually solve this problem. As far as I can tell, our best avenues of getting that are by investigating 3D Sealing directly and by searching for more information on either 3D Sealing or the lore behind the Dragons. EagleJarl pointed out that we haven't actually tapped Sand as a knowledge source yet, so we'll start with them, our "allies" who are pretty much useless in terms of fighting and also completely dependent on us for food. As long as we have Asuma willing to pressure them, we have a really good chance of actually getting whatever relevant information they have. Who knows, we might even luck out and get some lore on The Five from their loremasters. This trip will take some time to set up, so it's good to start now.

I also think we should spend a scene checking in with Asuma regarding Orochimaru, Mari's recovery, and Kagome's summoner training. Scenes with Asuma are always fun.

What else? Oh yes, I offscreened some prepatory work that should come in handy once we start seriously pursuing Project Necromancy. It also gives us some added benefit of preventing casual OPSEC breaches by training the new Gōketsu in OPSEC (a prerequiste to including them in any discussion involving clan secrets or teaching them the Pangolin Jutsu) and gives us a secure place to talk about our TOP SECRET projects. I highly doubt we'll finish this project over the course of the update (unless Velorien decides to save Kei and Tenten's wedding for a later interlude and makes the chapter cover ten days instead of two), but we should be able to get the groundwork done. From there, it should be pretty easy to finish up by just throwing on an offscreen "continue building highOPSEC facility" to the next few updates.

Anyhow, please let me know if you think there's anything I should add or modify!

@eaglejarl @Velorien, is there anything I need to change about this plan? I'm still not entirely sure I'm doing this all right.


[ ] Action Plan: Fighting Back Against Existential Threats

Word Count: 286

Sanity check with Kei and Mari.
  • Meet with Asuma:
    • Orochimaru situation is hopefully resolved, for now.
      • Mari is still reeling from the psychic attack
      • She needs [a few days to a week] of recovery time before deployment
    • Kagome is currenly reviewing Summoner Training materials
      • When can official training begin?
      • Can we help?
    • (see DRAGONWAR)
  • DRAGONWAR
    • Begin Researching 3D Sealing
      • Draw on insights from Leaf Sealmasters and Iron Nerve
      • Use Earthshaping to recreate and experiment with specific parts of the Great Seal
      • Focus experimentation on learning about 3D Sealing itself
        • leave the exact mechanics of the Great Seal for later
    • Aquiring More Information
      • Ask Asuma to send us with an official Leaf delegation to Sand (when it's feasible)
        • Probe Sand Sealmasters for information on 3D Sealing and other esoteric sealing disiplines
        • Probe loremasters for information on:
          • The Sage and his companions
          • The Dragons and other powerful entities sealed by the Sage
      • Have Noburi ask the Toads about Dragons
      • Ask Isolde how he originally defeated the Dragons
  • Attend Kei and Tenten's Commitment Ceremony
  • Gōketsu's Security (offscreen)
    • Have Mari train new Gōketsu in OPSEC
    • HighOPSEC Facility
      • Learn maximum Byakugan range from Shikamaru.
      • Create entrance (and emergency exit) in secure areas of Gōketsu compound where clan members can be seen entering without suspicion
      • Tunnel deep underground, beyond maximum Byakugan range
      • Set up highest-OPSEC secret facility per Kagome's and Kei's specifications (use purifiers for air, dig using tunneling jutsu, etc.), have Kagome design and implement information security (have AB seals permanently active)
    • Standard Operating Procedure
      • Never discuss this facility except under strictest OPSEC.
      • Clan meetings should occur in this facility whenever possible.
      • All discussion of Project Necromancy, FOOM, and Sage Mode may only occur in this facility.
      • Any materials related to said projects must be stored in this facility.
 
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How can we be most helpful in the war effort?
  • We can work more on strategy and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
    • If so, we'd appreciate having access to all the recovered intelligence.
    • Generally, the more information we have access to, the more creative plans we can create, and the better the chance that one of them is any good.
  • We can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
    • We're likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries.
    • We know the Arachnids personally
  • We can produce lots of skywalkers or skytowers.

I would update this to include proper names rather than relying on pronouns for clarity, like so:

How can the Goketsu be most helpful in the war effort?
  • Hazou can work more on strategy and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
    • If so, we'd appreciate having access to all the recovered intelligence.
    • Generally, the more information we have access to, the more creative plans we can create, and the better the chance that one of them is any good.
  • Hazou can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
    • He's likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries.
    • He knows the Arachnids personally
  • Our clan can produce lots of skywalkers or skytowers.
 
