Remove ads

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Reader mode
I'm not sure what kind of lore update people are expecting to receive. QMs are known to be hesitant when it comes to dropping free lore. I am sure that it's mostly a stalling tactic, so I'm gonna vote for something other than lore.

[X] Hazo β side story update

Why did I suddenly get the feeling like asking for this is worse? I'm going to ignore that feeling.
 
Did Noburi's koi pond in Konoha ever scale up? I thought there was a long-ago development on that, but don't remember seeing anything in a long time.
 
[X] Action Plan: Road Trip! (no Ino/Haruhisa version)
  • Sanity check with Mari. Follow her suggestions.
  • We're going on a scroll hunt!
    • We head out tomorrow.
    • Mari/Kagome/Noburi/Kei/Snowflake/Yuno, you're all coming.
    • Kei, would you like to include Tenten?
      • The extra firepower would be great, and it's a chance for her and uplift to get closer.
  • Mari
    • Learn all the lighting library jutsu.
    • Pack heavy
    • Subtly encourage Kei/Snowflake to say goodbyes or otherwise emotionally prepare them for separation from the snowglobe.
  • Kagome
    • Pack extra-well. We're counting on you to make sure we're safe and supplied if the mission goes ....long.
  • Reo
    • You're acting clanhead.
    • Don't just "keep the lights on", lead.
      • You have full access to the vaults, uplift projects, ect. If an opportunity presents itself, don't be afraid to act.
      • Try to connect with the other goketsu as a leader, as well as a clanmate. Listen, delegate, ect.
      • Oh, and can you check in on Mio occasionally? Be a friend to her.
Plan intentionally does not cover all our clone hours, to allow snuncle chat and other activities to be covered in the same time period during our next plan(if desired)
 
redzonejoe said:
I'm not sure what kind of lore update people are expecting to receive.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Lore Update is just what interludes are called. It's normal to call it that, we've been doing so for hundreds of chapters. It isn't necessarily arcane lore, just info about the world (even just one character). But Interludes are a free pass for the QMs anyways so it doesn't matter what you ask the Interlude to be
 
We need to meet with Cannai, and confirm his approval that we go missing. Then we need to meet with Kei and ensure she's willing to join us (ditto with Noburi and Yuno). We're making a lot of assumptions.

We can't just tell them we're going on a scroll hunt and then pull the rug under their feet once we're out.

Hate to say it, but we need a meeting chapter.
 
[X] Lore Update

redzonejoe said:
I'm not sure what kind of lore update people are expecting to receive. QMs are known to be hesitant when it comes to dropping free lore. I am sure that it's mostly a stalling tactic, so I'm gonna vote for something other than lore.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Lore Updates are just shorthand for interlude votes. Why? I don't know, but its been like that since at least ch 180 or so IIRC.
 
Sir Stompy said:
We fake a dead drop from Ami telling us to go the Crimson State Island and take the entire family. That's our excuse for leaving Leaf.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yes, it would be Calligraphy vs Examination to accurately imitate Ami's brushwork. Mari notes that ordinarily, you'd also have to consider how the subject writes, especially when the content is strange/unexpected, but the joy of imitating Ami is that she could plausibly write anything.

However, if you raise this with Kei, she will suppress her revulsion at the idea of faking a message from Ami long enough to point out two further issues:

1) Naruto will find it suspicious that Ami decided to send you the message while ignoring her Hokage

2) Naruto's trust in Ami is lamentably not at its highest point right now, so he might not be in a hurry to send a handful of his most valuable ninja into foreign territory together on her word alone

This would be a social combat situation against Naruto, with modifiers based on the strength of your case.

As a side note, as a former Mist ninja, Hazō knows that while Mist claims the South Kanashii Ocean (and thus Crimson State Island) to be within its sphere of influence, in practice the region is ruled by the Pirate Lords, who are not AMITY signatories and unlikely to face repercussions if a team of village ninja went missing while trespassing in their territory.
 
Velorien said:
As a side note, as a former Mist ninja, Hazō knows that while Mist claims the South Kanashii Ocean (and thus Crimson State Island) to be within its sphere of influence, in practice the region is ruled by the Pirate Lords, who are not AMITY signatories and unlikely to face repercussions if a team of village ninja went missing while trespassing in their territory.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Yo wtf PIRATE LORDS this sounds awesome, I wanna know more about these guys 🤔
 
Shrooms said:
Yo wtf PIRATE LORDS this sounds awesome, I wanna know more about these guys 🤔
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Velorien said:
"Great. One history lesson on the origins of Hidden Mist, coming right up."

