[X] Training: Taijutsu Time
[X] Use earth ninjutsu to make portions of the building structurally unsound and ready to collapse at a moment's notice.
[X] Make sure there's a multitude of well-placed escape routes that you can get to at a moment's notice.
[x] Run down to the port city you arrived at, and come back with a couple dozen storage seals of pitch or whale blubber or something else that might be really flammable. Apply flammable material liberally to all surfaces as needed
[X] Spend a significant amount of time trying to track down that other missing-nin that you know was in the city.
[X] Training: Taijutsu Time
[X] Use earth ninjutsu to make portions of the building structurally unsound and ready to collapse at a moment's notice.
[X] Make sure there's a multitude of well-placed escape routes that you can get to at a moment's notice.
[x] Run down to the port city you arrived at, and come back with a couple dozen storage seals of pitch or whale blubber or something else that might be really flammable. Apply flammable material liberally to all surfaces as needed
[X] Spend a significant amount of time trying to track down that other missing-nin that you know was in the city.
[X] Run down to the port city you arrived at, and come back with a couple dozen storage seals of pitch or whale blubber or something else that might be really flammable. Apply flammable material liberally to all surfaces as needed.
[x] Place the Koyasu and Nadare hostages in the immediate vicinity of the meeting. Ready all manner of deadly things to obliterate them at a moments notice.
Kakashi looked over the city of Kushiro, the port town he had arrived in a little over a week ago. Unlike Shibetsu, which had quickly grown quiet in the wake of the festival, Kushiro was still quite lively. Kakashi had seen leftover solstice decorations around the city, and now that night was falling, he saw some people taking candles through the city to light the lanterns here and there. The people of Kushiro had an almost-endearing spirit of community pride to them.
Luckily, that made it easier for them to identify outsiders. Kakashi had spent most of the day hunting down his quarry, and now he knew that the Yakuza-affiliated missing-nin had "rented" out the small warehouse that he now stood outside. Tracking her down had been embarrassingly easy too. He had simply asked around town about "the ninja" until someone fessed up that they had seen a stranger that might have been one, and from there he followed her trail almost trivially. Maybe she didn't expect pursuit, but still, Kakashi judged that she had done some sloppy work with this hideout.
He sighed, and entered the warehouse. His lazy slump failed to cover up the tension in his spine.
As he entered, he immediately heard movement. He slowly turned to look at a corner of the room where he could see a woman rapidly standing up in a small indoors camp, hands coming together to form a rapid chain of hand seals. He didn't move as she finished the technique, calling out "Water Release: Lobster's Claw!" as she wreathed her arms in churning water.
She stopped there, the high pressure water around her arms audibly buzzing as if yearning to cut something in two. He continued to slump in her general direction, watching her as she eyed him, then the exit route through an exposed section of the back wall. He waited for ten seconds, then thirty. He could faintly feel her killing intent wafting towards him, but he could tell she wasn't strong enough to project it properly. He continued to not make any aggressive action as she slowly straightened out of her low, agile stance, and allowed the water around her hands to slop to the floor.
She called out across the warehouse floor, "What do you want?" Kakashi could barely see the hints of battle-ready anxiety in her too-wide eyes.
"I have a job offer for you," Kakashi said in response. "It's simple, you-"
She laughed, bitter and fake. She didn't blink, continuing to watch him. "You killed my employer. I can't trust you after that."
Kakashi examined her carefully. He last caught a glimpse of her on a rooftop, and he had been looking for a combat threat. Now, he noted her long, greenish-blue hair, the long scars on her arms and neck, the cauliflower ears of a poorly-trained hand-to-hand fighter. She was no doubt examining him in return, and he had taken no steps to hide his identity as the Copy Ninja. "Well, that's the ninja world," he said, shrugging and letting her relax a little. I won't try to force you into this, he thought as he tried to embed that message into his body language. "Loyalties shift quickly when you're a free agent. Or even like me, just following orders."
"I can't help you after what you did, though. Not only would I never be trusted again once the word got out -- and don't pretend it won't if you're going to be filing a mission report after this -- but I don't want to get caught in the crossfire between you and Glacier. Nor do I want to be around when Goda's other… hired help comes looking for you."