Updated my old plan with including Yuno's birthday if the QM's want to write it.

Reposting a previous plan for the new voting period since we are only weeks away from Hazou being fully healed.

[X] Action Plan: Rest, Relaxation, and Reading
  • Politely go home to sleep
    • Give orders only to be disturbed if the Hokage demands it or if Leaf is under attack
      • Use your best judgment, Gaku, for other situations
  • After 24 hours of recuperation have an open invitation for Akane and/or Ino to join Hazou whenever either are available for quiet dates
    • Hazou can't do anything too strenuous but spending time with both of them is important to him and he doesn't know when he might get another chance with the war going on
    • Keep the conversations relatively light, citing outstanding orders from the Hokage concerning general OPSEC
  • Request authorization from the Tower and from the Nara to read as many pertinent historical accounts and records of the previous world wars
    • Hazou needs IC knowledge so our pilot can prevent us from making "obvious" strategic and tactical mistakes in the war room and in the field
    • We frankly don't know what we don't know and we need to fix that
    • We don't need detailed histories, but some minor QM-deemed-relevant anecdotes would be nice
      • Why were they started, why did they stop, what did the victors get, that sort of strategic data
  • Basically, the overall idea of the update would be Hazou being cozy, cuddling with his girlfriends in front of a warm fire, reading to give his body time to heal while still being somewhat productive, and having some quality puppy play time throughout if our pilot would prefer that too
  • As a bonus scene, QM time and spoons permitting, have Yuno's birthday party included in the update.

New Word Count: 263
 
If anyone has any good ideas for a better code phrase or a specific meaning that needs to be encoded let me know and I'll add it. But we should really keep this list as short as possible.

The most elegant solution I've seen to this problem was Wildblow's, the author of Worm, traffic light system. Whenever two Undersiders (main characters) would meet during tense times they would include colored objects in their questions and replies. Whatever color the object was would convey the current wellbeing of the villain so complicated memorization was not needed.

Green objects meant all was well.
Yellow objects meant trouble was brewing, so caution and moving to a secure place to talk was needed but not immediately.
Red objects meant immediate danger and that the speaker needed prompt assistance.

It is incredibly hard to crack an abstract system like this from an outsider's perspective. Normal people are much more likely to focus on the type of bugs in a somewhat abnormal conversation rather than the color of those bugs being important:

"I haven't seen you both in so long! Did you manage to fall asleep with all of the grasshoppers chirping in the countryside?"
"Oh, it wasn't too bad. The fireflies lighting up the dark made up for it."
"Ladybugs are prettier."

I highly recommend copying this system for our own uses, possibly with the addition of black (or some other color) object terminology as a way to say, "There's no time to explain, follow me now, ask questions later."

More colors can be added but we'd sacrifice simplicity and therefore expedience every time we added another one.

As for the plan you posted, I would be happy to vote for it after Hazou has had more time to rest and if it included learning about ninja military strategy, tactics, logistics, etc. so Hazou can help with planning WWIV more effectively. The dragon debacle is still important and I like the ideas you have for addressing it. However, I'm uncomfortable with not knowing how much danger our characters are in since a world war was just declared and Leaf's position reminds me of Germany's when our WWI began.
 
DRAGONWAR
  • Begin Researching 3D Sealing
    • Draw on insights from Leaf Sealmasters and Iron Nerve
    • Use Earthshaping to recreate and experiment with specific parts of the Great Seal
    • Focus experimentation on learning about 3D Sealing itself
      • leave the exact mechanics of the Great Seal for later
Hazou's Consequences make this very difficult to say the least. Sealing is very dangerous, we don't want Hazou dying due to sealing failure from trying to replicate the GS in his current state.
Aquiring More Information
  • Ask Asuma to send us with an official Leaf delegation to Sand (when it's feasible)
    • Probe Sand Sealmasters for information on 3D Sealing and other esoteric sealing disiplines
    • Probe loremasters for information on:
      • The Sage and his companions
      • The Dragons and other powerful entities sealed by the Sage
Again unless (when it's feasible) is after Hazou's Consequences heal, in which case I don't want to timeskip that long, this is extraordinarily dangerous. Hostile territory, crippled chunin, with a Summoning Scroll. That's a tempting target for our ostensible "allies".
It is incredibly hard to crack an abstract system like this from an outsider's perspective. Normal people are much more likely to focus on the type of bugs in a somewhat abnormal conversation rather than the color of those bugs being important:

"I haven't seen you both in so long! Did you manage to fall asleep with all of the grasshoppers chirping in the countryside?"
"Oh, it wasn't too bad. The fireflies lighting up the dark made up for it."
"Ladybugs are prettier."

