"To be clear, did you mean 'for now'?" Kei asked, suspicion in her tone.
"No, Kei," Hazō said, struggling not to let the laughter out. "That is not what I meant. When I said 'Kei, thank you for your thoughts the other day, I have taken them to heart and the Gōketsu will not be pursuing the Hyena Summoning Scroll further', I meant that the Gōketsu will not be pursuing the Hyena Summoning Scroll further. Not now, not next week, not next month."
"But—"
"Yes, it is true that since becoming a Clan Head I have learned not to make universal statements and I therefore will not rule out the possibility of new information arising that causes me to reevaluate that decision at some point in the distant future, but I currently have no idea what such information might be nor any reason to believe it will arise. Therefore, after careful consideration, in my aforementioned role as Clan Head and supreme dictator of the Clan Gōketsu, I have decided that for the foreseeable future and based on all the information I have at this time and the wise advice of my wisest advisors, which might I add includes yourself, the Gōketsu will not be pursuing acquisition of the Hyena Summoning Scroll."
She seemed nonplussed.
"Seriously?" Hazō asked, the laughter bubbling up in his throat. "You're seriously surprised that I'm taking your advice?"
"Another Summoning Scroll would be of tremendous advantage to the Gōketsu," she said. "I simply thought that—"
"Oh, stop being an idiot," Hazō said with a dismissive wave. "You told me not to do it, you explained why, you were right. You usually are. That's why I talk to you before I do big and important things."
Mari, who had been sitting quietly across the table from Kei, burst out laughing. "He's got you there."
Kei gave her a 'Set You On Fire With My Brain' look, but it was barely half-hearted. More of a 'Warm Your Skin To A Mildly Unpleasant Degree With My Brain' look.
"Moving on," Hazō said. "Noburi told me that Naruto had him refill shadow clones of Ruri and Sasuke."
Silence ruled the table for a moment.
"Well, it was nice while it lasted," Mari said with a sigh.
"You think the secret is definitely out?" Hazō asked.
Mari nodded. "Honestly, I'm surprised it took this long. There's only four parts to our special WHOOSH training method: having access to the Shadow Clone jutsu, recognizing that shadow clones can be used for training, recognizing that resistance to clone shock is a thing that can be trained, and having access to someone who can refill the chakra of a Shadow Clone user. Naruto must have already known the first three parts of that—there's no way he's gotten so strong so young unless he's been using massive numbers of shadow clones to train, which he can do because he's got the chakra reserves of a jinchūriki. Until now he hasn't had access to part four, the chakra transfer bit, so he couldn't let anyone else in on the secret. I'm not sure why he's waited this long."
"I'm not thrilled about losing our competitive advantage," Hazō said. "Isn't this theft of clan secrets?"
Mari snorted. "First, he's the Hokage so what are we supposed to do? Second, none of that is a clan secret. The Shadow Clone jutsu doesn't belong to us, knowing that they can be used for training is already widely known, and knowing that clone shock resistance can be trained is a fairly obvious discovery that anyone would make after pushing themselves a little too hard during training. Anyone who rises high enough to be given the good ol' SC is going to be the kind of person who rides on the edge of overtraining at all times. They'll notice that they're able to handle more and more hours of clone time."
"I agree. This is most definitely not something we can claim as clan secrets."
Hazō sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair in frustration. "Okay, fine. Anything further to say on the subject?"
Kei shook her head. Mari shrugged helplessly.
"Fine. Moving on. Kei, you mentioned you've been feeling like you lost your edge lately. Have you thought about going back and checking out those caves with the violet shades we saw?"
"The ones where I cannot make effective use of my weapons, my shadow clones, or my summons? The ones that are filled with extremely dangerous monsters that nearly killed us last time?" She paused a beat until Hazō's mouth started to open in panicked self-defense, then smiled. "I have, yes. They would be an excellent opportunity to test out my mastery of the Nara jutsu. Unfortunately, the caverns are empty of anything larger than a vole. The shades are gone."
"Oh. Rats. ...Well, what about a monster hunt? Would that work?"
"It would indeed. As it happens, I had been planning to leave on Tuesday and I wished to ask you for permission to invite Yuno."
"Yuno? I'm sure she would like that. Go for it."
"Thank you. Now, unless you have anything else...? No? Excellent. There were a few matters I wished to bring to your attention relating to interactions of the Gōketsu and the Nara clans. The first is a disciplinary offense..."
'A few matters' stretched to encompass the rest of a three-hour meeting, throughout which Mari remained mostly silent. Only after Kei had been walked to the door and waved on her way did she take him by the arm and lead him back to the secure meeting room. No sooner were all the privacy seals activated than she turned to Hazō, her purple eyes intense.
"If you're going missing and you want to bring Noburi, you need to go now," she said. "You were planning to do some sort of long-term mission that we simply don't come back from, right? Take the team, go off on a scroll hunt or something that would logically take a couple months so that people don't start looking for us right away. Once Naruto sees how much faster Noburi is letting Leaf's jōnin train, and how fast the chūnin will be turning into desperately-needed jōnin, he is never going to let Noburi go off on a long-term mission. He can't...well, he won't force Noburi to be a water slave, chained to a desk and doing nothing but moving chakra around all day, but he's definitely not going to want him out of town for long stretches."
"You just said he won't stop us."
"I said he won't chain Noburi to a desk. Naruto will use every tool at his disposal to make Noburi sit at that desk voluntarily, and he's got the tools. Fat stacks of coin, honors, public praise, maybe jutsu for the clan. We'll get the best teachers available for our younglings, our projects will get approved for Tower resources unless they're completely insane. Probably more, but that makes the point. But only as long as Noburi is on the home front doing this."
"Damnit."
"Yeah. That was the plan, right? Take the family on a long term mission, then bounce so that you can keep doing rift research?"
"Mari, I'm shocked that you would ask such a thing. I am, as you know, a loyal ninja of Leaf and would never consider going missing. Although yes, taking the whole family on a long-term mission so that we could spend some time together away from the pressures of the city does sound nice."
"Right. Good answer."
