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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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That was incredible, and very entertaining to read. My heart stopped at all the right places. And it resumed beating afterwards, for which I'm thankful.
However, I think no one is respecting Mari enough. Calling her a
eaglejarl said:
two inches wife
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really doesn't do her honour. She's so much more than- alright I'll shut up.
I was so on edge about the whole thing I didn't even consider it could be a test - I was freaking out with all manner of "oh no, our enemies/allies-about-to-do-a-face-heel-turn will kill us" thoughts
 
My opinion on Akane's training is that we should leave Alert alone for now. She'll beat most chuunin even if they go first and she will not beat a jonin's alert even with alert 49, and we can't go higher bc of pyramids. Kei needs Resolve -> 60 to make room for SC 50, and she'll need a 40, which will likely be Alertness, to prop up SC 50, so that's the objective for Snowflake.

[X] Training Akane: Survival Stats
Athletics 44 -> 49 (235 XP)
Substitution 20 -> 25 (115 XP)
Save 118 XP

[X] Training Kei: Snowflake Promise Progress
Resolve 50 -> 53 (156 XP)
Save 38 XP

I don't have a plan for Noburi right now, but we're in no rush with him bc no FOOM yet and bc he won't be deployed. I would like to up Sage Mode stats but his pyramid needs some adjusting first. I might try posting something later or tomorrow, idk.
 
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eaglejarl said:
a long wool scarf encircled his neck and wrapped over his head in lieu of a hat. The scarf was dyed purple and green
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A present from the monkey boss or from kurenai, place your bets.

Also, i really like how naturally he compliments our engineers on their project and the guardsmen dedication; most ninja wouldn't acknowledge civilians as capable of anything but dumb labor, and yet here is the hokage actually testing them and approving of what he finds.

He may lack in personal experience and power, but so far, he is my favorite figure of authority just behind cannai.
 
[X] Training Kei: Snowflake Promise Progress
[X] Training Akane: None

I want to have Akane go for the EM Nuke strat, except we also want to be talking to her about it since, well...EM nukes are best used against static targets and there's going to be a lot of collateral damage along the lines of innocent civilian casualties attached to it.
 
faflec said:
[X] Training Kei: Snowflake Promise Progress
[X] Training Akane: None

I want to have Akane go for the EM Nuke strat, except we also want to be talking to her about it since, well...EM nukes are best used against static targets and there's going to be a lot of collateral damage along the lines of innocent civilian casualties attached to it.
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She's still at least 150 XP out from that, but fair enough. You're (seemingly) more concerned with her death than most of us, so I'm somewhat surprised you're less vested in giving her more survival assurance
 
Shrooms said:
She's still at least 150 XP out from that, but fair enough. You're (seemingly) more concerned with her death than most of us, so I'm somewhat surprised you're less vested in giving her more survival assurance
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If Akane has EM nukage she is suddenly a VIP and isn't going to be going anywhere without gigatons of meatshields.
 
faflec said:
I want to have Akane go for the EM Nuke strat, except we also want to be talking to her about it since, well...EM nukes are best used against static targets and there's going to be a lot of collateral damage along the lines of innocent civilian casualties attached to it.
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I would say the main priorities are excessive secrecy and maintaining discretion in its use. I'm not sure deducing that it's Elemental Mastery is feasible from the jutsu outcome, and its use in the war can be mostly constrained to threats without losing effectiveness. But Byakugan might be able to see it being cast even if done behind a veil, and Sharingan could feasibly even copy it.

Hazō: We want to do a big mission. You'll agree with the objective, but for Nara-approved clan secrecy and village safety reasons we want the details secret.
Hokage: Nara, confirm?
Shikamaru: Yes. We don't know the details either but this falls under known contingencies that necessitate its secrecy.
Gōketsu: Goes on secret missions for a couple of weeks.
Rock: Mysteriously land-locked by unnatural disasters.
Hokage: Was this you?
Hazō:
Hokage: ??
Hazō:
Hokage: Fine, here's a bodyguard and some social credit.
Hazō: Hush hush

Or something like that. (I might be making unwise plot suggestions because I happen to want my nuke.)
 
faflec said:
RADVIC: o.o

Fair enough, I guess, though if Iwa manages to pull another rabbit out of their hat and gets the Minor Nation Alliance against us...
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Right, the idea is that we get access to EM nukes so that we have them on-hand if we really need them, but then don't use them until and unless we really need them. Perhaps a good rule of thumb can be 'only use it if Akane agrees that the need is great enough'.
 
Paperclipped said:
The QMs can also decide by fiat whether or not it was a substantial enough endeavor to merit the uncap.

The way I see it, the thing we want is not a roll, but substance and stakes. Rolling the skill might indicate that there's importance and a chance of failure, but the act of rolling the dice is downstream of the actual important "you need to do challenging things if you want to improve".

As to why bother uncapping and leveling: Characterization, perhaps? The anticipation that the skills may be used in the next encounter, even if they weren't rolled in this one? I agree that social skills could stand to be rolled more, if that's what you're implying.
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I don't really like rolling social skills as a thing in any system, but I would argue that having them higher makes for more compelling arguments, etc.

That was a beautiful chapter, I loved it.
 