Kakashi shrugged and took a step closer, straightening up millimetrically. He focused his attention on her, and imagined the Glacier ninja once more. The woman that had evaded him, lying dead in the middle of a blizzard with her throat slit, blood staining the fresh snow around her. Rōga on his knees before him, his still warm heart held tightly in Kakashi's hand. He sank into the feeling and projected it at her.
The woman blanched slightly, and her leg twitched as if she was aching to take a step back. Kakashi smiled through his mask, allowing his predatory expression to reach his eyes. "I'm not afraid of them, and you won't be either. Glacier wouldn't retaliate against you when they're all in the grave or under my thumb, and besides," he shrugged, letting the killing intent slip away, "you'll be long gone by the time they even hear about it. Let me finish my offer."
She didn't speak, so Kakashi continued. "Five million ryou to aid me in a decapitating strike against Glacier's leadership." Kakashi punctuated the words by pulling out a storage seal and pushing chakra through it, releasing a five-pound bag of ryou. "Half up-front. I've already arranged for them to walk right into a trap, indoors and far from snow, so we have every opportunity to get the drop on them and leave them reeling. We kill them with a minimum of hassle, you get paid and leave as soon as you can."
The woman eyed the bag where it fell to the floor. The bag had fallen just so that its mouth angled towards her enough that she could see the heavy gold coins within. She spent a long moment there, considering her options. She looked at Kakashi, as if expecting him to say something more, but he stayed quiet. He had said all he needed to say. Any more cajoling and he wouldn't be sure that she would still be on his side when things went sideways. Slowly, he saw her face change from uncertainty to resolve.
"I'll do it. I'm leaving on a ship out of here in two days' time, whether we're done or not," she said, looking him in the eyes again.
Kakashi nodded. "They'll be arriving tomorrow evening, so you should have plenty of time to catch your ship. Now would be a good time to head East. If you're thinking about a sudden change of plans to fake me out, don't bother trying to stay in Snow. I've called in an ANBU strike team from Leaf, and I requested that they send Captain Dragon." She cocked her head in confusion, and he took the opportunity to elaborate.
"In the Third War, Dragon was assigned to the borders with Earth. Hidden Stone ninja led him into an ambush. Picture the scene. ANBU Captain Dragon falling through a vast abyss to the sharp spikes at the bottom, holes dug in the sides of the ravine walls where Stone ninja prepared their attacks to get the finishing blow on the man who had single-handedly stopped their advance through southern Iron. The Diamond Sisters and Hidehiko of the Lava Release both were part of the ambush, as well as nearly twenty chūnin, and numerous genin.
"None of them survived.
"On the off chance I get captured, and they take the opportunity to get Leaf secrets or the Sharingan out of me, Dragon will… solve any problems that still remain in this country once he arrives. He considers missing-nin to be problems."
She nodded. Without the killing intent behind Kakashi's words, she seemed unphased. Still, that ought to be more than enough to dissuade her from backstabbing him.
Kakashi turned to leave, and noticed her about to say something. He paused, and she said, "East… Good advice for anyone else, Copy Ninja, but as a missing-nin, it's foolish to go back to your homeland."
Kakashi inclined his head. Well, that explains why she wasn't in the Bingo Books. "Well, that's no reason not to get out of here," he said. "We'll exploit their leader's strange ambitions to cut their legs out from under them, but once we're done, you would do well to stay away. From Fire, as well," he added.
She nodded, and Kakashi left.
Kakashi gets to make a Presence check contested by her Presence to not have her flee right away.
Glad to see that my dice are back to normal, 0-mean behavior, rather than last week's nonstop 9s and 12s. She doesn't go instantly into fight-or-flight mode. Instead, she's going to try to counter-intimidate him to make him back down. Easiest way to get out of a fight is to get the other guy to run away, right?
Kakashi isn't scared in the slightest. He can tell she's a cut below him in the hierarchy.