Author's Note: I'm tired and not feeling it, so I'll summarize the rest:
With Cannai's approval, you spoke to the Toad Sages. They have no problem with the Horizon Chasers coming to Toad, although they aren't going to host them per se. Basically they'll arrange for their visas (to the extent that such things are things, on which subject no comment), housing, etc, but they aren't going to have the dogs sleeping in the guest room
The Horizon Chasers agree that getting out of Pangolin is a good plan and they're on their way to Toad. They don't need an escort
You talked to Cantahapuyu. She's willing to try teaching a human technique hacking but she's not optimistic after Hazō's failure at learning the jutsu she had explicitly adapted for humans
You did all the research. We'll get you details later
Great Seal:
Now that he has his wits about him, Hazō will again do a prep day to try to figure out what's going on with the Great Seal:
Hazō (Primordial Sealing): 11 + 25 (cross-disciplinary bonus from Sealing) - 6 = 30
He still can't quite wrap his head around it. The Great Seal is just too complex for him to understand.
Done! Unfortunately, this seal doesn't achieve the intended benefit of making it easier to see camouflaged enemies, as it only outputs a single color of light in the same way as the other Lantern-derived seals.
Setting aside one point early in the project where he really took it easy with his seal scribing and barely caught a potentially-dangerous error, Hazō finds the Substitution seal to be an entertaining puzzle – somewhat challenging but not too strenuous to work on. He thinks he'll be done in one or two more days of research at this pace.
Hazō thinks he's very close to getting this seal finished up.
Reusable Rocket Boots:
[This is @Paperclipped's comment]
The plan says to invoke as much as possible. In the past, we've occasionally granted Aspects like "Team Uplift" and "Lord of Clan Gōketsu" on sealing research, but I think this was rather generous – Hazō's sealing-related Aspect is "Out-Touched Sealing Genius", and these other ones really are meant to fill other roles (LoCG representing his social position, primarily for social-combat reasons, and Team Uplift… I'm not exactly sure).
I'm increasingly inclined to be very stingy about granting Aspects for sealing research (particularly as a result of trying to model other top-end researchers like Orochimaru and Sasori, and wanting their highest-achievable-sealing-rolls to be reasonably low), so I do not expect that I would grant these Aspects in the future. Still, the players didn't know this before the plan and Hazō is flush with justly-earned FP, so I'll grant "Team Uplift" while Hazō is working on RRBs (since Hazō's primary motivation with this seal is to keep TU safe if/when he goes missing). Just be aware of this for the future.
Hazō (Calligraphy): 47 + 3 (IN) + 12 (prep) + 3 (Dampeners) + 3 = 68
Hazō (Sealing): 51 + 24 (SSA) + 16 (prep) + 8 (Invoke "Out-Touched Sealing Genius") + 8 (Invoke "Team Uplift") + ? (Kazushi's assistance) - 6 = 101 + ? Hazōpilot would probably reroll here, for progress rather than safety, but the plan overrides him.
Kazushi is well out of his league here, but he's still helping! Together, they make pretty substantial progress on RRBs. Hazō thinks he's about a third of the way done.
XP AWARD: 32 XP This update covered 10 days.
Brevity XP: 10
"GM had fun" XP: 0 Nothing terribly exciting in here, but maybe that's just me being low-energy. The Toad Sages could probably have been fun.
Hazō felt the slap that attached certain death to his back, and a whisper came in his ear: "Be still or you explode."
Hazō was still.
"Drop your weapons," Kagome-sensei said. After all these months, hearing his raspy, slightly high-pitched voice, just as it had been before practice speaking with other human beings smoothed it out, set Hazō's heart at peace even as he remained in mortal danger.
Very carefully, Hazō removed the kunai holster from his belt and let it fall. His shuriken pouch and ninja wire followed.
"The last pouch is a pair of sealing scrolls," he said. "One's for you, so I'd really rather lower them down carefully."
A bight of rope slapped over his shoulder, both ends pre-tied in wide loops.
"Right wrist to left ankle, around the tree," Kagome-sensei said.
Hazō licked his lips. Even with the loops fully tightened, the rope was only about twenty centimetres long; this was not going to be the most comfortable conversation. Still, he'd pulled it off once before, with much less information, and he had a vague sense of what conversational beats to aim for.
"Who are you?" Kagome-sensei demanded. "When are you from?"
"My name is Kurosawa Hazō," Hazō said evenly. "I'm originally from Hidden Mist, but I went–"
He felt the sharp sensation of a kunai tip pressed to the back of his head. Primitive fight or flight, an instinct honed by missing-nin years yet to come, screeched at him, threatening to shut down his composure and ruin everything.
His will was stronger. Just.
"No playing games, you stinker!" Kagome-sensei barked. "When are you from? Answer me, or I'll blow you to smithereens!"
"T-Ten Seventy-One AS," Hazō stammered." But how–"
"I'm asking the questions here!" Kagome-sensei snapped. "You think I didn't see how you walked around the splinterclaw nest? How you took out the eyestealer before it so much as saw you? I've lived in this forest longer than that body of yours has been alive; you think I don't know what it means when some kid I've never seen before walks through this forest like he's taking a stinking stroll? You've done this before!"
The kunai pressed harder. Hazō winced.
"You've got me, sir," he admitted. "I'm a time traveller."
"I knew it!" Kagome-sensei crowed. "Here to put an end to me before I can foil your evil plans, are you? Silence me before I spread the truth? I knew this day would come, you–"
"No!" Hazō exclaimed as the kunai began to dig too deep and the back of his neck turned wet. "I'm here because I need your help!"
"Hmph! A likely story. You just want to get me off guard so your little friends out there can–"
"Gyah!" Hazō let out an involuntary yelp. "Kagome-sensei, please!"
Suddenly, he felt the kunai withdraw.
"What did you just call me?"
"Kagome-sensei," Hazō said more slowly. "Kagome-sensei, you're my master, my sealing instructor. You taught me everything I know."
Kagome-sensei was silent for a while.
"Are you saying that's why you're here? That I invented a time travel seal and sent you back in time to save the world?"
Hazō relaxed, just a little.
"Not exactly. I was attacked by a sealed horror and deliberately triggered a sealing failure. It threw me back into the past, to a few months ago."
His missing-nin senses flared as he heard Kagome-sensei jump back.
"Wait!" he screamed.
Kagome-sensei hesitated. Hazō could feel the detonation syllable on his lips.
