Remove ads

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

Reader mode
Hey, that sounds like a pretty good defensive seal. And it doesn't immediately overlap with any of our other defenses (unless the mechanics are very inconvenient). Let's research it to check out its mechanics.

Twinnstars said:
Yup! Chakra magic is wild! This is the one thing that I have confirmation works completely independently of my ideas. You can substitute to climb a ladder, if the ladder has a valid target on each rung.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is a weak point in your analysis. There's a huge difference in required intelligence/processing power between "figure out how to climb a ladder" and "figure out how to move long-distance, taking into account the many other seals of the network to pick a good path".
 
Last edited:
Some minor reactions
Velorien said:
"They're not my terms," Naruto said with weary impatience. "Hazō, I am trying to help you
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Preach it brother.

Velorien said:
"Personal grudges aside, I hope she doesn't come up with anything veto-worthy," Hazō said.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Kei: Why, exactly, do you expect me to leave all my duties and responsibilities to both the Nara and the KEI to go sit in the woods for who knows how long and watch you make weapons so dangerous that they could kill us both by accident even when everything is working as expected?

Hazo: Because I'm an idiot and need you to check my sanity?

Kei: You are an idiot and this decision is insane. I'll offer you one more chance to explain yourself before I veto this.

Hazo: I need protection! From... Akatsuki I guess? and also you need to kill something for your training!

Kei: Well I do feel like killing 'something' right now...
Velorien said:
"Uh, no. They're just the loudest. When it comes to the actual threat to your clan, it's obviously the Hyūga. Did you miss all the ways they've screwed you and your clan over ever since you became clan head?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Hazō said honestly.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Oh boy. I'm stuck somewhere between amused, embarrassed, and pity. If this isn't enough for Naruto to think even less of Hazo, then this next part will...
Velorien said:
Naruto winced. "When you put it that way, it's kinda hard to say no. I can't order Sasuke to give up clan secrets or Pain will be the least of Leaf's problems, but I'll see what I can get out of him
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Sasuke already revealed the fate prediction of his Sharingan to Hazo. Naruto doesn't know this yet, but when he talks to Sasuke about it... it'll be enlightening, anyways.
 
redzonejoe said:
Kei: Why, exactly, do you expect me to leave all my duties and responsibilities to both the Nara and the KEI to go sit in the woods for who knows how long and watch you make weapons so dangerous that they could kill us both by accident even when everything is working as expected?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Snowflake (whispering): "Kei, this is a chance to get Hazou secluded and in close contact with me for a prolonged period of time. Don't mess this up for me."

Kei (to Hazou): "I'll need a day to prepare the KEI for my absence. You have my resigned approval."

Hazou: "Snowflake, why did you just raise your arms in victory?"
 
RandomOTP said:
Snowflake (whispering): "Kei, this is a chance to get Hazou secluded and in close contact with me for a prolonged period of time. Don't mess this up for me."

Kei (to Hazou): "I'll need a day to prepare the KEI for my absence. You have my resigned approval."

Hazou: "Snowflake, why did you just raise your arms in victory?"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
And just like that I've completely swapped my position. Inviting Kei was an awesome and fully necessary decision.
 
Velorien said:
You've got the occasional Itachi
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Does Naruto realize that we do have to kill Itachi here? In fact the upper echelons of Akatsuki: Itachi, Konan, and Kisame are all pretty much like that.
Velorien said:
Naruto reached into his pockets and pulled out a rolled-up sheaf of papers. "This is my thanks to you. It's a combat seal that my dad used to use. It's called the Army of One seal, and it's a variation of the Academy Clone Technique. Basically, it surrounds you in illusory doubles that leap and feint and duck and dash and generally make it impossible for an enemy to get a bead on you. You'll need to research a copy that imitates your body instead of following these notes exactly, unless you want a dozen copies of my dad running around you. That said, his notes did mention that it was possible to research the seal again with different people's images, so maybe you could get it to benefit your whole clan."
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Okay, incredibly based, I said some mean things about Naruto last update. I take them all back. He is cool again.