Kakashi wants to enlist her help on a paid job. She's not interested because 1) bad rep to work for the guy who killed her last employer, 2) the job obviously has to do with the Glacier ninja he killed, and she wants none of that.
Consequently, Kakashi is going to need to soften her up a little. Intimidation vs Resolve:
With a narrow success, he doesn't convince her right away, but instead creates an Aspect "I'm the Scary One". He's going to use this right away on his Presence check to convince her to come along. He's also going to unsling, say, 5,000,000 ryo and offer it to her to help seal the deal. Carrot and stick.
Kakashi (Presence): 30 + 4 ("I'm the Scary One") + 4 ("More than Goda paid you") - 3 (dice) = 35
??? (Resolve): 35 - 3 (dice) = 32
Looks like she's in. She's still probably self-serving above all, and will run as soon as she takes any Consequence, but otherwise will be willing to help out, ideally at range.
Kakashi will try to tell if she's holding something back/judge her general attitude towards him and how likely she is to cut and run earlier or turn on him:
Nope, can't tell. Lastly, she's going to try to get him to open up and give her something that'll help her judge the situation by sharing a bit of information about herself.
Surprisingly, he is going to let slip a nugget of information. Minor, but relevant. Interesting...
o-o-o-o
"We have a chance to get it bloodlessly, why won't you at least try to take it without any more sacrifice?"
"He's a Leaf ninja. We need to act decisively, not wait passively for him to take our fated heritage to the far lands of the south and lock it away in some nobleman's vault!"
Rōga's mood had steadily deteriorated once he had learned that the heirloom he had spent months searching for was now in the hands of a foreigner that had been in the country for a week. He held tension in his shoulders, and his face was growing red as he yelled at Kimiko, but for now, his anger was only verbal.
These days, I'm not even sure if he wants me by his side…
Kimiko responded, "It means nothing to him! He knows that we'll get more value out of it than he will, and he's not stupid! He's the Copy Ninja, he has to be clever enough to realize that he can trade some techniques from us and waltz away without any repercussion. Why would he even want to take it back with him?"
Rōga was readying himself for a response, but sudden footsteps on the roof caused them to quickly snap their gazes overhead.
A moment later, Himura Isshin swung in through a window, eyes flashing between the two of them. He seemed to feel the tension in the air since his hand twitched subconsciously to the weapon at his side, but he resisted the urge. "The Sōnai Daimyo have been dealt with," he said. "House Narinao has been killed or exiled, and they won't be relevant for our timelines. Fusayori has agreed to comply with all of our requests, and I have left your cousin to oversee him and ensure that he does not hire outsiders." He punctuated the report with a nod, as if affirming to himself that everything happened correctly. "Speaking of which, I heard the news. We have a foreign intruder. They killed the Koyasu Clan Head, and they have your trinket," he looked to Rōga, "What are we doing about it?"
Rōga and Kimiko exchanged a look, then Rōga spoke. "We need to do something, we can't just let him go home. The three chūnin from that squad are confirmed alive and captured, so we stand a chance of retrieving them."
Himura nodded. "What resources are we allocating and what is our angle of attack?"
Kimiko interjected, "I had a run-in with him earlier, and Nobūchi scouted the city this morning. The problem is not just that he took down Koyasu, it's that he did so seemingly effortlessly. He didn't get injured in the slightest, and was reportedly even reading a book while he was tracking him down. This is the Copy Ninja, and he's stronger than we can handle."
Rōga was glaring at her, but she didn't care. If she could convince Himura to stay back, Rōga would certainly not try to attack him alone. Her brother would be forced to negotiate instead.
"What my dear sister is neglecting to tell you," Rōga said, "is that her run-in with Hatake Kakashi was decisively concluded in her favor. She evaded his every attack along with the attacks of his companions, even though they had the advantage of surprise, and he fled once it was clear that he could not stand up to the Snow Release. He is strong, to be certain, strong enough to kill Koyasu when given enough advantages. But he is not beyond our ability to defeat."
Himura nodded, expression opaque as always. "The remaining Koyasu. Why are they not afraid of you now that their Clan Head has mysteriously died to a far-off stranger, while the ninja close to your heart escaped unscathed?"
