Xilentxium
Existential Crisis Management
- Location
- Temperate Regions
ANBU GAI LET'S GOOOO
Lost on the Road of Life (An AU Naruto Quest)
- Thread starter MMKII
- Start date
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Xilentxium
Existential Crisis Management
- Location
- Temperate Regions
"I! MAITO GAI! uhh I mean ANBU TURTLE! SHALL BRING YOU, MY ETERNAL RIVAL...uh I mean RANDOM ENEMY! BACK HOME! I mean TO JUSTICE!"
- Location
- Book Fort
- Pronouns
- They/Them
No wonder why Hiruzen couldn't sway "Dragon" from the pursuit of his greatest
Interlude: The Hydraean’s Wrath
MMKII
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Interlude: The Hydraean's Wrath
"First… there was the one who we name not. Next came Yosho, who rediscovered the art of butchery. Azusa… Azusa who… wielded two swords…"
Demon of the Hidden Mist. Heh.
Fitting, since I'm in fucking hell now.
Zabuza's vision swam as he strained to stay conscious, to stay focused. He spit out a sticky gob of crimson saliva and took a tight, controlled breath through his nose. An oppressive coppery odor filled the room. It was a scent that was very familiar to him by this point in his shinobi career. Very familiar, like a dear old friend coming to chat over a mug of beer.
Zabuza shifted slightly on the floor, and every single muscle shrieked in absolute agony as a thousand white hot knives ripped into him. His mind fogged over, and his treacherous shitpile of a meatsack swayed slightly, triggering a new wave of pain, this one much duller than the last.
He could feel his blood run in rivulets— hot and wet and sticky— onto the floor.
Whatever it takes.
Zabuza coughed up another gob of bloody spit and forced his lungs and voice and mouth to cooperate damnit, as he recited the history of his sword, over and over. It was beaten into him, literally beaten into him, over the last few weeks, and now it stuck to his brain like grains of sand wedged between foot and sandal.
"First… there was...the one who we name not…"
I'm going to kill Yagura, Zabuza thought.
"Next came Yosho…"
I'm going to fucking kill him.
"...who rediscovered…"
He's already dead. He's already a fucking dead man.
"...the art of butchery."
I just haven't killed him yet.
Shards of molten metal continued to chip away at him.
o-o-o
The function room at Kurohige's was a damp closet in the back basement of the bar. It smelled like rotting fish and seaweed, and the walls were thick enough that you could fillet a shark alive inside and nobody would hear a squeak.
Which was perfect, because they were here to plot the murder of the Mizukage.
Zabuza sipped his glass of whiskey. Terumi Mei sipped at hers. She was hot shit, both literally and figuratively, given that she could weave a few handsigns and vomit out streams of molten lava as well as clouds of boiling steam. Having two bloodline limits that were compatible— and also in a way didn't result in the user killing themselves accidentally in their childhood— was rarer than a two headed fish. Rarer still was that Mei wasn't even from a proper Mist clan, the rumor on the street was that she was some orphaned babe that her (now long dead) chuunin mother picked up from somewhere in Hotsprings. There was a record of a minor clan there having the Boil Element, but the Lava Element was a complete unknown.
Barring Yagura, she was the strongest Mist ninja of their generation.
She was also a redhead.
"Is there anyone else we can count on?" Mei asked. "We're going to need a decent amount of support if any other combatants show up."
Zabuza thought for a moment.
"Haku will want to be there," Zabuza replied. "Gozu and Meizu can probably be convinced. We could set the three of them up to run interference alongside any assets you can bring to the table. Who do you got?"
"Mangetsu," Mei said, "and maybe one or two others."
Zabuza grunted. Hozuki Mangetsu was an up and coming chuunin that showed some serious promise. Not as on the ball as Haku, but that was a high bar to clear.
"Alright then," Zabuza said. "How do you want to do this?"
"Dead of night, attack the tower?"
"Mhm," Zabuza said. Vivid murder seeped into his thoughts, and some of it bled out as killing intent. Mei felt it and smirked in response.
He felt his sword stir.
Murder, blood, violence! the Executioner's Blade sang inside his head. He ignored it.
"Eager, are we?" Mei asked.
Zabuza paused, locking her eyes with a dead stare.