@eaglejarl @Velorien @Paperclipped

Since we have notes can we have a difficulty check on this seal? Are we going to have to research the Minato version and then the Hazou etc. version?
 
Velorien said:
"Uh, no. They're just the loudest. When it comes to the actual threat to your clan, it's obviously the Hyūga. Did you miss all the ways they've screwed you and your clan over ever since you became clan head?"
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

She also played against the Hagoromo during Kei/Snowflake/Tenten wedding: (Obviously to become the dominant conservative clan head)

Velorien said:
"the heads of the Nara, Yamanaka, Gōketsu, Senju, and Uzumaki Clans, the heir of the Hyūga Clan, the Pangolin, Toad, Dog, Turtle, and Slug Summoners, all three of the KEI coordinators, and even the Very High Priest of the Church of Youth?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I made a post about that:

ContextBot said:
Hinata tricked him. Hanabi and Neji are here, so she knew, but she let him run into a wall anyway.

She has my vote for next Hokage.

Hinata > Ami
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I like her.

faflec said:
Personal opinion says that any non-Goketsu being involved in our clan secret research mission makes it no longer a clan secret research mission. Which is the point of the mission.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I won. Press the funny button clownboy.
 
Nebulus said:
yeah. Also, I am getting suspicious. Does Mari know what he means?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Ami didn't even know what he means. If Hinata/the Hyuuga being behind e. g. the Bank Run incident is supposed to be something that's obvious to everyone, it sure wasn't obvious even to our multiple social specs. I'd written up a whole paranoid analysis about this a while ago.

So either Naruto got access to some behind-the-scenes information after becoming Kage, and is now falling prey to the illusion of transparency, or all our advisors have been consistently lying to us.

Sir Stompy said:
Since we can't take Kei, Kagome, and Neji, I think we need to revisit this.

Probably means no Neji tbh. Hazou+Kagome+Neji is asking for another Minami incident.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I mean, the plan had provisions for that scenario. Both for dropping Neji and for taking him if Kei and Kagome are unexpectedly fine with the idea (e. g., if Kei strongly feels that she can't/shouldn't/doesn't need to go, as @redzonejoe suggests).
 
Last edited:
Noumero said:
I mean, the plan had provisions for that scenario. Both for dropping Neji and for taking him if Kei and Kagome are unexpectedly fine with the idea (e. g., if Kei strongly feels that she can't/shouldn't/doesn't need to go, as @redzonejoe suggests).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
I also want to do the Toad Sage conversation for Eaglejarl's update. Since he has expressed a preference to write it.
 
I know we were postponing the Toad Sage Pitch for an EJ update, but I can't recall the details of that. Here's a modified version of the previous plan. Removes the Neji segments, fleshes out the remainder a bit. Not optimized for word count. Feel free to yoink as desired,

[X] Action Plan: Alas, More Meetings
Words: idk, an amount
  • Mari, Kei, Snowflake, Noburi (max-security conditions): Share Naruto's latest instructions. Postpone discussing them until Kagome joins.
    • Discuss WHOOSH. It's busted, or will be soon.
      • We shared runecrafting with Orochimaru because he would've discovered it independently, anyway. Got us valuable resources. Perhaps we should repeat that?
    • We could promise cooperation and share our training optimizations[1] with Naruto in exchange for benefits, such as retaining first priority on chakra.
      1. IC representations of our spreadsheet work; it's presumably highly valuable and took significant effort and trial-and-error.
    • Being transparent would strengthen our negotiating position. Naruto would be buying an S-ranker-making trick, not just bribing Noburi into staying home.
    • Mari, you're on it. Do it after we leave, so that Naruto has to deal with you, not us.
      • You have carte blanche for extracting maximum benefits. Feel free to drive a ruthlessly hard bargain.
      • We won't nag a specialist, but our suggestion: prioritize getting S-rank jutsu for your S-ranker kit. Look for esoteric abilities/attack vectors.
  • After WHOOSH's discussed, include Kagome.
    • Kei, Snowflake, are y'all willing to join us? We know you have bonds and responsibilities here, but we could really use your help with regard to geopolitical implications of our creations.
    • We plan to ask the Toad Sages to teach us. Noburi, would you help optimize our pitch?
    • Kei, if you're joining, you can still go hunt chakra beasts with Yuno first. Just join us afterwards (we'll share location through the Seventh Path).
      • Noburi, wanna join them? It's been a while since your last combat.
  • Fill out the necessary paperwork, then go have Naruto "assign" us this mission.
  • Toad Sages Pitch
 