Noburi began to speak, punctuating his narration with broad dramatic gestures.

"First thing you've got to know is that the old Water Country is a mess. All the territory's been divided up between the pirate lords, who are all ninja if that wasn't obvious. You want to sail their waters, you pay them a toll and hope they're not going to take your stuff anyway. If you happen to make an enemy of a pirate lord, or anybody else high up in the food chain, you may as well take a long walk off a short plank because the sharks will be a lot more merciful.

"Which is where Byakuren, the future First Mizukage, comes in. His clan—a teeny little clan nobody cares about—is in charge of this equally teeny port. It's in a lousy location, the taverns and brothels are nothing to write home about, and the terrain makes it a pain for bigger ships to dock. But the one big thing it's got going for it is, guess what, nobody cares about it. It's the perfect place for smugglers who've crossed the wrong guy to quietly do their thing and build up some capital until they can afford to bribe their way back into the pirate lords' good graces.

"One day, Byakuren, the young clan heir, starts hearing stories from the sailors about how all the Fire clans are joining up into one big alliance. Byakuren's a smart guy, and he sees the writing on the wall straight away. As soon as the Fire clans are done dealing with their own country, they're going to come for us, because Fire is the land of evil and they hate us and want to murder us all, down to the smallest child. Don't look at me like that, this is just the story as I was told it. Oh, it also doesn't hurt that anyone who holds both Fire and Water is going to rule the mainland by default through sheer trade superiority.

"Funnily enough, Byakuren doesn't want to be conquered by the most evil ninja in the world. He goes to his dad, the clan chief, and tells him they need to start putting together their own shinobi alliance ASAP. His dad, who's good at his job but not one of nature's politicians, tells him to get a girlfriend. Next thing you know, whoops, Dad dies in a tragic fishing accident and Byakuren's in charge.

"Just goes to show that you can't trust fish, am I right? Byakuren cries a few bitter, manly tears, and sets about explaining to all the smuggler clans that Fire is coming for them, and that because Fire ninja are stupid landlubbers who think port is a kind of drink, they're going to try to seize complete control of maritime trade and start killing smugglers left, right and centre—much like what you-know-who said about the Earth Country, now I think of it. Some he persuades, some he bribes, and the rest he threatens, because did I mention that he also happens to be the greatest Water Element user in history? Legend says he could sink ships by looking at them long enough.

"Then he has a stroke of genius. He does the same thing to the civilian smugglers. He points out everything they've got to lose, and then he promises them total absolution and trade privileges in his new regime. Bear in mind, these guys are only there in the first place because they've made the wrong enemies and are now de facto outlaws. They jump at the offer like drowning men grabbing at a thrown rope.

"The reason Byakuren does this is that, precisely because they're civilians, they know their sailing inside out. They can't walk on water or lighten their loads with storage scrolls or fight off chakra monsters, so instead they have to manage with pure knowledge and skill. They know every route, including the secret routes that get you to a place extra-fast, the routes that get you to a place unseen, and the routes that look safe but get your ship ripped apart by hidden reefs or hungry kraken. They know every trick in the book.

"So now Byakuren's fleet is still small, but it's faster, craftier and more efficient than any of the big ninja fleets. Then he has his second stroke of genius. He founds his hidden village inland. He takes all the inland clans, the ones who get abused to hell and back by the pirate lords because they don't have the naval power to trade on their own terms, and he promises them unconditionally open seas. They've got nothing to lose and everything to gain.

"Before you know it, Byakuren's fleet is a power to be reckoned with. He's sweeping up ports and pirates like a baleen whale sweeping up plankton, and his new slogan is 'Serve me or serve the pirate lords'. Only he's here knocking at the gates, and the pirate lords are somewhere out there doing their own thing—they're afraid that if any one of them takes Byakuren on, the others will stab them in the back and take their stuff. It's probably how half of them got into power in the first place.