Rōga laughed a little, and Kimiko suppressed a faint smile at hearing the cheer in his voice. I'm still supposed to be mad at him. "They're angry, not afraid. The Sage blessed us that Asato had a clear line of succession, because now his heirs are calling for the Hatake's head," said Rōga. "If he fails to materialize, I'm sure they might start asking questions of me, but until then they will be our staunchest allies in the quest for revenge."
Kimiko could feel herself losing the battle with Rōga. Himura was slowly falling onto his side. She needed to act quickly.
"He's Leaf ANBU, and he's called for help from his allies. Their strike team will be here soon, and if we can barely deal with one Copy Ninja, how can we deal with three or four?"
Himura tilted his head at that, and she continued. "He sent a messenger, but that means a civilian most likely, to a spy of theirs on the continent. With the time it takes for a ship to travel, it'll be a couple weeks before they arrive. If we deal with him and send him off quickly, he can just say to his allies in Leaf to cancel the order, and we get to live undisturbed rather than retreating even farther north and abandoning everything that we're working for here." She stared at Rōga as she finished. If they force us to flee Glacier, you'll never find that shrine.
Himura nodded at that, but Rōga quickly followed up. "The only reason why they even have a chance of finding us is because you, dear sister, allowed the Copy Ninja to follow you north. If we actually want to cover up our location, we need to kill him and his co-conspirators."
Himura said, "I will propose a compromise. If he is as competent as you say, killing him may be non-trivial. Instead, we enter negotiations with him. If we can, we take what we can get from him and let him go home. Otherwise, we kill him and take what we need. We have three jōnin, and thus can apply overwhelming force."
"With everyone in the room with me, I can't apply the kind of overwhelming force I would want to use," Rōga said, "We have too few good people for me to waste any of them by using the techniques best suited to taking down Hatake."
"Then we will retreat once it is clear that negotiations have failed, and you can cover our exit with your more lethal techniques. Either way, we need to have a rock-solid escape route to get out if need be, and we need to bring backup to distract, Substitute, or generally aid us. In the best case, Rōga, you get to show your leadership by demonstrating moderation and compromise."
The pointed words did not pass by freely, and Kimiko felt a chill in the air as Rōga's eyes narrowed. There had been a time when that chill had been comforting, but now, she felt a momentary spike of fear as his focus fell squarely on Himura. Himura did not respond to Rōga's faint killing intent, instead staying steady and unshakable.
"What do you mean, Himura? He killed one of the Clan Heads of our village, and now threatens us with existential destruction. Do you mean to show him mercy?"
Kimiko could not read Himura's expression. "I mean to suggest that we take the option least likely to see our allies' blood spilt."
Rōga relaxed. "He will have to die. If you insist though, we can try to capture him alive so that we can learn how to call off his hounds."
Himura nodded. "That's all I ask. We should focus the bulk of our efforts on the eventuality that negotiations break down into a fight. I have a number of ideas to shift the odds in our favor…"
o-o-o-o
Kakashi turned the last page of Icha Icha: The Passion of the Ice Queen and shut the book. The reader letters were awful as always, but Jiraiya occasionally let occasional pieces of lore slip through in his responses, so they were worth reading. He had already read the sequel of course, TPotIQ was not the current book in the series. He absently realized that the newest book would be coming out in just one week. How long will it take for it to reach me, wherever I am, when I'll be so far from Leaf?
He folded up the book and put it aside. While he had a full schedule for a reread planned out, he didn't want to sully the feeling of TPotIQ by jumping into another book right away. He glanced around the entrance hall of Castle Kazahana to see if anything else would catch his attention, but found it largely lacking. Servants had coated the walls in a thin paste of highly flammable refined whale fat, making the place reek to the rafters. Above, Watari and the nameless missing-nin crouched silently in aforementioned rafters, both holding their noses. At least Kakashi had cut the smell somewhat with the sweet rolls he had prepared on a side table, but he didn't think the whale fat would exactly augment their taste.