"You have no idea."
o-o-o
The two of them came in through the windows, enshrouded in a cloud of mist that his Water Clone produced, and preceded by a volley of Lava Bullets that Mei had spit out. The attack was perfect. The planning was perfect. The execution was perfect. There was no chance in hell of anything going wrong.
At least that's what Zabuza thought, seconds before it all went wrong.
His hands gripped his blade as he soared through the air, eyes locked onto the thin column of flesh, blood, and bone that was Yagura's neck. He'd behead the man in one swing. Poetic fucking justice.
Yagura's hands were in motion the instant the glass of the window had broken. The Mizukage hadn't even bothered to get up from his desk, he just—
"Coral Element: Bastion Reef."
Pain.
Zabuza stopped in mid-air as every inch of himself collided with a jagged mass of coral that suddenly filled the Mizukage's office. The coral reef slammed into him and kept expanding outwards, pushing him up and away at considerable speed. He noticed idly as he flew backwards through the air that the growing reef collapsed the whole building.
His fall was broken by the roof of a smithy, a few city blocks away. A spire of rainbow coral towered over the village skyline. He shot to his feet, hefting his sword up. Yagura might have had the next best thing to a god sealed inside his stomach, but jinchuuriki or not, he was still just a pile of meat at the end of the day.
And the Executioner's Blade would cut through that meat effortlessly, and then he would be dead, Tailed Beast or not. The hard part was getting there.
Zabuza's eyes unfocused as he prepared himself for the sort of high-level combat where too much attention in one direction would leave him a bloody smear on the sidewalk. His vision took in all the details of his environment, and he tracked a flurry of watery orbs as they shot over the horizon towards his solar plexus. He hefted his sword and Blocked. Normal wielders of the Ultra Greatsword style knew that Blocking was a last resort option against a ninjutsu attack, since any ninjutsu worth its salt that could be Blocked could probably rend a sword in twain, leaving you without a weapon in the best case scenario.
The Executioner's Blade was no normal sword, and it smote the water spheres out of the air effortlessly, without taking a scratch.
Kill, maim, destroy! howled the sword in the back of his mind.
Zabuza roared in agreement. He strode forward, the village blurring underneath his feet. He found his target a block away. Yagura was covered in a thin layer of spiky white coral and a shroud of reddish-black chakra that was tinged with blue here and there. Evidently the Mizukage had decided that there was no room to be fucking around.
I can play rough too, you greasy-haired cunt.
The Mizukage spat out a gob of greenish liquid at him, some acidic blob that would probably dissolve him in seconds and leave a pile of bones behind. Zabuza swept his sword up in a sweeping defensive gesture and Blocked that too, barely breaking stride.
Zabuza saw it in his mind's eye. He felt it in his bones, in his boiling blood, in his raging soul and his shining sword as he screamed forward. Today was the day.
I will kill you, Zabuza thought. Right here and now, my blade is going to slice through you like a sushi knife gutting a fucking salmon.
A second later and he was within striking distance. Zabuza hefted his sword up, let out a roar so intense that it tore something in his throat and loosed blood and spittle out from behind his sharpened teeth, and brought the Executioner's Blade down on Yagura with every ounce of force his mighty physical form could muster. It bit down through the coral armor, sliced through the chakra shroud the Jinchuuriki wore underneath, and the edge sunk into the muscle and sinew of Yagura's upper torso and shoulder.
Yagura's eyes widened in surprise.
"Take that, you piece of shit stupid-haircut-having motherfu— "
A tail emerged from the shroud and sideswiped him. Zabuza was thrown to the side by the force of the blow, as his sword spun off uselessly into the distance. He could feel his left arm, something wasn't right. Was it broken? A torn ligament? Something wasn't working in the limb anymore. His ribs seemed a little creaky too...
Shit, Zabuza thought, his undying rage brought down to a burning simmer. I guess I'm fucked then. I can probably still rip his throat out if I can get up close. Maybe use my teeth?
Yagura inhaled deeply, probably getting ready to drown him with another acid glob, before he was seized in the jaws of a giant water dragon that came rushing out of nowhere. The water ninjutsu surged forward over one of the street's buildings, and the Mizukage soared high up and out of view with it. Probably landing far enough away that they'd have to hunt him down and fight through a pile of loyal Mist ninja at this point.