I highly recommend copying this system for our own uses, possibly with the addition of black (or some other color) object terminology as a way to say, "There's no time to explain, follow me now, ask questions later."

More colors can be added but we'd sacrifice simplicity and therefore expedience every time we added another one.
Besides justifying the implementation of a system based on traffic lights in the 11th century EN. I'd say this is below the level of abstraction we need to worry about, Hazou and co went to ninja school, they can think up their own codes.
 
Besides justifying the implementation of a system based on traffic lights in the 11th century EN. I'd say this is below the level of abstraction we need to worry about, Hazou and co went to ninja school, they can think up their own codes.

Derp, I knew I was forgetting something that would prevent us from copying it perfectly.

As for your second point, Watsonian yes, Hazou and co have the ability to figure codes on their own. Doylist disagree: we can save the QM's spoons by doing this ourselves.

Maybe we can find colors that will work for our characters based on something abstract they would associate those colors with, like emotions or maybe heat? Cold/blue could mean trouble since we're in Leaf and the Will of Fire is a thing so orange or warm colors would be associated with safety (but this might be awkward since Snowflake exists, hmmm). Heck, we could have burnt objects convey, "Oops, I think I might have treasoned. Please help."

I think we can solve this without making the QMs effectively do it for us. By doing it ourselves and making it easier for the QMs to implement we can ensure we know when our characters use their code terminology.
 
drip...drip......drip..drip...drip
I love this. So simple a way to convey timing and mood. Great writing.

[x] [SageMode] These people are family. Let's treat them as such. (All Gōketsu ninja including Haru, Atomu, Rei, etc)

How would it handle a last stand where the player knows they're doomed, but they get themselves killed holding off a superior foe to buy time for other people who aren't immortal?
I think we can generalize this to any situation where the definition of winning isn't primarily about survival. We can split it around offensive and defensive, where you already gave the defense "final stand" where winning is stopping your friends from dying and personal death is expected. Offensively, we could have a situation where destroy an object or kill a person that's inside a compound of enemies. Death is almost guaranteed, but winning is about accomplishing the objective.

I'm sure there are other ways to think about it as well, aside from
offensive-defensive.

I'm in another quest
Link? Sounds interesting.

This model cannot explain why any village would choose to detonate a nuke or cause a Collapse.
State base economic resources (from taxes and such) benefit from a larger tax base. Absorbing another states tax base is more easily accomplished when the government of that state is dead (from the nuke/collapse). Same with acquisition of luxuries.
 
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Seeing returns on FOOM takes enough time that FOOM!Asuma won't be a problem since our immediate team started FOOMing sooner.

We have to share the secrets of FOOM or we can't use it on other people we want to train (I don't think we can bluff our way passed Asuma if he starts asking why we want to teach so many people SC). The Tower holds the authority behind who does and who does not get to learn SC which no one can FOOM without.

FOOM doesn't work like that. How much time you're FOOMing is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is SC level, Resolve and Chakra. Meaning he would reach the FOOM upgrades faster than we do, from more people, ect....

And no, we don't need to share the secrets of FOOM. Shadow Clone is objectively an extremely powerful jutsu, so it make sense we would teach it to our pupils, the real problem is political capital, but by the time we'll want to teach FOOM to other people, we'll all be extremely influential people in Leaf with more than enough political capital to decide who gets Shadow Clone.


[X] Action Plan: Being Useful, and Being Kind
Word Count: 186
  • Meet with Asuma:
    • Orochimaru situation is hopefully resolved, for now.
    • How can we be most helpful in the war effort?
      • We can work more on strategy and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
        • If so, we'd appreciate having access to all the recovered intelligence.
        • Generally, the more information we have access to, the more creative plans we can create, and the better the chance that one of them is any good.
      • We can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
        • We're likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries.
        • We know the Arachnids personally
      • We can produce lots of skywalkers or skytowers.
  • Spend some time with Ino and Akane:
    • See how they're doing, especially with the war.
    • Be supportive, but also let yourself be supported.
  • Attend Kei and Tenten's Commitment Ceremony:
    • Ask the Arachnids or the Dogs if they know any especially pointy objects that you can bring as a gift.
  • (offscreen) misc:
    • Arrange a birthday gift for Akane.
      • Have the clan members paint flowerpots for her garden with designs of their choosing, possibly things that remind them of her.
      • Follow strict OPSEC.