"No student of mine would ever be that dumb," Kagome-sensei spat. "I knew you were just lying to catch me off guard so you could stab me in the back and take me away so you could peel my brain open like an orange and pull out all the secrets I know while you laughed at how gullible I was! 'Kagome-sensei!' As if I'd ever fall for that!"
"I had no choice!" Hazō insisted urgently. "It had got loose on the Seventh Path and there was nobody else who could stop it and it was killing my siblings and I was afraid that if I didn't act that second it would be the end of the world!"
"Hmph," Kagome-sensei snorted, but Hazō continued not to be spread in a million pieces across the forest.
"I admit it," Hazō said. "It was dumb. And given what happened, maybe letting it kill everyone would have been the lesser evil."
Maybe the Conclave could have defeated the Mori horror. Even if it couldn't, it was hard (though not impossible) to imagine that its rampage would have been worse than the literal apocalypse he'd ended up triggering. The weight of being responsible for the destruction of the Seventh Path and everyone in it was impossible for Hazō to process. It was like there simply wasn't enough room in his mind to contain an object that big.
And that was before considering the possibility that his time travel had erased the alpha timeline, destroying an entire universe.
"It was dumb," Hazō said again. "But Kagome-sensei–"
"Stop calling me that!"
Thinking about the apocalypse he'd caused didn't hurt, at least not yet, but that did. Like having a layer of flesh stripped off his heart.
"...But you were right… about one thing," Hazō choked out. "The world… does need saving. There's a lot of suffering in the future. A lot of death. I can prevent it. But I need help."
"Even if you're not lying through your teeth," Kagome-sensei said after a few seconds' pause, "what business of mine is that? What's the world ever done for old Kagome, huh? Why should I go out there and get stabbed and sliced and blown up and kidnapped and forced to sit in a dungeon somewhere making seals for the Men in Coloured Cloaks for the rest of my life?"
"There's plenty of danger in the future," Hazō said. "I can't lie to you about that. I've never seen a seal workshop myself, but I have been in a lot of fights, and some of them were very close calls. Many times, it was seals we'd researched together that made the difference."
"Researched… together?"
Kagome-sensei's voice was a tiny bit slow, a tiny bit stumbling, like he was enunciating a dangerous new piece of sealing terminology to make sure he had it right.
"I can't promise you that this future will be like the future I came from. In fact, it's my goal to make sure it isn't. But the Kagome-sensei I knew in 1071… he was a respected sealing instructor in the world's greatest village. Not a single one of his apprentices died. Everyone took him seriously, and sometimes he gave lectures at the Academy and all the children listened and took notes."
"Lectures at the Academy, huh?" Kagome-sensei repeated thoughtfully. "'Pay attention, class: today we'll be doing theory of explosives with Kagome-sensei. Thank you for taking time out of your very important research for us, Kagome-sensei. No, it's nothing. Can't have the little brats blowing themselves up because they think explosions and implosions are the same thing. You there at the back, shut your gob. You want to be the stinking idiot lying in the rubble with your bones ground to powder and half your skull missing because you didn't listen in class that one time?"
Hazō began to relax as Kagome-sensei mumbled to himself, gradually getting lost in fantasies that, for once, were not paranoid at all.
-o-
It was dark by the time Kagome-sensei (please let him still be "Kagome-sensei") had finished collecting his gear, erasing every sign of his fifteen years of habitation and clearing out the lairs of the chakra beasts most likely to eat villagers who came too close to the edge of the forest ("Some of their offerings weren't that awful, and I had some explosives that needed using up anyway, and will you stop looking at me like that?!").
In accordance with the protocol for Operation Future Perfect, Phase III, the rest of the team were arranged on logs around a warm, crackling campfire, with weapons stored securely out of sight, and a bubbling pot of stew clearly visible in the middle of the formation. Extra-pungent spices would make sure the smell hit the hungry hermit before he had too much time to second-guess his decision. Mari was just in the process of sampling the stew (which wasn't part of the plan, and should have been the cook's job anyway, but she'd just claim social spec ad-lib if he called her on it).
The team gave Kagome-sensei a few seconds to soak in the relaxed atmosphere and display of casual camaraderie before they rose one by one, slowly, to greet him.
"You must be Kagome," Kei said, giving a very proper and not at all anxious bow (on reflection, maybe he should have downplayed the "paranoid survivalist with pockets full of armed explosives" angle during the briefing). "It is a pleasure to meet you, sir. I am Mori Keiko, the team's logistics specialist."
Kagome barely took in the diminutive thirteen-year-old girl, his attention thoroughly captured by the diminutive twenty-mumble woman who'd naturally positioned herself so her hair practically glowed in the firelight while her posture as she leaned over the pot emphasised her bust.
"Thank you for coming out to meet us," Mari said smoothly, skipping Noburi's turn. "I appreciate that it must have taken a great deal of trust, and I'd like you to know how grateful I am for it. My name is Inoue Mari. As I'm sure you've heard, I'm a jōnin infiltration specialist with a sideline in taijutsu and genjutsu."
Kagome-sensei stiffened, but did not pull his hands out of his pockets, which would have been a sign to dive for cover. Hazō had had the basic degree of common sense necessary to warn him and then weather several rounds of paranoid ranting while Hazō emphasised Mari's loyalty to the team and how he knew from the alpha timeline that she would never dream of using her abilities on Kagome-sensei.
"Would you like to join us for some mysterious-but-surprisingly-palatable-rodent stew?" Mari asked.
Kagome-sensei took a reluctant step closer.
"Let's not overlook the team's MVP," Noburi said, rising with an easy grin. "I'm Wakahisa Noburi, ninjutsu master in training. We've already got plenty of cute girls and Kurosawa, so it'll be good to have another man on board."
Hazō couldn't shake the feeling that he'd just been insulted somehow, but try as he might, he couldn't put his finger on it. So this was the genesis of the elusive wit that would one day lay waste to Hyuuga Neji's ego.
"Cute girl, was it, Noburi?"
Noburi's bravado wavered as he found that his words had consequences; Akane beamed at him while Kei looked away uneasily and Mari gave him a flirtatious wink. Then Akane turned the full force of her solar smile on Kagome-sensei.