Water Dragon Bullet was one of Soichiro-sensei's specials. Stood to reason then that his master had shown up to help in the nick of time, sending Yagura a quarter of the way across the city in the process.
Stupid drunken masters meddling in their student's revenge plots.
Mei is probably dead, shame. I wonder if Haku is still alive? Kid deserves better than to die to a horde of nobodies.
"What in the absolute fuck are you doing!?" Master yelled. He looked kinda mad. Why was he being such a grumpy fuck?
Sprinkles of debris fell off his flak jacket as Zabuza hauled himself up off the ground.
"Trying to assassinate this piece of shit."
"I can see that," his master barked, "but did you morons actually have a plan other than 'hit him real fuckin' good'?"
Zabuza grunted. "Mei was going to blast him with some ninjutsu and then I'd take his head off, or slice off a limb and—"
"He's a Jinchuuriki, dipshit! If you hack off a limb he'll just grow a new one and shank the old one in-between yer ribs!"
Zabuza blinked.
Huh. News to me.
"And another thing, you didn't think to maybe let your incredibly fuckin strong mentor in on this little bit of treason?" Soichiro-sensei spat a thick one out to the side. "I know I'm getting old, son, but we probably could've done something other than get you and a bunch of yer friends killed."
Ouch. That hit hard. They underestimated the bastard's capabilities a bit (who would've ever figured that Yagura could make a six story tall spire of coral the size of a city block?), but…
…
Shapes flickered in the distance as the city-wide emergency gongs started up. Soichiro dropped into a guard stance.
"Get yer get-up-and-go back up into gear and get the fuck out of the country," Soichiro said. "If you head out now I'll be able to hold them."
What?? No!
"Fuck that," Zabuza snarled. "No way I'm leaving you to die now too."
"DO YOU WANT ANOTHER SHOT AT THE CUNT OR NOT!?" Soichiro yelled. "It's get leaving or get dyin', make a choice kid."
Zabuza weighed the options.
There wasn't much weighing to do. If he was well and truly fucked now, then he'd have to leave this rotting cesspit of a village and come back later to finish the job. He'd need more training, more experience, more power. He needed assistance, people that Yagura wouldn't be able to turn into mincemeat, teammates that could go toe to toe with a bijuu, maybe. He'd need…
Where's my sword? Zabuza blinked.
"The sword, I need to go find— "
"Were you paying any attention the last month!? You can't lose the damn sword. Now fuck off outta here!"
Zabuza turned on his heels and ran.
o-o-o
Soichiro gasped desperately. He was in bad straits, though he wouldn't let the bastards know it.
A squad of Mist ANBU lay dead at his feet. Another two squads surrounded him, eyeing him with the same trepidation and anxious anticipation a handful of genin would eye a giant sea snake. He might have been able to take them, if he was fresh out of the gate. Maybe if he hadn't gotten that knee injury last year fighting Jiraiya of the Three. He could certainly do it, if only he had his sword…
Shame.
The sound of a pair of hands clapping split the night as a short figure in an evening robe stepped into view. He was accompanied by a jounin Wakahisa holding an unconscious ANBU— Haru? Haku? One of those was the kid's name— and another barrel of ANBU.
Soichiro squinted.
"Ah, Mori." Soichiro said, "I should have fuckin' guessed. This one of yer shellfish traps?"
Mori Yamato, the clan head of Mist's most brilliant family of strategically-inclined bastards, was far too professional to laugh while he was on the job. Or off the job. Instead he smirked ever so slightly.
"Well, I suppose it was one of the options on the table," Mori said. The man waved a hand. "But it was certainly an opportunity. Hoshigake Sandayū unfortunately died valiantly in the chaos, you see. I'm sure the new leader of the swordsmen will be able to fill his shoes."
Soichiro felt his blood boil over, but he kept himself under control. He narrowed his eyes.
"I'm sure yer real eager for me to take a swing at ya for that one, shogi boy" Soichiro said. "So, I'm not gonna."
Mori's smirk stayed on his face.
"Consider this," Mori said, holding up a hand towards the unconscious Mist ANBU in a demonstrative gesture that wouldn't be out of place in an academy instructor's lecture. "I have your pupil's apprentice right here. I'm sure he'll be a choice piece of bait for the lobster trap we're going to be setting in the future for him. Don't you think? Of course, I think you have enough fight left in you to take him out before you're neutralized. It's an option. So is surrendering."