Since we don't have a plan yet, figured I'd put something up that moves the plot forwards on a couple axes. Feedback very much appreciated! Well below word count currently, so there's lots of room to flesh things out.

Would you be willing to add "Send a messenger to the Hornet asking for the Scroll"? I also really want to do something with the Mareo plotline,but i imagine that would need to be an ad-hoc plan, so i don't if there is space.
 
We have to share the secrets of FOOM or we can't use it on other people we want to train (I don't think we can bluff our way passed Asuma if he starts asking why we want to teach so many people SC). The Tower holds the authority behind who does and who does not get to learn SC which no one can FOOM without.
First thing we want to keep the people who are FOOMing to people who are personally loyal to us. Which is a small number. Secondly we are already having to hide our training so there is no reason why we couldn't hide teaching people SC. Plus ultimately the point of FOOM is to not be beholden to Asuma any way
 
I must be tired because I do not understand the implication here.
The implication is that Ma and Pa made Noburi think they were letting a hint to Sage Mode slip, encouraging him to bribe them lots ever an extended period of time so they'd eventually share Sage Mode, when Sage Mode does not exist or is useless to him.

Hypothesis 2: Survival pressures are actually fairly light – most states can survive with deeply suboptimal military arrangements so long as they can maintain political stability. Prioritization of political stability in weak autocracies drives distributional statebuilding and war goals.

Basically: None of the villages really fear for their life, every village state is a money pinata for the clans, and weak dictators means that all the Kage are buying clan loyalty/effort with cash.

We assume that one way or another the vast supermajority of effective political power is concentrated in the clans or other key decisionmakers in each village. We then assume that if a Kage fails to deliver sufficient bribes or displease the clans or Organizations enough, Kages can be forced to alter their policies or be outright replaced.

We make a further simplification that there is only one real good that a Kage can deliver, which is state resources. State resources can be accumulated in several ways; legal, pecuniary, or military, but we'll collapse them all into "state resources" to make the logic simple.

Each Kage is selected as a representative of their clan and has total control over state resources. However, to stay in power, they must assemble a sufficiently broad coalition to keep the rest of the clans in line. To do that without bankrupting their own clan, the Kages must distribute state resources. Since a Kage candidate would not be picked by their own clan without favoring their own clan, there is an implicit own clan favoritism, and an explicit alliance clan favoritism with state resources.

Clans that did not support the leadership bid will naturally receive some amount of resources from the Kage, but it will be less than if they had supported the Kage to begin with.

Thus the implicit bargain is struck; the Kage gets to rule the state if and only if they can keep their support base placated with sufficient state resources.

Under this logic, the reason most states will go to war with each other is fairly simple – the more resources you can win in the aftermath of a war, the more resources you as a Kage have to placate your component clans, and thus the more comfortable your own political situation.

(We should note that this model does not, strictly speaking, require transfers of power, but the absence of such, ahem, """willing""" transfers of power is probably a bad sign for this hypothesis.)

Consequences of Hypothesis 2:

Different from Hypothesis 1, enemy ninja will prioritize luxury items first, taxation and daimyo loyalties second, enemy ninja third, and burning down fields or other infrastructural sabotage as a distant fourth (extra effort and risking death for a purely destructive purpose).

This model cannot explain why any village would choose to detonate a nuke or cause a Collapse.

Second order implication: the lack of optimization pressures means that this war might actually be a lot closer than it might at first appear, precisely because lack of optimization pressures means that there's a good chance that military-enhancing optimizations are readily available so long as the political will exists to seize them. The Nara may in fact be sitting on many of them.

So this whole thing is based on all the major villages feeling basically no selection pressure, no real threat to their survival. One possible explanation is hidden collaboration between the Five Thinker Clans to kill and systematically defang everybody not in the Five Thinker Alliance System while guaranteeing the survival of the villages that the Five are attached to.
@eaglejarl, @Velorien, @OliWhail, thoughts?
This model suffers from similar issues to the first one, namely contradicting information that has been explicitly shown--in this case, that Kage are usually S-rankers who rule through raw personal power as much as political influence. They are capable of crushing coups single-handedly. Circumstances like Ren's are exceptional.