The castle itself had been defiled slightly. Behind the heavy tapestries that lined the wall, Kakashi had removed large chunks of stone to make thin sections where he could escape easily. He'd been careful to line those sections up with the carved out parts of the floor, so that breaking the walls in those areas would collapse the wall behind him, preventing pursuit. He had cleared out all the carpets in the area to ensure that the solid stone floor and solid stone foundations were easily accessible for a quick escape, as well as much of the stony ground outside.
Though, now that he thought about it, their kenjutsu specialist apparently had the Earth Release. Kakashi had been on the front-lines with Iwagakure in the Third War, and he knew better than to try to use Hiding Like a Mole near an Earth Release specialist. He'd save that for a pinch.
With no other preparations coming to mind, he turned his attention to the biggest tapestry that Daimyo Kazahana kept on the east wall of the castle. The woven drawing seemed to depict the Sage of the Six Paths, with his familiar robes and multiple shadows spread behind him. He stood at the peak of a mountain -- this mountain, Kakashi realized -- and he faced a great, twisting dragon of blue and purple. Even though he had no taste for art, Kakashi could at least appreciate this piece. The dragon was elaborately woven with a variety of shimmering silk threads, and the whole creature seemed to twist and move as Kakashi moved his head.
As interesting as the tapestry was, Kakashi felt a moment of worry at the thought of the dragon. Dragons as a species were supposed to have been long gone, having ascended into the heavens with the Sage himself (if they weren't purely mythological to begin with). Yet the legends of their strength remained, and rumours of their existence popped up from time to time in the far lands of the world, perhaps even in places like this... And now, Kakashi was all but offering himself up to the maw of Glacier, like the Sage standing in front of the dragon's open jaws in the tapestry, waiting atop the mountain. The Sage stood tall and proud, a small emerald light gripped in one hand…
Kakashi moved to the center of the hall as the doors to the entrance hall slammed open, and the trio of Glacier jōnin walked in. The Nadare woman took up the left flank, moving gracefully and carefully as she entered, as if she expected an immediate ambush. Her pale blue eyes met his one for a moment before she averted his gaze. Kakashi could tell she was worried.
On the right, the swordsmaster seemed opposite to the woman in every way. He was short and stocky where she was tall and slender, and while her movements were quick and fluid, he moved forward with a direct force that half-reminded him of Gai, like some giant turtle bearing forward with unstoppable momentum.
In the center was none other than Nadare Rōga, leader -- Kage? -- of Hidden Glacier. Kakashi felt a minute twang of disappointment as he noted that Rōga wore no hat, leaving his devilish good looks exposed to the world. His pale skin and sapphire blue eyes were accentuated by a scar just under his cheek bone, exaggerated by the way he held his chin up and walked with the confidence of a man who thought himself invincible.
Kakashi's short months in ANBU gave him the perspective he needed to judge them accurately. They didn't move like the ANBU squads he knew, trios of killers finely honed to cover each other's weaknesses, synchronized like the limbs of a single powerful beast. No, as they approached him, he could see the holes in their formation and the missing rhythm of their feet. They weren't used to working together, and it showed.
Kakashi could almost have sighed in relief. He had worried that he would have to fight three jōnin, but thankfully, Glacier's incompetence shined through. Instead, he would just have to fight one jōnin, three times.
Kakashi gestured at the table at his side. "Welcome! In order to honor my guests appropriately, I prepared some baked goods to warm you up after the journey."
They stared at him in incredulity for a second before he realized that none of them would go for the sweet rolls. He shook his head disappointedly. "Ah, I should have known. Snow Country barbarians don't know how to appreciate a good host."
He had poisoned the rolls, of course.
Rōga recovered quickly. "You know what we want from you. What do you want in exchange for the key?"
"The key?" Kakashi asked. He waited a moment for Rōga to open his mouth, then started again, cutting him off. "Oh, you mean the Kazahana heirloom. Well, I've kept it somewhere safe. I'll signal for an accomplice to bring it in if we reach a deal. I'm sure we can come to terms without the shiny being literally on the table.
"Besides, don't we have other matters to speak of? Such as your allies, your cousin."