Soichiro grunted. His eyes scanned the crowd of ninja for movement, but not a single person twitched so much as a muscle.
"Unfortunately for you," Mori continued, "only one of those options will take out the remaining leverage we have to play against your student. So the game gets predictable from here. Do you want to play it out, or would you rather we skip to the end?"
He's fuckin' toyin with me, is he?
No, wait.
Soichiro's gut analyzed the situation. It said that something wasn't quite right with it. His mind took over, and after some amount of mulling it over, he saw the trap.
They'd capture him no matter what, and torture all sorts of information out of his rotting half-corpse that they probably hadn't been able to get out of Sandayū. Then they'd string him up like a freshly gut swordfish and use him as bait to draw Zabuza back. They'd do the same if they had Haku alive, only they wouldn't be able to get their grubby paws on any of the knowledge about the swords.
Either way you cut it, he lost.
Unless...
For a moment, the silence was thick enough to slice with a kunai. The apprehension and killing intent and anxiety and sheer adrenaline permeating the air was almost strong enough to be a physical force. Like gravity, or the ever changing tides.
But that moment passed.
"Fuck you," Soichiro spat. He smiled, showing off some particularly sharp teeth. "Ain't gonna play your games."
He took his practice sword — the only sword that he owned now — and spun it around to face himself as quick as a riptide. At the peak of the blade's acceleration, he twisted unnaturally and slammed the edge into his own neck.
Well, this is it. Time to head to the great distillery under the waves.
Never liked this fuckin' place much, anyways.
AN:
Kakashi knows the very broad summary of the fight scenes in this interlude, and does not have direct access to any of the details that aren't publicly known (no PoV internal monologue info, etc.). Voting remains closed.
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- Pronouns
- He/Him
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Should have had more explosives. Could have taken Haku and maybe even some of the anbu with him if he had a big enough boom.
Rookie mistake.
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Ohhhhhh, *that* sword. Not the sword I was thinking of.
Xilentxium
Existential Crisis Management
- Location
- Temperate Regions
Who knows, Zabuza could have been dual wielding.Ohhhhhh, *that* sword. Not the sword I was thinking of.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So, build discussion.
Kakashi's best stat is Tai 60, and he has two 50s with Chidori and Athletics. imo, his first 70 stat should actually be Athletics. Dodging stuff is useful when attacking, when fleeing, when ambushed, and so on, and while punching stuff really hard is great I think his survivability is preferable to it. Regardless, either Taijutsu or Athletics being raised to 70 will require an additional 50 stat to support them both being in the 60s.
Chakra Reserves and Alertness are both ~40 and have good argument for becoming the 50 stat. In fact, we could raise one to 50 and the other to 49 because they honestly both need to be better.
However, to support 3 50s we also need another 40 stat. Physique -> 40 would give us an additional stress box, same for Resolve -> 40 for Mental Stress. Imo the Physique route is better but there's argument for both.
And then there's Technique Hacking. I think TH -> 30 is a good stopping point for a while, we get an additional AB for research prep, rolls, refinement, etc. and we can bump it up further when we need more sauce. Notably Chakra Reserves AB is also tied to our ability of refinement which lends a bit more support for CR 50 over Alertness 50.
(These aren't in any particular order but obviously pyramids sort of restrict certain orders)
TH -> 30 (280 XP)
Physique -> 40 (117 XP)
CR -> 50 (828 XP)
Alertness -> 49 (405 XP)
Athletics -> 70 (1210 XP) [Note: Ath -> 60 and then Tai -> 70 would cost the same as this]
'Short term' Total: 2840 XP
There will also be stunt purchases, namely Summoning. I'm not sure if the Stunts from Technique Hacking cost XP or not, but if they do then those too.
Kakashi's best stat is Tai 60, and he has two 50s with Chidori and Athletics. imo, his first 70 stat should actually be Athletics. Dodging stuff is useful when attacking, when fleeing, when ambushed, and so on, and while punching stuff really hard is great I think his survivability is preferable to it. Regardless, either Taijutsu or Athletics being raised to 70 will require an additional 50 stat to support them both being in the 60s.