Last edited:
I really want to make a plan that takes into account the QM given fact of being able to effectively research with Kagome, Noburi's help on the 7th path with no need for them to physically leave leaf. For Kei to sanity check us the same way. I want to be completely honest with them, and then ask if they'll come with us anyways. (well, not Noburi obviously, but the others)

Because something will inevitably go wrong. Hazo knows by now to expect the unexpected, and he'd be more comfortable, more able to deal with whatever happens if he has his family at his side. But he doesn't want to disrupt their lives more than necessary, so it has to be their choice.

Turn it into a bonding moment. Ensure anybody who does come brings the right attitude. Don't fumble this and leave everybody worse off for it.

I want to make that plan but recent experience is telling me it's a pointless waste of effort. So let me know if there's any interest, ya? The rest of the plan would probably just borrow lines from other plan(s) unless somebody has their own pet issue they'd like to argue for.
 
Last edited:
Velorien said:
Because of the seal?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Hm. Yes and no?

Mostly it's that Naruto, who was genuinely exhausted from it being 3am, who was becoming a little snappish from having to interact with Hazou for a prolonged period of time (a common reaction), still noticed Hazou's misconception about S-rank combat and still decided to take the additional time to gently correct it --or, at least, does so in a way that isn't demeaning or hostile, which is better than how most of our interactions with S-rankers go.

The seal is really nice, don't get me wrong. It's useful, and it provides veterancy towards illusion-based seals, but I'm more happy that 3am-Naruto was able to calmly and reasonably correct Hazou. And while it is the sort of misunderstanding that you'd want to correct in the WMD Factory you're hiring, it's still indicative of a level of rationality that I wasn't certain Naruto possessed*.

*on one hand: thinking longterm about Leaf's survival with regard to Summoner Missions and visibility within Leaf... on the other hand: getting silently irked that Hazou withheld the Orochimaru Dossiers when he could've just ordered Orochimaru to give him the same information. It's not like it's that big of a leap that "Orochimaru the former Akatsuki member" might have a unique insight into the Akatsuki's capabilities.

Given Naruto's behavior in this update, I'm inclined to think that Naruto's reaction to the dossier in the previous update was the result of 3am exhaustion, rather than any character flaw on his own part. This is further backed by the fact that Naruto didn't take the positive action to actually say anything about the subject. His reaction was merely a silent one that Hazou picked up on.
 
Velorien said:
​
Basically, it surrounds you in illusory doubles that leap and feint and duck and dash and generally make it impossible for an enemy to get a bead on you. You'll need to research a copy that imitates your body instead of following these notes exactly, unless you want a dozen copies of my dad running around you.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

Tbf I'd imagine that most ninja in this setting would be rather spooked by a dozen surprise Minato's out of nowhere.
 
My favourite Naruto moment this update was him conceding that it was reasonable for Hazou to ask him to extract the information about Sasuke's eyeballs and give that to Hazou. Lots of great Naruto moments this update.

redzonejoe said:
Sasuke already revealed the fate prediction of his Sharingan to Hazo. Naruto doesn't know this yet, but when he talks to Sasuke about it... it'll be enlightening, anyways.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
He did not give enough information. In particular, it's possible that the ability has some glaring weaknesses, and he obviously wouldn't have shared those. Yet that's precisely what we need.
 
Last edited:
Reader mode
You must login or register to reply here.
Remove ads
Back
Top