"Ishihara Akane, sir. It's wonderful to meet you. Kurosawa"–Hazō didn't flinch anymore–"says you're an incredible trapmaster. I'm a dabbler myself, and I really hope you'll find the time to show me how a professional does it."
Kagome-sensei's wary expression softened just a tiny bit.
"So," he asked, "are the rest of you time travellers too?"
For a second, Hazō wished Mari were a seal (the paper kind, not the ship-devouring kind) so he could burn her expression of utter, all-consuming bewilderment into his memory forever.
And that was why Phase III was when he drew a line under the deception. There was no possible way to keep time travel from Mari if Kagome-sensei knew, and not telling the trust-starved Kagome-sensei was the kind of omission that risked splitting the team when the truth came out.
"Time travellers?" Mari clarified, only semi-successfully keeping her incredulity out of her voice.
"About that," Hazō said. "Inoue, I have something to tell you."
"Nope," Mari said. Hazō could see her give up on smooth-talking as it dawned on her that nobody else was acting surprised even though this hadn't been part of the mission briefing. "Nuh-uh. Time travel is impossible. It's so impossible it's been legally declared impossible. You get executed if you're caught researching it in Mist."
"Wait, seriously?" Hazō asked.
"Actually, I can confirm this," Kei said. "It was a law passed due to my clan's advocacy, notable for being the only law with no recorded originator. The Mori set bounties for identifying and correcting such errors in the archives, a task typically undertaken by Academy students and unsuccessful genin in need of additional income."
Kagome-sensei snorted. "Of course time travel is possible. Where do you think chrono-reavers come from?"
Chrono-reavers?
"Inoue-sensei," Akane said, "I know it sounds implausible, but Kurosawa's proved it to every one of us. He knows things from my past that nobody outside my family has any way of knowing, and he's never even been to Leaf!"
"Every one of us, huh?" Mari's expression cooled.
"Oh."
This was the part that had worried Hazō most, even more than surviving Kagome-sensei's suspiciousness. He'd have preferred to do it more subtly, more delicately, and ideally not on the very first night when a team conflict might scare Kagome-sensei off for good. Still, he didn't have it in him to be angry with Akane for trying to help.
"Inoue," he began, "the problem I've been struggling with is that I know a lot about all the others because in the future–my past–they told me all sorts of obscure or private things. But everything I know about you is either known to someone, especially the secret police–like what happened with your uncle–or is feelings stuff I could conceivably figure out with social skills."
"I see," Mari said. "And that's why you decided to keep me, and just me, in the dark–because you couldn't logic me into believing you the way you did the kids."
Hazō could see Kagome-sensei tensing next to him, having been caught in the middle of–having triggered–a confrontation he wanted no part of. A confrontation he could so easily get away from. The team was balancing on the knife edge of disaster, maybe even the knife edge of no longer being a team.
Kurosawa Hazō the time-travelling mastermind couldn't fix this. No, Kurosawa Hazō the time-travelling mastermind had been a mistake from the start. His resolution to be his true self with his family from the start had been good and right, and while it had led to some bumps in the road– it was Noburi that Akane called by first name now, not him–he knew in his heart that it was the right way forward when there was no way back. He should never have betrayed that conviction out of fear. No, Kurosawa Hazō the time-travelling mastermind couldn't fix this. But maybe Gōketsu Hazō could.
Hazō bowed deeper than a captain should ever bow to a second-in-command.
"You're right, Inoue. Mari. I'm so sorry."
All Hazō could see from his bent-over position was the light from the dancing fire. His next few words would decide if it was going to warm him or consume him.
"I should have treated you like an adult from the start. Sure, I was scared of what you might choose to do once you knew, but if I wanted to earn your trust–if I wanted to deserve your trust–I should never have taken the choice from you."
"What I might choose to do?" Mari repeated. "What did you think I was going to do?"
Hazō straightened up.
"In the future I come from, Inoue Mari is precious to me. All of you are. Mari, you're someone who I've trusted with my own life and the lives of my family. I knew exactly how terrifyingly dangerous you are, and I sat on the pier with bare feet because I also knew that that danger only existed for our enemies. During our journey together, we both learned that you have as much love in you as you do ferocity."
Mari listened, expressionless. The others, even Akane, were frozen as if scared to move.
"The thing is, I was there for that entire journey. I know when and how you shattered the chains of the cold, dark part of yourself we called the Heartbreaker. I know how much effort it took. And I know that this time round, I've messed it up for you."
"I… don't understand."
"As best I know," Hazō said, "your journey started when you found yourself in Hidden Swamp with Shikigami-sensei and Kanna-sensei, and all of a sudden there were all those ninja–many of them as young as us–who needed help only you could give: not as a killer but as a mistress of the human heart."
The phrasing was essential. He'd already walked too close to the line during Phase I. If the others realised that Mari had chosen them for Hidden Swamp, it would be an explosive tag–no, it would be an implosion seal to their relationships. Noburi didn't yet have the gains that outweighed his losses. Kei… Kei's journey from revelation to reconciliation had taken years of pain and disaster and personal growth, and much of it had happened without Hazō so he couldn't even apply his future knowledge to help her.
"You supported all of us, I think, in little ways or big ones. You're the reason Hidden Swamp had morale, for all of Shikigami-sensei's inspirational speeches. But the central pillar, the one that truly changed you… was Mori Keiko."
"Me?!" Kei exclaimed, staring at him as if he'd grown nine tails.
"Yeah. Not to put too fine a point on it, but alpha Kei was borderline suicidal. She'd lost her clan, she'd lost her home, she'd lost her sensei, she'd lost her future, and above all, she'd lost her sister. I can't speak for the details of her mindset because we weren't remotely close at that time, but I don't think she felt she had anything left to live for."
Kei nodded, no longer looking sceptical, and wasn't that the worst thing of all?
"Mari saved her," Hazō said. "I don't know the details. Genjutsu was involved, I think, but more than that. Everything Mari had to throw at the problem, she threw. After that… Kei was still in a bad place for a long time, but she was alive, and eventually things got better.
"The bond that came from that was life-changing for both of them. The reason alpha Mari saved us oblivious genin from the Swamp of Death wasn't because somebody persuaded her. It was purely because we ran into her while she was busy faking her death, and Kei was with us.
"Obviously, none of that has happened anymore."