At a signal, two civilian palanquin-bearers stepped into the hall. Kakashi could tell they were absolutely terrified to be within spitting distance of ninja about to come to blows, but he had "coached" them very thoroughly, and they kept their heads down to deliver the Nadare chūnin into the hall. He was conscious, and yelled through his gag as he saw Rōga.
Kakashi kept quiet as the other bound-up cot was delivered to his side, then spoke again. "So, let's talk business. Do you want to negotiate for them, or should I slit their throats so we can proceed to what you're really interested in?"
The doors behind him shut as the civilians made the fastest exit they could. Rōga said, "Of course we want them back. Why would you offer them back to us?"
"Well, they haven't been tortured into submission the same way I did to Ichihara. They're still mostly whole," If you didn't count the dislocated arms and legs, or the broken ankles and fingers, "and I'm about to leave anyway. Besides, they're not a threat to me, and would barely stand a chance of hurting a fresh Leaf chūnin."
Rōga nodded after a second. "I see. What do you want in exchange?"
Kakashi raised a finger to his chin, as if he were only now thinking about it. "Well… I can tell you're still thinking about the gem." As he mentioned it, he saw a momentary flash of greed in Rōga's eyes. His companions flicked their gazes over to him, but he had already smoothed his face back over. "I can tell you just want this to be over with so that you can get your precious bauble. So, tell me why you want it so bad. What does it mean to you?"
"It is an artifact left to us by our ancestors, the Nadare of old. When they founded the Village of Hidden Glacier, they left us the keystone to remind us of our heritage, and to one day reveal our destiny to us." As he spoke, he grew more impassioned, and Kakashi found himself getting swept up in the flow of his words. "Our Clan forgot that tradition, with the years. We grew soft and complacent, willing to accept the words of our elders without thinking about from whence they came, willing to hunt and fish and survive without thinking about our greater purpose. I discovered the truth that our ancestors had foreseen the future itself. They had the wisdom to hide the keys to the grand fate of our Clan within Glacier itself, in a hidden shrine locked with powers beyond our understanding. I need our ancestral heirloom to unlock that shrine, so that I can restore purpose to my Clan and my village."
Kakashi shook himself out of the pounding drums of Rōga's speech. Rōga looked at him expectantly, as if willing him to simply toss the gemstone over the gap and let them leave. Kakashi replied, "That sounds nice and all… like a practiced speech. That's what you tell everyone. I want to know why you actually want it. What do you think it'll actually do, what do you actually think is within the shrine, and why are you willing to risk so many lives to get at it?"
Rōga considered for a second, then spoke again, voice as confident as ever. "It is no secret that the feats of ancient Nadare were greater than those that we are capable of now. The power to raise glaciers and divide them again with a single sweep of the hand… it's now unthinkable. Within that shrine are the techniques that allowed my ancestors to attain true mastery of this land. With those techniques and with the power that the shrine grants me as the true Heir to the Snow Release, I will rebuild Glacier into the greatest village the entire world has ever seen."
"And conquer the world and all that, blah blah blah," Kakashi said, waving a hand. "That was good for a bit, then you got back into speechmaking. Keep on going. What's in there?"
Kakashi spends a tag on Searching for Hidden Secrets for Rōga to compel him to reveal information about the gemstone. Rōga can deny for -1FP, or accept (no bonus)
…
Rōga accepts the compel!
He didn't hesitate this time. "A shard of infinitely cold ice that augments the casting of Snow Release techniques. A red string that binds another to you, allowing you to command them from a distance and use their chakra as your own. A weapon of pale green steel that commands spirits and beasts to fight by your side." As he spoke, his sister stared at him with eyebrows raised. He had clearly never spoken of this to her before. "All these are tools that the Sage crafted, used, and eventually gifted to our honored ancestors. We know it to be true by the ancient records of our Clan.
"Have I satisfied your request now? Return my subordinates to me."
Kakashi nodded, and backed away from the two heavily-bound cots with the Nadare and Koyasu chūnin on them. As he stepped away, the Nadare woman visibly relaxed. Rōga nodded to Himura, who stepped toward the hostages, preparing to draw his weapon and cut their bonds.