Chakra Reserves and Alertness are both ~40 and have good argument for becoming the 50 stat. In fact, we could raise one to 50 and the other to 49 because they honestly both need to be better.
However, to support 3 50s we also need another 40 stat. Physique -> 40 would give us an additional stress box, same for Resolve -> 40 for Mental Stress. Imo the Physique route is better but there's argument for both.
And then there's Technique Hacking. I think TH -> 30 is a good stopping point for a while, we get an additional AB for research prep, rolls, refinement, etc. and we can bump it up further when we need more sauce. Notably Chakra Reserves AB is also tied to our ability of refinement which lends a bit more support for CR 50 over Alertness 50.
(These aren't in any particular order but obviously pyramids sort of restrict certain orders)
TH -> 30 (280 XP)
Physique -> 40 (117 XP)
CR -> 50 (828 XP)
Alertness -> 49 (405 XP)
Athletics -> 70 (1210 XP) [Note: Ath -> 60 and then Tai -> 70 would cost the same as this]
'Short term' Total: 2840 XP
There will also be stunt purchases, namely Summoning. I'm not sure if the Stunts from Technique Hacking cost XP or not, but if they do then those too.
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Chapter 25: Discordance
- Location
- USA
Tha-thunk.
Tha-thunk.
Kagato listened to the beating of his heart as he fought, using it to time the rotation of his kusarigama. A beat from left to right, a half-beat to pull the right one in, a half-beat to step back, and repeat, filling the space in front of him with endless blades. One beat to kill the beasts as they advanced, one beat to clear the space and retreat, drawing them forward. One beat of reaping, one beat of sowing.
All battles had a rhythm that all shinobi born of the Hakubi learned to hear. Rhythms and repetition governed life in all aspects, from walking to singing to cooking to making love, so why then did it come as such a surprise to outsiders that even in the midst of a chaotic battle, the rhythms were present? The beasts each moved to a rhythm of their own, though whether they could hear it, Kagato knew not. Even people fought to rhythms of their own in their patterns of strikes and the flow of chakra in their seals.
To be a shinobi of the Hakubi and to hear the rhythms meant to learn how to use them to defeat an enemy. Each enemy had a rhythm upon the Winds that could be sensed, almost tasted for how richly it dripped with the enemy's personality. Find the rhythm and flow with it, accelerating above to add beats that they can't respond to, or dropping below to carefully outmatch and outlast them.
Other Clans knew the rhythms in their hearts, and it was clear in the way that they fought that they followed the same principles implicitly that Kagato's father had made explicit to him. Those without a clan followed the same, though their rhythms were more unique and chaotic, devoid of the confident predictability of those relying on a thousand-year tradition. In each and every one of those shinobi that fought in defense of Demon today, Kagato instinctively sensed the rhythms of their fighting, brought to him upon the Winds, and just as instinctively planned how to shape his rhythm to dominate theirs.
Hatake's rhythm drew close. His was insistent, beating constantly and reliably, though it suddenly swelled at times into a roaring clamor, or fell just as suddenly into a sullen rumble. A challenging rhythm, to be sure, but not one beyond Kagato's ability to understand.
Hatake had fought well today, and fought honestly, and thus far his foolish plan to evade the attention of his vengeful ally had yet to sour. His will was still weak and uncertain, yet the uniqueness of his situation was intriguing and he seemed to carry a great potential. The unique situation in his eye, and the private words of that truthseer suggested much of interest…
Perhaps if he managed to evade the attention of the hunter, Kagato would hear him out once more to see if he could really answer why he wanted to learn to cross the Paths.
But the hunter…
All battles had a rhythm that bound the actions of fighters. An attack led to a dodge. A dodge led to a counter-attack. A counter-attack led to a parry. A parry led to the enemy's death. This was not mere philosophy, this was physical fact. Every swing of a sword took time to complete and draw back to guard, and every footstep needed to be followed by a transfer of weight.
So, why then did the man Hatake called the Dragon fight without rhythm?
A parry. When the Dragon turned the strike away, he did not twist and strike to sever the enemy's forearm, nor did he follow the swing with a clawed strike to scratch out the opponent's eyes. He broke the rhythm and stuttered, faster than the Winds could follow, and plunged his fist through the enemy's skull. Instead of taking the opening at his leisure, he strained his body and his chakra to strike at the very first possible opportunity.