Mari and Kei were staring at each other, but neither had anything to say. Then both looked back at him as it began to dawn on one how much he'd saved her and the other how much he'd cost her.
"So yeah," Hazō said. "I messed up. And it left me afraid. What if I'd ruined your redemption and left myself with the Heartbreaker? What if I gave the Heartbreaker, somebody I couldn't possibly fight, the power that comes with knowing the future, and she decided to abuse it?"
He breathed in and out, slowly.
"I am so sorry, Mari. I used you when I should have trusted you. Trust means taking risks. It means the possibility of being betrayed. I chose to take that risk when I decided I wanted you to be my family again, and I should have followed through."
Silence, but for the crackling of the fire.
Mari sat down heavily. The others did the same, as if taking it for permission (except Kagome-sensei, still stuck on this side of the fire with Hazō, and seemingly afraid to breathe).
"Fuck," Mari finally said, with feeling. Kagome-sensei flinched.
"Fuck," Mari repeated after a second. "How the hell am I supposed to process all of that?"
"Sorry," Hazō muttered.
"Oh, pipe down." Mari sighed. "If there's one thing I got from all of that, it's that behind all the smug puppetmasteriness, you're just as scared and screwed up as the rest of us. And honestly, that's a massive relief.
"Now, I don't know, and for the rest of the night I don't care, whether you're from the future, from the past, or just plain crazy. Wakahisa, grab me the biggest bowl. Mori, you're on ladling duty. Kagome, pull up a log. Hazō says you're a master chef, and there's something not quite right with this stew."
"Mari, I'm shocked that you would ask such a thing. I am, as you know, a loyal ninja of Leaf and would never consider going missing. Although yes, taking the whole family on a long-term mission so that we could spend some time together away from the pressures of the city does sound nice."
"Right. Good answer."
Hazō sighed and scrubbed his hands through his hair. "Right. Okay. If we were going to do this—which, obviously, we are not—but if we were going to, I would need to have some things lined up." He stared at the floor as though there were pearls of wisdom engraved there.
"Like?" Mari asked.
"Like Cannai. I need to know what his take would be. If losing my role as the Dog Summoner is the price, it's too high. I would have to figure something else out."
"When can you speak to him?"
Hazō glanced at the clock on the mantel, doing conversions in his head. "Should still be daylight for him. I'll go now."
She nodded seriously. "I'm glad you're moving on this. It needs to be put to bed one way or the other."
"Yeah, I'm on it." He hesitated, eyeing her for a moment, then shook his head slightly. "Stick around, okay? I'm going to need more advice in a bit."
Her head cocked, fiery hair shifting even as emerald eyes narrowed. "You're hiding something."
"I'm a Clan Head, Mari. I'm hiding lots of things." He tried to make the words sound light and humorous but the best he managed was to clear the 'dirge-like' hurdle; the main thing he was hiding was that Naruto had suggested he go missing. He would tell Mari, because he would need her to know if she was going to help with planning, but there was no point in telling her until he was certain he had Cannai's support. If he didn't then he would abort the 'go missing' plan and there would be every reason to keep it from her.
"Uh-huh. Okay, off you go. I'll be in the living room, fretting myself down to a nub. I'll probably have all grey hair by the time you get around to filling me in."
"Don't be such a drama queen." This time the laughter was honest. "Summoning Technique: Cantelabra."
There was a pamf! of blue smoke and the fuzzy little puppy (no longer quite so little as when first they met, Hazō realized with a start) appeared from the aether.
"Hi Uncle Hazō!"
"Hello, Cantelabra. You remember my clanswoman, Mari?"
"Eeeee!" Mari said, clapping her hands together under her chin. "All grown up and still so cute! Can I pet you?"
Cantelabra responded by jumping on her; she caught all sixty pounds of him out of the air with the reflexes of a trained ninja and a moment later he was on his back, cradled in the crook of her arm and having his belly rubbed. His tongue-lolling, head-tipped-back, blissful expression made Hazō wish, just for a moment, that he could stop being a Clan Lord and a sealmaster and a ninja and someone with responsibilities.
"Okay, Cantelabra, time to go," he said after it became obvious that the woman and the dog were settling in for the long haul.
"Nooo!" Mari said, half-turning away as though shielding Cantelabra with her body. "Bad Hazō! No taking the adorable fuzzy pup away from me!"
"You can pet him later, Mari," he said patiently.
Her eyes got bigger, sad and soulful. The carefully-applied kohl that emphasized their rich emerald color threatened to smudge as a tear welled up. Her lip trembled. "But...but..."
"Holy crap, how am I the grownup here?!" Hazō demanded, throwing his hands in the air. "Cantelabra, get your tail moving. I need to talk to the Alpha. Chop chop."
Cantelabra gave a brief doggy pout, licked Mari's face, and then wiggled out of her arms and scampered to Hazō's side.
"Back in a bit," Hazō said to Mari. "Stay close."
The humor fell away and was replaced with the serious expression of a woman who knew that the lives of everyone she loved might soon be in danger based on the decisions of the young man—the young Clan Lord who stood before her.
"Whatever you need," she said quietly.
He nodded and disappeared.
o-o-o-o
"Good morning, Hazō," Cannai said.
"Evening for me," Hazō said with a grin. "It was 9:30 when I managed to pry Cantelabra out of Mari's belly-rubbing arms."
Cannai's tongue lolled out in amusement. "I would imagine he was quite displeased with you. Humans give excellent belly rubs, or so I gather."
"Yah, well...tough noogies," was the best that Hazō could come up with. "There was work to do."
"I see." Cannai settled onto the grass, paws crossed in front of himself and ears perked up in interested. "May I ask what sort of work?"
Hazō rubbed his ear nervously. "I need to talk to you, and I need it to be private. Can we do that?"
Cannai nodded slowly. "None are listening. None shall hear."
"Right, good." He settled cross-legged onto the grass, sighing tiredly.
Hazō is going to explain how he intends to maybe-kinda-sort commit just an eensy-weensy bit of treason, maybe, depending on your point of view. This isn't a social combat, it's a roll to see how he does. As a reminder, the rankings are:
-20 Terrible
-10 Poor
+0 Mediocre
+10 Average
+20 Fair
+30 Good
+40 Great
+50 Superb
+60 Fantastic
+70 Epic
+80 Legendary
Hazō, Presence (20) - 4 (2 Mild Consequences from seal research) + 3 (invoke "Lord of Clan Gōketsu") + 3 (dice) = 22
Hazō does a Fairly good job of pitching this to Cannai.