He crossed an invisible threshold on the floor. A tripwire snapped, explosive timers started counting down, and the world was set aflame.
I didn't do social rolls in the last scene because a) Kakashi didn't really care for the talking and could have started the fight at any point and b) I don't really see any point to watching Kakashi get slapped around by Rōga's Presence score. Alas, Kakashi has not focused his social stats like a charismatic dictator/cult-leader who rules by fear and glory. Maybe if you kill him, you can grab his XP.
Kakashi's rough battle plan is as follows:
His allies, Watari and the Yakuza missing-nin, both of whom he pegs at combat-focused special-jōnin level, focus on Himura, the swordsmaster.
Watari tries to fireball any Snow Release techniques he sees once Himura is disabled. Mieko said that Snow Release techniques can be weakened by exposure to fire-elemental abilities.
This should also set the room alight, generating tags.
Kakashi focuses on Rōga. He plans to just use Chidori.
Kakashi is going to run if he takes a Medium Consequence. If Himura is up, he'll escape through the collapsing walls and HLaM in a secondary location, otherwise, he'll HLaM directly. He doesn't think Rōga or his sister can stop him.
Nadare Kimiko's Medium Mental Consequence is still in play from last update, though it will not be penalizing her combat stats like normal. That means it can still be invoked. In particular, since the Consequence is related to her fear of Kakashi and the results of crossing him, if Kakashi says the right things during the combat, he can generate tag(s) on the Aspect. Discuss this, and vote for what you think will get her to fold.
Kakashi and Himura are in the same Zone (along with the hostages). Rōga and Kimiko are a Zone away. The outside is the next Zone over.
The first round of combat will have Watari and the Snow Yakuza ninja act first (as they're acting from stealth), then everyone else acts in order of Alertness. Every other round will proceed as normal.
There is no snow in either of the entrance hall Zones, nor in the immediate, one-Zone vicinity of the Castle (i.e. outside the building but inside the outer walls).
There will be a scene Aspect related to things being on fire once that happens, and Kakashi's team will get a tag. Kakashi can cause the building to collapse at any point by activating an explosive with a Supplemental, which will create a tag for the team (he currently intends to use it when he needs to escape, as otherwise he would be trapped in the collapsing building as well). For well-placed escape routes, Kakashi has two tags which can only be spent on Athletics to escape (1 per roll).
Kakashi gained 3 FP for accepting the Compel to call in Dragon, and 1 FP for winning the social combat against the Yakuza jōnin. He's now at 7 FP.
If you want Kakashi to do specific things, please vote them in. Additionally, we will pay attention to in-thread discussion to shape Kakashi's ideas and plans.
Write-ins highly encouraged this week. Get creative, Kakashi is going to need some help.
Voting Time! What do you do now?
Here are some options to get you started.
[] Follow the plan as outlined above. Don't overthink it.
[] Declare (-1 FP) that this was a Shadow Clone doing the talking. Make your way to Glacier while all the jōnin are out and try to find the shrine.
[] Alter the plan above to focus on Kimiko first. Dogpile Rōga with the others once she's down.
[] Open with a Fire Dragon Bullet, tagging and invoking all relevant Aspects, instead of Chidori.
[] Spam ranged ninjutsu from the castle battlements before closing in once they've been worn down.
[] Write-in.
Remember, we use approval voting, so you can vote for as many plans as you like. Also, feel free to ping@Paperclipped or@MMKII to ask setting or detail questions that Kakashi could plausibly know.
Voting is open, and closes at 9am London Time, Wednesday February 3.
[X] Open with a Fire Dragon Bullet, tagging and invoking all relevant Aspects, instead of Chidori.
EJ convinced me it's better with his old effortpost that I skimmed that I processed quickly, and it'll help ignite the whale fat smeared all over. I will very easily be convinced otherwise if you show me big number.