Prototype section to motivate EM training, if this is a thing that is decided to be done. I know we don't technically need it, but logically we should have a reason for this, and prepare so as not to commit suicide.
  • Plot hook: Akane asks about EM snow at very low temperatures
    • Do only if seen
    • Observe:
      • Snow evaporates, doesn't melt
        • (it's a frozen gas)
      • Put in box, heat, add animal, it dies
        • (only a part of the air has frozen)
      • After initial cast, snow comes from the jutsu shell
        • (it's not just the gas initially in the zone)
      • Snow formation slows over time, persists between casts, but never stops
        • (it's diluting the resource concentration)
      • Measure a piece's evaporated volume, compare to quantity of snow produced
        • Measure via balloon or water displacement
        • (total deposit ≫ initial zone)
    • Thoughts:
      • Effect if all air froze eventually?
    • Security:
      • Hazō + Akane secret only
      • Could be dangerous, train with positive temperatures or on underwater zones with limited air
      • Use jutsu sparingly, don't show extreme temperature deltas publically
Note: My very rough guess is you'd make <10t of dry ice, or a <2×2×2m cube solid dry ice, or a <5×5×5m cube of loose dry ice snow, over the course of a 200 minutes cast in still air. Wind would increase this significantly. I don't have good evidence for this number and would prefer someone actually did the differential equations. This compares to 300kg of gas in a 5m radius hemisphere.
 
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Veedrac said:
Prototype section to motivate EM training, if this is a thing that is decided to be done. I know we don't technically need it, but logically we should have a reason for this, and prepare so as not to commit suicide.
  • Plot hook: Akane asks about EM snow at very low temperatures
    • Do only if seen
    • Observe:
      • Snow evaporates, doesn't melt
        • (it's a frozen gas)
      • Put in box, heat, add animal, it dies
        • (only a part of the air has frozen)
      • After initial cast, snow comes from the jutsu shell
        • (it's not just the gas initially in the zone)
      • Snow formation slows over time, persists between casts, but never stops
        • (it's diluting the resource concentration)
      • Measure a piece's evaporated volume, compare to quantity of snow produced
        • Measure via balloon or water displacement
        • (total deposit ≫ initial zone)
    • Thoughts:
      • Effect if all air froze eventually?
    • Security:
      • Hazō + Akane secret only
      • Could be dangerous, train with positive temperatures or on underwater zones with limited air
      • Use jutsu sparingly, don't show extreme temperature deltas publically
Note: My very rough guess is you'd make <10t of dry ice, or a <2×2×2m cube solid dry ice, or a <5×5×5m cube of loose dry ice snow, over the course of a 200 minutes cast in still air. Wind would increase this significantly. I don't have good evidence for this number and would prefer someone actually did the differential equations. This compares to 300kg of gas in a 5m radius hemisphere.
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eaglejarl said:
"We can make tons of the stuff easily," Hazō said blithely. "Salt is just seawater that's been exposed to air for long enough to dry out. We can go down to the coast and use Multiple Earth Wall to make catchments. Then Akane uses Elemental Mastery to raise the temperature enough to boil off the water so we can harvest the salt."

"I told you Hazō would find a way to make that jutsu useful," Akane said smugly, looking at Mari.

Mari shook her head ruefully. "In my defense, I was talking about combat applications at the time. This is an economic application."

"Actually...I had a thought about that," Hazō began. "If you cool things enough—
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We don't need to test this very much, Hazou already suspects that EM can be used to make nukes.
 
faflec said:
We don't need to test this very much, Hazou already suspects that EM can be used to make nukes.
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I don't buy that Hazō has enough scientific knowledge to deduce this from first principles, I also think we still need a Serious Conversation with Akane about it, and anyway some of these points need confirmation in the story, since if they were other, which they could be, the nuke wouldn't work.

Also the story needs more science.
 
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[] Training Kei: Snowflake Promise Progress
Wait, didn't we just promise to reduce Kei's resolve training so snowflake can get more living time?

For EM nukes, some questions:
  • Is this safe? How far away can Akane make the epicenter?
  • So... how do we convince Akane to safely try this for the first time, narratively?
    • Hazuo: "Hey, you should try making this super super cold and see what happens. But, you know, I kinda have a bad feeling, so let's treat this like it could cause massive sealing failures. And let's give it... a few miles of safety space? Just a hunch."
    • Akane: "I'm just making it cold, it'll be fine. What are you so worried about?"
    • Hazuo: "I get the feeling this will be similar to ... I'm blanking. Nevermind go for it."
    • The crater that used to be Leaf: "What did I ever do to you?"

faflec.snipe
faflec said:
We don't need to test this very much, Hazou already suspects that EM can be used to make nukes.
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cdeevfrr said:
Is this safe?
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No.
How far away can Akane make the epicenter?
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floor(Aspect bonus / 2) zones away, aka. 2 zones for levels 30 to 49, aka. throwing distance, aka. not far enough.

You can protect against this, but it needs dedicated preparation, eg. by using a Shadow Clone or casting from underground.
So... how do we convince Akane to safely try this for the first time, narratively?
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See my plan section. The mechanics of CO₂ sublimation should hint at the discontinuity.
 
So what are people thinking for this plan? We should probably put off summon recruitment till EJ's next chapter. I'm not sure what we need to do for planning for the Otter mission but that's probably important. Don't want to burn time waiting till can update great seal since limited time till Otter mission so don't want to burn that. Could focus on getting a toad to dog territory since even if we don't go on Otter mission would let us go on summon rushes. Hopefully y'all all have more ideas!
 
Eisenhelm said:
Dairoku: "You know? , i accidentally tried to skewer the hokage with my spear once"
Bartender: "that's it, i am cutting you off for tonight"
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It is good to see even the guards are learning the most cherished of Hazou techniques, I rest easier knowing that Hazou had already left his mark on the clan.

RandomOTP said:
HAZOU: "Hey, sir! I know that this scroll was intended to de-centralize Leaf's Summoning Scrolls --oh, and here you go, by the way --but the Bear Summoner just agreed to join the Goketsu!"

ASUMA: [starts slamming down willowbark tea]
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Bear Summoner is alive? quick, we need one set of natural causes, Akane needs to inherit the Scroll, it's clan proximity and relationship with the Dogs is just to good to pass on.
 
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