"Some of this you know," Hazō said. "But—"
"But bear with you as you wish to lay the groundwork for the novel material," Cannai said, doggy-laughing. "I am familiar with your conversational style, Hazō. Do not worry; I have nowhere to be today."
"Right. Yes. Thank you." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, here we go. I told you about the rift to the afterlife and I told you about Akatsuki. They are trying to open the rift so that they can retrieve their leader, Pain. The last thing they did before he died was a ritual. We aren't quite sure what the ritual would have done but we think it was some kind of mind control. World-wide mind control. Something that would fundamentally modify human nature and link all humanity. It's what led to that giant battle where so many people died, people like Captain Hatake—Kakashi, as you knew him." He broke off, licking his lips nervously.
"Here's the thing..." He paused. "Here's the thing. I want to open the rift too. There are people I want to get back, like Jiraiya. He was powerful, and he was a good man."
Cannai cocked his head.
"He was the best man that a ninja can be."
Cannai panted in amusement.
"Getting him back would mean a lot to me, and to Leaf. Possibly to the world. I can do it, too. Kagome-sensei figured it out, and I can make it happen. And then there's Akane. I need to get her back."
"Given that a moment ago you mentioned that group of what you have previously referred to as quote evil demigods end quote, I assume that they are not merely working in parallel, much less cooperating."
"They are not, no."
"They are in fact opposing you."
"They threatened to kill me if I kept working on it."
"Mm. And you are bringing this to me because...you want to summon me to fight them?"
"No. Well, yes, that would be great. That's not it, though. I'm coming to you because I intend to keep doing that research, but I can't do it in Leaf. If I continue in Leaf then they will come, they will find out, and they will kill me. They might also raze Leaf, either in order to make an example or in the process of killing me, because I'm a Sagedamned sealmaster on my own home ground and I will not go fucking quietly."
"I would be displeased were they to kill you," Cannai noted. "Extremely. Displeased."
"I am appreciative of that and, were I capable of summoning you, I would be delighted to let you express that displeasure with whatever degree of violence might be in your doggy heart. Unfortunately, I don't have the chakra reserves.
"Speaking of chakra reserves: in order to power their ritual, Akatsuki kidnapped all nine of the jinchūriki. Three of them died in the process, so it's possible that the ritual can't be replicated."
"On the other hand, perhaps it is possible," Cannai noted, following the implication in Hazō's voice. "Or perhaps they have some other ritual."
"Right. It's a threat to the entire Human Path, and the only ones working on it are the bad guys and me."
"Is there no one else who could work on it?"
Hazō wobbled his hand in a so-so gesture. "Maybe? Kagome-sensei might be able to do it. Aburame Manjiro, maybe? Probably not. Orochimaru could, but..."
"But he is evil and untrustworthy. Intelligent enough to cooperate against an existential threat such as the Dragons, although that perhaps makes him more worrisome instead of less."
"Yah."
"If you don't want me to fight them, how can I help?"
Hazō took a deep breath, preparing himself for the plunge. "I can't do the work in Leaf. If I try, Akatsuki will kill me and might destroy Leaf as a whole. If I go off to some offsite research facility they'll show up, demand to know where I am, and if no one tells them they'll burn Leaf to the ground. If I succeed in opening the rift, or moving it, or even closing it so that they can't open it, then they'll burn it all down as a punishment. We can't fight all of them and the other villages hate us so we can't invoke the AMITY accords. The only solution we've come up with is for me to...look, this is an important secret. Naruto, our Hokage? He suggested that I 'go missing'. Abandon Leaf, be branded a traitor. When Akatsuki shows up, Naruto can say 'oh, gosh, that Hazō sure is a terrible guy but don't worry, I'm doing everything I can to track him down.' He sends out the hunter-nin looking for me, cooperates in every way possible. Hopefully Akatsuki doesn't burn Leaf simply out of pique, or as an object lesson."
"Hm."
"That's a really big secret," Hazō said again. "That Naruto would suggest such a thing, I mean. Can you please promise not to tell anyone?"
Cannai had been looking off into the distance; he tossed his chin slightly in irritated dismissal, still lost in thought. "Obviously," he said, looking back to Hazō. "First, whom would I tell, and why? Second, it is no business of mine and I have no desire to become involved in Human Path politics."
"Akatsuki are summoners," Hazō reminded him. "Many of them, anyway. They could come here and ask in person. If they don't like the answers or they feel like you aren't cooperating, they might get violent."
Cannai's jaw dropped open and he panted in something that was only technically a smile. "They are most welcome to try."
"Yeah, I suppose that wouldn't be a great idea. Clan Boss on his own ground and all... I saw what Kumokōgō did."
"Indeed. I should note, however, that Kumokōgō...what is the human expression? 'Pulled out all the stops'? What she did during that battle left her exhausted, perhaps even injured, and it will be some time before she recovers. We are not invincible, Hazō, not even in our own land. I say this because I do not wish you to believe that you have a completely unassailable bastion here. I would assume that these 'Akatsuki', also being summoners and senior in experience to yourself, will be aware that challenging me is not an ontologically unwinnable fight."
"Oh."
"Indeed."
"Right." He looked down at his hands, surprised to find them slowly shredding a blade of grass. "Well, um, I haven't decided yet if I'm going to follow Naruto's suggestion and go missing. I'm not sure it's the best path, but I know I can't do it without your support." He looked up hopefully. "We can't let them win, Cannai. Pain is beyond powerful. By all reports, he could have soloed most of the force at Nagi Island. Right now, all of the Hidden Villages are...well, cowering is the only word."
He pushed himself to his feet and began striding back and forth. "They're cowering, Cannai! Hidan murdered the Hokage in his own office and we did nothing! We gave them everything they wanted. Clans coughed up secrets they wouldn't even share with each other and handed them over. I coughed up secrets and handed them over. We are factoring their approval into every decision. Will it upset Akatsuki if we do this? Will it upset Akatsuki if we say that? Do we dare wipe our noses or will that get the city burned?"