The enemy would offer a rhythm, and the Dragon would deny it, striking not just in-between the beats, but with no respect for the rhythm at all.
It was predictable. In every moment, the Dragon sought the quickest, most direct way to kill the enemy. A method so predictable should never have allowed such a man to come to power, for even those untrained in hearing the rhythms should recognize the Dragon and break it. How, then, did he learn to move so fast that it broke the rhythm of every creature he met into a discordant mess?
o-o-o-o
Kakashi held up an open hand and Dragon stopped the swivelling motion of his mask to follow Kakashi's gaze. Dragon's body language was just as unreadable as ever, but even Kakashi could sense the coiled tension that suddenly filled the air around them when Dragon realized who Kakashi's gaze was following.
"That's the man that killed Kushina and Minato-sensei." The words were emotionless.
"He's the reason I left Leaf, he's the one who I'm going to track down and kill. Kushina asked me to kill him as she died." For once, Kakashi didn't feel that pressure in his face as he spoke. All he felt was cold. He scanned around, making eye contact with Kagato, who had noticed him stopping the fight to talk with Dragon and was making his way over.
"Are you going to stop me."
Kakashi didn't bother making it sound like a question. He let the cold rage in his heart flow through his body as the beasts started to advance on his perimeter and he moved to crush them.
"No," said Dragon, "Gathering information on him is critical."
"Good." Kakashi gestured at the approaching Mantis Summoner to follow after as Kakashi and Dragon started east to follow the man with the mysterious power of intangibility.
"Is something the matter?" asked Kagato as he filed in behind the two of them in the corridor of chakra beast corpses they left behind.
"That man," Kakashi said, pointing out his fleeing back, "is the man that I've told you about, the one who I need to kill because of what he's done."
"I believe you decided to seek me out," Kagato said, speaking slowly and cautiously, "because you understood you weren't physically strong enough to defeat him."
Kakashi grit his teeth, and worked to unclench his fist. "I… you're right. I can't beat a man who matched the Fourth Hokage, but I can find out why he's here. That's something that Dragon and I both want to make happen. We need to follow him."
Kagato pulled to a stop, swinging the wind-enhanced scythes and cutting a swath of bisected creatures in a wide radius around them. "I acknowledge this is important to you, but you cannot win, and the tracks he leaves behind will remain for an hour. Both of you have still agreed to aid the ninja of Demon in their fight against the hordes, and that fight has almost been fought. Why renege now, when the cost of carrying through is so nearly paid?"
Kakashi gestured at the man, now on the verge of slipping out of sight on the broken terrain. "We don't have time for this. He has a selective invulnerability technique that lets him phase through attacks, but I was able to hit him by surprise. Working together, we could stand a shot at beating him down, or at least making him retreat the way Minato-sensei did."
"I thought you only wished to observe?" said Kagato.
"I leave in thirty seconds," said Dragon. They had reached the far end of the last wave of creatures, and Dragon immediately leapt to shred the face of the giant tusked gorilla monster that had noticed them.
Kakashi turned to face Kagato head-on. "Look, we need you right now. You're a jounin and a summoner, so you must have powerful techniques for observing from afar, and you know that you have the skills to help us in a fight. Demon will survive, the result of the battle is clear, and this man is an unknown threat that clearly wants something from your country. We don't know what he wanted from ours. He still caused one of the biggest shitshows we ever had, and that was right on the heels of the worst war of a generation. Can you stand by and let him do what he wants uncontested?"
Kakashi promised to Kagato that he would help with the clean-up of the beasts, but the battle is almost over, and this is dearly and desperately important to him. Kakashi is basically going to try to steamroll Kagato through force of personality and get him to not only accept it, but go along with him to protect Kakashi from Dragon. He'll be using Presence.
Kagato, in contrast, wants to keep Kakashi and Dragon around because they're powerful combatants, and their presence means less ninja from Demon die as the battle is cleaned up. He'll do this through command and appeals to Kakashi's honor. He'll also be using Presence, which, unfortunately for Kakashi, is Kagato's best social stat.
Kakashi (Presence): 30 + 4 (Invoke: Man on a Mission) + 4 (Invoke: Sole Survivor) - 3 (dice) = 35
Kakashi spends a FP to reroll!