I am confused. The thread since this post does not seem to come to a definitive conclusion whether or not that Kei has told the Nara about FOOM. If it would not give us too much OOC knowledge, could you clarify Kei's position as a member of the Nara who knows about our maybe-not-technically-a-clan-secret training regimen and how likely she would be to tell them about FOOM because of its nebulous status?
In short, HDK. The determining factors are whether she wants to and whether she thinks she can get away with it, both things only Kei knows. If she was a random genin whose intent was to sell your secrets for a reward, but who knew you could and would execute her on the spot, it would be one thing, but her position is a lot harder to read for all sorts of reasons.

  • Tunnel deep underground, beyond maximum Byakugan range
  • Set up highest-OPSEC secret facility per Kagome's and Kei's specifications (use purifiers for air, dig using tunneling jutsu, etc.), have Kagome design and implement information security (have AB seals permanently active)
I think you should step back and consider this process in more depth, as you gravely underestimate how difficult it would be.
 
I think we can solve this without making the QMs effectively do it for us. By doing it ourselves and making it easier for the QMs to implement we can ensure we know when our characters use their code terminology.
Wouldn't it be easier for the QMs if we don't specify what the codes are? Then the QMs don't have to memorize the codes themselves or hunt down a specific post explaining them. Instead, the QMs can just remember that such codes exist, and make up something that suits the current conversation. This way they also don't have to try and work a specific word/phrase into the conversation, they can instead just make part of the conversation sound plausibly like a code and then explain in the text that yes it is in fact a code for X.
 
I love this. So simple a way to convey timing and mood. Great writing
Thank you. :>
How much time you're FOOMing is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is SC level, Resolve and Chakra.
Your base XP level and time spent also matter, surely? Someone FOOMing for a year at a base rate of 2XP/day still gets farther then someone FOOMing for a week at 5 XP/day.

The implication is that Ma and Pa made Noburi think they were letting a hint to Sage Mode slip, encouraging him to bribe them lots ever an extended period of time so they'd eventually share Sage Mode, when Sage
@_The_Bomb Note that @Velorien was making a joke here. It might or might not be the case that Sage Mode exists but his comment above should not be considered a statement either way.
 
I recommend we delete this, since Hazou hasn't finished the research on making his own and revealing that he can make them for Kagome to infuse implies sealcopying.
Sure. Switched to "Hazou, Kagome, and Kagome's students can produce lots of valuable seals."
I think we should mention Summon Army 2.0 again. That's the version where we field deploy Noburi and he refills through the Seventh Path. That allows huge buildups of Summons pre-assault. It requires a second Wakahisa, but the war has now significantly increased in scope.
Added.
I would update this to include proper names rather than relying on pronouns for clarity, like so:

How can the Goketsu be most helpful in the war effort?
  • Hazou can work more on strategy and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
    • If so, we'd appreciate having access to all the recovered intelligence.
    • Generally, the more information we have access to, the more creative plans we can create, and the better the chance that one of them is any good.
  • Hazou can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
    • He's likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries.
    • He knows the Arachnids personally
  • Our clan can produce lots of skywalkers or skytowers.
Yep, updated.
Would you be willing to add "Send a messenger to the Hornet asking for the Scroll"? I also really want to do something with the Mareo plotline,but i imagine that would need to be an ad-hoc plan, so i don't if there is space.
Sure, in the (offscreen) misc. section.
  • Mari is still reeling from the psychic attack
  • She needs [a few days to a week] of recovery time before deployment
Good idea.

Plan updates:
[X] Action Plan: Being Useful, and Being Kind
Word Count: 285
  • Meet with Asuma:
    • Orochimaru situation is hopefully resolved, for now.
      • Mari can't be deployed for at least a week; she was strongly affected by Orochimaru's psychic attack.
      • Explain the situation in as much detail as he desires.
    • How can Hazou be most helpful in the war effort?
      • Can make more strategies and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
        • If so, access to all the recovered intelligence would be important.
        • Generally, the quantity of creative plans increases with the amount of Hazou's information access, improving the chance that one of them is any good.
      • Can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
        • Hazou is likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries, and knows the Arachnids personally
      • Hazou, Kagome, and Kagome's students can produce lots of valuable seals.
    • Reminder that if Mist joins the war on our side, a home-front Wakahisa can channel chakra through a summoner, then Noburi can retrieve that chakra from the Seventh Path and distribute it to summoners anywhere in the EN.
      • Allows a summoner to have all their summons out at once, and still fight at full capacity.
      • OPSEC concerns?
  • Spend some time with Ino and Akane:
    • See how they're doing, especially with the war.
    • Be supportive, but also let yourself be supported.
  • Attend Kei and Tenten's Commitment Ceremony:
    • Ask the Arachnids or the Dogs if they know any especially pointy objects that you can bring as a gift.
  • (offscreen) misc:
    • Arrange a birthday gift for Akane.
      • Have the clan members paint flowerpots for her garden with designs of their choosing, possibly things that remind them of her.
      • Follow strict OPSEC.
    • Ask the Arachnids to send a messenger to Hornet to ask them if they have a Scroll.
 