"It is indeed no way to run a government."
"We have to do something," Hazō said. "Break their grip on power, restore some degree of autonomy back to everyone else on the Human Path. I think I can do that, but I can't do it without your support, Cannai. I don't know if I want to do it, but I can't. What do you think?"
Cannai considered carefully before speaking, his words slow and heavy.
"I dislike the idea of betraying one's oaths, which is what I understand 'going missing' to mean," he said. "You are abandoning your pack, leaving them to fend for themselves in a dangerous world where you have actual enemies working to harm your people—the Hagoromo a lesser threat close to hand, the Akatsuki a greater threat at a greater distance."
Hazō's stomach clenched.
"At the same time, I understand your situation," Cannai continued. "These outsiders are threatening your pack, both your immediate Gōketsu pack and the 'Leaf' pack to which the Gōketsu belong. Were they in fact benevolent perhaps it would be worth allowing their control, but they are not. Furthermore, your Hokage has granted you permission, even suggested the idea, so you are not in fact breaking your promises to him. Yes, you must do something. And yes, Dog will stand behind you. How can we help?"
Relief flooded through Hazō.
"I've got a few ideas, but I would welcome any suggestions," he said. "First..."
o-o-o-o
Mari had clearly taken his 'stay close' instructions to heart, because she was still waiting in the meeting room when he reappeared. She clearly had not been here the entire time, since she had a tray beside her and was sitting with her feet up on the table, ankles crossed as she read through her copy of Icha Icha: Stolen Heart. The cheap paper was starting to look a bit battered and one corner had torn. Beside her sat Naruto.
"Naruto?" Hazō asked, surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Mari said I could wait," the blond said. "Mari, could you give us the room? I have some words for Hazō about the latest Gōketsu shenanigans and I figure he'll appreciate it if I don't do it in public."
The woman in question dropped her feet from the table and rolled upright, stretching up onto her toes until her back cracked. "You kids have fun," she said. "Hazō, I'll expect a full report on all of your latest dirty dealings and why Naruto is angry with us this time as soon as he's done."
Hazō rolled his eyes as Naruto laughed.
"What's up?" Hazō asked as soon as Mari was out of the room.
"Put up the privacy seals," Naruto said. "All of them."
Hazō nodded in unsurprised and vaguely doom-filled acknowledgement, then moved around the room rendering it as secure as three Gōketsu sealmasters (one of them now dead) could make it. Once he was done he took his seat beside Naruto and waited, fingers laced patiently and an attentive expression on his face.
Naruto flicked through rapid handseals. "Wind Element: Breath Detection. Wind Element: Silence Shell. Fire Element: Sense of the Living. Fire Element: Confounding Shimmer. Wind Element: Whisper on the Breeze."
The temperature of the room rose only slightly but the air began to shimmer and shift, blurring everything around them just enough to make Hazō's eyes ache. Naruto cocked his head for a moment as though listening, then nodded in satisfaction. He covered his mouth with one hand, the other resting on the table beside him.
"Listen carefully," said Naruto's voice in his ear. "I do not want you working on the rift anymore."
Hazō opened his mouth to protest, only to be interrupted by a raised hand.
"I told Orochimaru everything about the rift and ordered him to find a way to move it," Naruto continued. "I don't want you duplicating his efforts, I want you working on a way to kill Akatsuki. They're eventually going to roll up to check on you and whether you're doing anything they don't like; they probably won't care that you're doing weapons research, but they will care very much if they learn that the weapons are intended to kill them. I'm not willing to take a chance on you accidentally leaking that, or leaking that Orochimaru is working on the rift, since either of those could get Leaf destroyed. As a result, you need to be out of here. Tomorrow, you are going to come to the Tower and inform me that you are working on a new seal project. This project is a clan secret so you are not going to tell me any of the details except that, in your expert opinion, it is too dangerous to work on anywhere near Leaf. As such, you are going offsite for a couple of months. Have paperwork for me showing that you've delegated your authority and that you are leaving in a smooth and well-prepared way, not leaping out the window with your pants half-on."
Hazō's eyebrows rose. He frowned in deliberate puzzlement and cocked his head in a silent question.
"Leaf cannot tolerate this situation," Naruto's jutsu-borne voice explained in his ear. "They have already shown their willingness to murder Kage and blackmail villages. The other Villages should find this intolerable but they are either too weak to matter or they are gleefully watching Leaf get spanked." His eyes narrowed with anger. "Plus, they killed Grandpa, and Uncle Jiraiya, and fucking tortured me. So yeah, I've got a little bit of beef with them and would love to see them dead. Orochimaru is a better sealmaster than you, so he can move the rift. You're a better weapons designer than him—he's three times your age and he's never come up with a single paradigm-shifting idea—so you get to kill those bastards. It'll fuck up AMITY and cause all kinds of upheaval, but it's better than being ruled by insane tyrants, and I've got some ideas on how to deal with it when it happens.
"I, unfortunately, have to play nice with them when they come around to check on you. I need to be able to scowl and tell them how that high-handed bastard Hazō went off on his own with barely a word and he's only checking in once a week or so by way of the Seventh Path. I'll promise to send you a message but, oh no, so unfortunate that you checked in just this morning so it will probably be at least another seven days before you get the message.
"You can get to Toad, right?"
Hazō nodded. He had discussed it with Cannai and with the Horizon Chasers pack; the Horizon Chasers had decided that, since war between Dog and Pangolin might be starting at any moment, it was probably a good idea to decamp. They were currently safely ensconced in Toad, beneficiaries of the benign neglect that constituted Shima and Fukasaku's attitude towards guests.
"Good. I'm going to have Noburi carry some packages of pipeweed and stuff to Ma and Pa. There will be a series of sealed and coded orders hidden inside. I'll give the code keys to Noburi in a few days; he can give them to you on the Seventh Path. You are to keep them on you at all times and destroy them rather than let them fall into anyone else's hands. Understood?"
Hazō nodded.
"Each set of orders will have an innocuous code phrase associated with it; the phrases will be with the code keys that Noburi gives you. If I leave a message containing one or more of those phrases, you do whatever is in the relevant envelope. Any actual messages I leave for you will contain a recognition code meaning 'this message wasn't coerced, everything is fine on the Akatsuki front, nothing to do.' Any message that has no code words in it, you open envelope number one. Got it?"