As for actual battle strategy, whether leading with FDB or charging, I think Kakashi should close the distance to Roga as quick as he can, don't give him time to use any jutsu and keep him on the back foot. He can Chidori then or simply boost, whatever Kakashi thinks will be more effective. He should avoid wasting chakra as much as possible, but if he can end the fight sooner, it would be worth it. Put some amount of effort into undermining Roga's authority, as described below, and try to turn his sister to our side if possible. Don't get killed over it or anything though, obviously. She's already off-balance, Kakashi only needs to let Roga prove what he's really like.
[X] Social Combat: Challenge Roga's Clarity of Thinking
Roga is seriously at the point where he's outright fetishizing the artifact. Kakashi found his speech inspiring at first but frankly I just find it creepy and weird. This guy is deranged to the point that he didn't ask about the hostages until prompted and didn't even react to Kakashi suggesting he would murder his cousin in front of him. (Insert worse than garbage speech here.) It's especially weird considering that Roga can't even be sure this shrine even exists. I mean it's not like they've seen it and just didn't have the key. The key does suggest a door, I suppose, but there's no telling what's really in it. Also, Roga was willing to tell a murdering thieving bastard what was in the vault just because he asked, when he didn't even tell his fucking sister who is a co-leader of the village.
BAMF Battle line idea suggestions (word them better than me):
Kakashi just thought Roga was a heartless bastard who would sacrifice his own people to get what he wanted, but he didn't realize he was so arrogant as to pointlessly sacrifice himself too.
Imagine needing to orchestrate a civil war just to earn a position of leadership, instead of being, you know, likable. Ever heard of the Sandaime Hokage? Mans carries a big stick and a bigger heart. People would throw themselves to the wolves for that man regardless of how powerful he is.
You seriously have the audacity to suggest that some jutsu in a shrine will restore Glacier when you're tearing it apart without any jutsu involved? Have you tried leading instead?
You don't seem very fazed by the fact that Kakashi nearly killed your sister. She put her life on the line for you and you immediately put her back in the fray without hesitation? That's cold, even for a snow user.
When Roga is dead, how will the rest of the village remember him? Do you think they'll miss him, put up statues of him and honor his memory? Or burn his corpse and piss on the ashes? Kakashi has a pretty good guess which.
Those folks who abandon the mission are garbage, but the people who could abandon their comrades are even worse filth than that. You're trash, Brock.
The mind games against Glacier from Kakashi calling out "Kill Roga and spare the other two!" to an unknown number of allies could be quite effective as well
Kakashi turned the last page of Icha Icha: The Passion of the Ice Queen and shut the book. The reader letters were awful as always, but Jiraiya occasionally let occasional pieces of lore slip through in his responses, so they were worth reading. He had already read the sequel of course, TPotIQ was not the current book in the series. He absently realized that the newest book would be coming out in just one week. How long will it take for it to reach me, wherever I am, when I'll be so far from Leaf?
So, some thoughts on the battle. I'm kinda with Oneiros, I'm down for our backup to target Roga immediately too and begin actual negotiations with the other two afterward. Our allies get a "surprise round" before the fight, but I doubt they'll neutralize Roga immediately, so Kakashi will need to hold off 3 Jonin for at least a round, at least one of whom who isn't sure she wants to fight Kakashi.
After we bop Roga, they have no chance of winning so it's in their best interest to play nice with negotiations.
My personal requests in negotiations:
If you give us the information Roga was using to track down the shrine, we'll go find it for you. If it takes more than a few days we'll just leave instead. In exchange, we will give you the recognition codes to call off the ANBU strike.
We want the red string and the magic sword. You can keep the thing that buffs snow release. Maybe use it to make the region less of a shithole, wall off the towns, whatever. We can't use it and it's useless to anyone who isn't a Nadare, so we may as well buy some goodwill with it.
If Mieko wants it, we want to take her with us. Kakashi is concerned that she'll be a black sheep from now on and she'll be vilified her whole life (Kakashi's dad comes to mind...) if not outright killed by the rest of the village. If Kimiko can promise her safety and Mieko wants to stay, Kakashi would recommend giving her a leadership role. She's a good one.
When Kakashi is well and truly ready to leave for the East, do us a favor and tell our tracker where we're going. You could even trade the information for money and food. (Do not bring this up until he is ready to leave, so it probably won't come up in the next update).