"Except there happens to be one pirate lord who's head and shoulders above the rest. Kurohige Ranmaru can read the writing on the wall too, and he agrees that the clans have to unite or Leaf (which is a thing by this point) will wipe them out and replace the freedom of the sea with a tyranny the likes of which the world has never seen. But he doesn't think Byakuren's got what it takes. He looks at Byakuren folding defeated enemies into his alliance, and what he sees is a hundred harpoons aimed at Byakuren's back, ready to turn him into a pincushion and tear Hidden Mist apart the second he shows a hint of weakness. In Kurohige's world, you crush your enemies once and for all, and then you make better use of their stuff than they did.

"Kurohige tries to do the smart thing and end Byakuren before he becomes unstoppable, but he underestimates the inland clans because no one's ever seen them fight in open water, and he gets his keel handed to him by their ninjutsu. If you were wondering why he called his next ship Kurohige's Revenge, now you know.

"Once Kurohige gets home, which he does because he's one tough bastard who can shrug off having his ship set on fire and then sunk in chakra megalodon waters, he goes into overdrive. He declares that he will turn the ocean red before he lets Byakuren hand Water to Leaf on a silver platter, and he starts building his own inter-territorial fleet. Only Kurohige's going straight after the other big guys, putting together the world's first pirate lords' alliance by hook or by crook. That's going to be ironic later, keep an eye out.

"Obviously, there ain't room on the high seas for the both of 'em. Anybody who hasn't got the stomach for the big fight gets the hell out of Water territory—that's one reason why there are still pirate lords ruling the south Kanashii Ocean—and the rest come together in the greatest naval battle ever fought. I could be here all day telling you all the legends I've heard about that battle, from how Byakuren found the lair of the last chakra leviathan and sacrificed ten ships to lure it beneath Kurohige's fleet, to how Kurohige let Byakuren's forces 'ambush' a bunch of traders carrying strong rum the night before the final confrontation… these were people who thought nothing of juggling half a dozen fleet-wide stratagems in their heads while using one hand to fight a captains' duel with a chakra cutlass and the other to steer their ship through a maze of erupting rock spikes, whirlpools and giant rampaging summon monsters.

"Spoiler alert: Byakuren wins. He tells the surviving pirate lords that they can take the long journey to Hidden Mist to swear eternal allegiance to him or the short journey to the bottom of the ocean, and it turns out most of them have always wanted to see the Mist mainland this time of year. Then he has his third stroke of genius. See, Kurohige is still alive. He lost an arm and a leg in his epic duel with Byakuren, which also has a hundred legends about it, but instead of executing the enemy leader or putting the cripple out of his misery, both fine Water Country traditions at that time, Byakuren offers him a job.

"The reason he does this is that Kurohige is a bona fide pirate lord from a long line of rulers and conquerors, while Byakuren is a ninja harbourmaster's son who's made it this far on sheer brilliance and force of personality. Byakuren knows that Kurohige can offer him the one thing he doesn't have, which is depth of experience.

"Meanwhile, Kurohige isn't just one tough bastard who is still alive after losing two limbs in a world without modern medical ninjutsu. He's also the most cunning ninja in Water, or was until Byakuren came along. He bargains his way into the position of Naval Warfare Advisor, makes himself Mist's Nara Shikaku, and between the two, they have the rest of the Water Country pirates sewn up before you can say 'Help, my beard's on fire!' Then, decades of wealth and power later, Kurohige retires and disappears from the public eye right as Mist politics start getting dangerous again with Byakuren's death.

"People always remember the First Mizukage as the man who united the Water ninja, turned Mist into a global shinobi power and created the world we now live in, but in reality he didn't do it alone. Kurohige Ranmaru accepted his brutal defeat with humility, used it to get everything he ever wanted for himself and his country, and then faded into the shadows of history like a true shinobi.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
 
I remember the founding of Mist but I didn't think any of those guys were left after they unified into a village - these are remnants of a bygone era!
 
faflec said:
One imagines that pirate groups tend to have high combat skill due to the constant fighting with Hidden Villages.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I'd expect that to be a small number, actually. Mist's constitution seems to be founded on free and pirate-free waters, and those that make themselves a nuisance get killed quick. Those that keep their heads down and stay not-a-problem get to live long
 
Last edited:
RoadWild said:
I'd expect that to be a small number, actually. Mist's constitution seems to be founded on free and pirate-free waters, and those that make themselves a nuisance get killed quick. Those that keep their heads down and stay not-a-problem get to live long
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Chakra beasts mean they still have to be decent at fighting.

As for morally acceptable targets, we've got Jashinists with the lore.
 
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top