Kakashi (Presence): 30 + 4 (Invoke: Man on a Mission) + 4 (Invoke: Sole Survivor) - 3 (dice) = 35
Unfortunate. He has no more Aspects to invoke, and Kakashi doesn't want to spend his last Fate Point right now anyway, since Dragon continues to be a problem.
Kagato (Presence): ?? + 0 (dice) = ??
Kagato wins the contest, but not by too much.
Kagato, in contrast, wants to keep Kakashi and Dragon around because they're powerful combatants, and their presence means less ninja from Demon die as the battle is cleaned up. He'll do this through command and appeals to Kakashi's honor. He'll also be using Presence, which, unfortunately for Kakashi, is Kagato's best social stat.
Kakashi (Presence): 30 + 4 (Invoke: Man on a Mission) + 4 (Invoke: Sole Survivor) - 3 (dice) = 35
Kakashi spends a FP to reroll!
Kakashi (Presence): 30 + 4 (Invoke: Man on a Mission) + 4 (Invoke: Sole Survivor) - 3 (dice) = 35
Unfortunate. He has no more Aspects to invoke, and Kakashi doesn't want to spend his last Fate Point right now anyway, since Dragon continues to be a problem.
Kagato (Presence): ?? + 0 (dice) = ??
Kagato wins the contest, but not by too much.
Kagato stiffened. "Oaths must be kept, Hatake, for they only have value if they truly bind your actions. I have made an oath to protect the people of the land; that they are not of my clan and that they will win regardless is no longer my concern. The details are irrelevant for my path has been chosen by my past self. I will keep my oath. Will you keep yours?"
Dragon returned, Wind Release claws already sloughing off the grey-green gore of the latest creature to cross his path. He took a second to look at Kakashi, then another to look at Kagato. He wordlessly turned away from the conversation and started to run east after Minato-sensei's killer.
Kagato frowned. "He will kill you if you go alone, you understand that?"
Kakashi nodded. He didn't really think so, but he knew what Kagato thought.
Kagato sighed, almost imperceptible. He turned back west, to face the lines of chakra beasts from behind as they clashed with the tired defenders of the Land of Demon. "I have known that which you feel, and I have broken oaths before. Do as you must. I will ensure Gongen does not brand you an oathbreaker. Seek the revenge your heart desires."
(-1 FP) Declare Kagato is Within Earshot
Approved, as you can tell.
(-1 FP) Declare That Kakashi and Sugiyama Arranged a Rendezvous Location In Case Kakashi Had to Flee From Dragon
Approved. You found a small gully pretty near the Rakshasa camp with a nice hiding spot underneath a tangle of roots. It had to be close because of Sugiyama's… limited over-land movement speed, but is otherwise a fine bolthole.
(-1 FP) DYNAMIC ENTRY!
Denied. We discussed it and decided there was no reasonable way to make this happen.
Approved, as you can tell.
(-1 FP) Declare That Kakashi and Sugiyama Arranged a Rendezvous Location In Case Kakashi Had to Flee From Dragon
Approved. You found a small gully pretty near the Rakshasa camp with a nice hiding spot underneath a tangle of roots. It had to be close because of Sugiyama's… limited over-land movement speed, but is otherwise a fine bolthole.
(-1 FP) DYNAMIC ENTRY!
Denied. We discussed it and decided there was no reasonable way to make this happen.
Compel on Man on a Mission!
Kakashi has been put in a tough situation. Will he accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind to finish the fight, leaving Dragon to track the Intangible Man alone and following his footprints only afterwards? Or will he go forth, risking his life not only against his sensei's killer, but against Leaf's most dangerous ANBU, known for his dedication to completing the mission?
If you can find a third path, the Compel does not necessarily apply (to QM discretion).
Voting Time! What do you do now?
Here are some options to get you started.
[] (Accept Compel, +1 FP) Follow Dragon to the east to see what the Masked Man is doing. Know that doing so may tank your reputation with Kagato and lead to your death in many ways.
[] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
[] Write-in
Remember, we use approval voting, so you can vote for as many plans as you like. Feel free to ping @Paperclipped or @MMKII to ask setting or detail questions that Kakashi could plausibly know.
Voting is open, and closes at 10pm UK Time, Friday November 26.
- Location
- Mooselandia
That first part with Dragon went... shockingly smoothly.