I lost track of who was pointing out that I had the "five, not six" error with the puppies, but it's fixed now. Thanks for catching it.
 
Ask the Arachnids to send a messenger to Hornet to ask them if they have a Scroll.
It actually makes more sense to ask Cannai to send a Dog, since Hornet and Dog territories are adjacent. Hazou could actually go talk to them himself if he contracted with that Dog.

I personally would love a scene where Hazou thanks the families/clan groups/whatever of the Hornets who have sacrificed themselves as bait for the Dragons. They really made a difference. Although obviously we should ask Cannai about the Hornets first, since they're neighbors he'll have a good idea of how they act.

EJ not the Sage confirmed?
 
Your base XP level and time spent also matter, surely? Someone FOOMing for a year at a base rate of 2XP/day still gets farther then someone FOOMing for a week at 5 XP/day.

Oh, right, Base XP too. Didn't think of it because generally all EJonins have better talent than "Above average, but not particulary talented" Uplift(Mari aside), but Base XP counts to.
The time spent, yes, but in practice the majority of Jonins have better Resolve than us because they have an headstart in training(By virtue of being older). There isn't a stunt that improves FOOM after you use it for...i don't know, 6 months/1 year/ect. So Asuma with his Resolve 60 would still get better XP than Hazou with his mediocre Resolve, even if Hazou has X Months using 15 clones a day.

Sure, in the (offscreen) misc. section.

IIRC the Hornet borders the Dogs and are really far from the Arachnids. Would you be willing to change the phrase to "Ask Arachnid/Dogs to...".

[X] Action Plan: Being Useful, and Being Kind
 
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It actually makes more sense to ask Cannai to send a Dog, since Hornet and Dog territories are adjacent. Hazou could actually go talk to them himself if he contracted with that Dog.

I personally would love a scene where Hazou thanks the families/clan groups/whatever of the Hornets who have sacrificed themselves as bait for the Dragons. They really made a difference. Although obviously we should ask Cannai about the Hornets first, since they're neighbors he'll have a good idea of how they act.
IIRC the Hornet borders the Dogs and are really far from the Arachnids. Would you be willing to change the phrase to "Ask Arachnid/Dogs to...".
I didn't remember that Hornet and Dog are adjacent, thanks for the catch. Updated:
[X] Action Plan: Being Useful, and Being Kind
Word Count: 296
  • Meet with Asuma:
    • Orochimaru situation is hopefully resolved, for now.
      • Mari can't be deployed for at least a week; she was strongly affected by Orochimaru's psychic attack.
      • Explain the situation in as much detail as he desires.
    • How can Hazou be most helpful in the war effort?
      • Can make more strategies and tactics like the assault on the fortress.
        • If so, access to all the recovered intelligence would be important.
        • Generally, the quantity of creative plans increases with the amount of Hazou's information access, improving the chance that one of them is any good.
      • Can train the candidate for the Arachnid Summoner
        • Hazou is likely the least useful Summoner in Leaf with our injuries, and knows the Arachnids personally
      • Hazou, Kagome, and Kagome's students can produce lots of valuable seals.
    • Reminder that if Mist joins the war on our side, a home-front Wakahisa can channel chakra through a summoner, then Noburi can retrieve that chakra from the Seventh Path and distribute it to summoners anywhere in the EN.
      • Allows a summoner to have all their summons out at once, and still fight at full capacity.
      • OPSEC concerns?
  • Spend some time with Ino and Akane:
    • See how they're doing, especially with the war.
    • Be supportive, but also let yourself be supported.
  • Attend Kei and Tenten's Commitment Ceremony:
    • Ask the Arachnids or the Dogs if they know any especially pointy objects that you can bring as a gift.
  • (offscreen) misc:
    • Arrange a birthday gift for Akane.
      • Have the clan members paint flowerpots for her garden with designs of their choosing, possibly things that remind them of her.
      • Follow strict OPSEC.
    • Ask Cannai to send a diplomat to Hornet to ask them if they have a Scroll.
      • Hazou would also like to personally thank the Hornets for their sacrifices.
 
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