I think we should stay with Kagato. It's pretty clear that nothing good will come of us going along with Kakashi's hotheadedness.
That said, maybe if we can figure out some way to send a shadow clone instead of our physical selves...
I think we should stay with Kagato. It's pretty clear that nothing good will come of us going along with Kakashi's hotheadedness.
That said, maybe if we can figure out some way to send a shadow clone instead of our physical selves...
Is this declare still potentially viable?
- Location
- USA
At the moment, Kakashi neither has the chakra to cast a Shadow Clone, nor retroactively cast a Shadow Clone.
MMKII
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Nope. That was just an example-- if you had a buttload more chakra we might consider it.
MMKII
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Emphasis mine:
If Kakashi had CR 60 (rough ballpark thereabouts) and didn't spend chakra like it was nothin' on techniques and keeping the Sharingan up and chakra boosting and all that, then the "You fool, it was only a Doombot!" type declarations are much more viable (though not necessarily always going to actually happen: your Shadow Clone can't use the Sharingan for example, so any Sharingan use is going to need to come from Kakashi Prime in any given scene).
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
This ain't an Icha Icha novel Kakashi, revenge won't give you a magic power up. Power is power etc, and honestly I doubt Kakashi will manage to keep up/track the Intangible Man without Kagato's help anyway.
This ain't an Icha Icha novel Kakashi, revenge won't give you a magic power up. Power is power etc, and honestly I doubt Kakashi will manage to keep up/track the Intangible Man without Kagato's help anyway.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Had to look this name up as I hadn't seen it used before (although I recognize the weapon), very cool 10/10
This some Rhythm of War type shit. Is Kagato actually a Parshendi? IS THIS AU IN THE COSMERE
😎
"Yep, that's a clear case of Protagonist Syndrome."
Can't insult a plan if it works Kagato. Tsk tsk
Wait, like eye metaphorically, like in his view, or the Sharingan? Also, I like the statement that Sugiyama is a truthseer, but it says nothing about being a truthteller
Time to pore over this over and over to discern his identity from our list of candidates. He moves like a machine rather than a person...
Poor guy. Dedicating your life to revenge is definitely good for your mental health right?? /s
Hmm, it doesn't sound like Dragon is going to try fighting this guy either, which, good idea. Dragon would probably get obliterated, same for Kakashi.
Damn, we were close. That's too bad, but waiting might work out okay too. We can bring more of the others with us, even, like Gongen.
Kakashi doesn't think the Intangible Man will kill him? Why does he think that? Surely he's not so arrogant as to believe he could do better than Minato?
- Location
- New York
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
Hope Dragon doesn't die.
Hope Dragon doesn't die.
Xilentxium
Existential Crisis Management
- Location
- Temperate Regions
A kusarigama user eh? This makes me want to play Nioh 2 again
[X] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
[X] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
[X] (Reject Compel, -1 FP) Accept Kagato's wishes and stay behind. Once the fight is finished in an hour, bring Kagato with you and follow the Intangible Man (and Dragon).
So, something interesting about this particular compel I'd like to bring to everyone's attention: It is not just a compel on Man on a Mission, but it also puts it into conflict with another aspect of his: He Who Breaks the Rules. This is relevant because here, beyond the plus or minus FP, and the explicit narrative consequences of this choice, we're also choosing whether to prioritize Kakashi's bonds with his fellow ninja -- his philosophy that protecting his teammates and keeping his word on such things is important, versus the mission he's set himself and his drive toward that end. This choice will, in part, determine his characterization going forward.
Food for thought.
So, something interesting about this particular compel I'd like to bring to everyone's attention: It is not just a compel on Man on a Mission, but it also puts it into conflict with another aspect of his: He Who Breaks the Rules. This is relevant because here, beyond the plus or minus FP, and the explicit narrative consequences of this choice, we're also choosing whether to prioritize Kakashi's bonds with his fellow ninja -- his philosophy that protecting his teammates and keeping his word on such things is important, versus the mission he's set himself and his drive toward that end. This choice will, in part, determine his characterization going forward.
Food for thought.
MMKII
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I think you would've stumbled upon a certain eccentric side character by now if that was the case, wouldn't you think?
"CARIYAGA IS OBSERVANT," YISUN said.