Hazō nodded.
"Good. Figure out what or who you need to take with you in order to make this work. I strongly do not want you to take Noburi, but if you are completely certain that you can't do the mission without him then I'll give you a chance to convince me. I understand that it might take a few days to get everything done, but I want you gone as soon as possible. They were here yesterday asking about Isan's destruction and they're gone now, so this is the maximum amount of time we're likely to get before they come back."
Hazō nodded again, struggling to maintain a calm expression despite feeling that his world was starting to spin.
"Now, as soon as we're done with this conversation I'm going to tell you that one of your ninja got into a fight with a KEI ninja in the market—it happened, I set it up. I'll tear strips off you about controlling your people better and then I'm out of here. Before that, I know you might have some questions. We're under extreme privacy, but I would still prefer not to have you speak about this aloud at all, even here. Still, do you have anything critical that really needs to be discussed?"
Author's Note: Does Hazō have any questions?
Author's Note 2: The Excuse: The phrase 'pulled out all the stops' is a reference to pipe organs, where you can increase the volume by literally pulling all the knobs outwards, thereby letting the maximum amount of air into the pipes and using all the available voices of the organ. This is obviously anachronistic for the Elemental Nations but please recall that you are reading a translation from ElementalNationsese to English and sometimes idioms suffer in the process.
Author's Note 3: Return of the Excuse: There has been a debate among the playerbase regarding how to address the rift. Overgeneralizing and expressing only my own understanding so I might be getting it wrong, one side has been saying that Hazō needs to go missing in order to do rift research without being either killed by, or turned into a loot piñata for, Akatsuki. The other side has been of the opinion that doing so would be tantamount to destroying everything that the players have built over the course of the quest—their relationships in Leaf, the Gōketsu clan and all their good works, etc.
The Naruto scene is the result of two hours of QM discussion yesterday in which we went back and forth on how Leaf and the other Hidden Villages would be responding to Akatsuki's recent actions and how Naruto in particular would respond. This update is what we sincerely believe Naruto would do and it hopefully resolves the debate among the players. The Leavers get to go off on their own and do research without being (too) vulnerable to Akatsuki, the Remainers get to know that their absence is not permanent and Leaf will welcome them back once they return.
Yes, it's a little bit of a railroad, for which we apologize. On the other hand, as with any Campbellian hero, you can always refuse the call to adventure. Now that Hazō knows about Orochimaru, he is a risk to Leaf. If you aren't willing to leave then you can say so; Naruto is willing to talk about implementation so long as you aren't a risk when Akatsuki show up.
XP AWARD: 3 This update was a few hours long.
Brevity XP: 0
"GM had fun" XP: 2
Cannai is always a delight, even more so when you are interacting with him over something that has important stakes to it
"Now, as soon as we're done with this conversation I'm going to tell you that one of your ninja got into a fight with a KEI ninja in the market—it happened, I set it up. I'll tear strips off you about controlling your people better and then I'm out of here. Before that, I know you might have some questions. We're under extreme privacy, but I would still prefer not to have you speak about this aloud at all, even here. Still, do you have anything critical that really needs to be discussed?"
Hazō nodded.
Naruto made the Bird hand seal.
"Yeah, I was afraid you would," he said the normal way. "Sorry about the ninjutsu, by the way. I know it can cause eye strain in the target after a while. You'd think ear strain, but no. Chakra can be so weird sometimes. All right, hit me."
"I need to know that I've got my team," Hazō said. "If at all possible. That's Noburi, Kagome-sensei, Mari, Kei, and Yuno."
"Not happening," Naruto said instantly. "And that's not me being a hardass either. Hazō, Jiraiya once said that summoners are in the same basket as S-rankers when it comes to counter-intelligence priorities. Every enemy spymaster wants to know where they are and what they're doing at all times because a mature summoner is like a jōnin squared: they've got the tools to clear any mission and counter any type of enemy, and that's on top of their personal specialisation. And, of course, everybody wants the scroll.
"If I send half of Leaf's summoners, including Gōketsu 'Zoo Rush' Noburi, out on a mission under a veteran jōnin, people will ask which minor nation Leaf's about to conquer, and they won't all be kidding. Factor in all the other kinds of crazy firepower your team represents, and AMITY will be asking which minor nation Leaf's about to conquer. That's to say nothing of Akatsuki's informants. Even odds that the bastards will be out through the village gates before you are."
"I can't go alone," Hazō interrupted. "That's just not safe, not to mention that it'll kill my research efficiency and then the whole thing will be pointless."
"Nobody said you'd be going alone," Naruto said with a slightly exasperated shake of the head. "My point is that every extra person raises the mission's profile, and keeping it low-profile is how we buy you time and stop Akatsuki deciding it's happy fun massacre hour while we're still waiting for you to deliver the goods.
"The fact is, every single one of your people is famous in one way or another–even Yuno. She's damn good at what she does, and she's got the kind of extreme personality that makes people want to keep watching to see what she does next, the same way Maito Gai did. Unlike me, a retiring wallflower stuck as a celebrity from the day I was born, you guys have no one but yourselves to blame here.
"What that means is if you want to bring someone, you give me your case for why their contribution outweighs how much they'll shorten the fuse."
"All right," Hazō said. "The first one's a no-brainer. I need Noburi. Making rune blanks is chakra-intensive like you wouldn't believe. Without Noburi, I can make maybe one a day, assuming I don't need to do literally anything else ninja-like."
"What about paper seals?" Naruto asked. "No chakra costs there."
"No," Hazō agreed. "But when it comes to paper sealing, we're on an even playing field with multiple top-tier sealmasters who already have plenty of tricks up their sleeves. Or would if they had sleeves in combat mode. If we want paradigm-changing weaponry that they can't possibly see coming, runes are the way forward."
"Fair," Naruto said. "But I don't hear anything that Noburi can't do from here in the village, via the Seventh Path. In fact, he has to be here because he needs to drain his chakra from somewhere before he can give it to you. If he goes, either he drains your team, and then there's no point taking combatants along because they'll be dry when trouble hits, or he scavenges from chakra beasts and risks getting caught.
"Noburi's staying. Leaf needs him here, and literally everybody knows he's one of Leaf's major superweapons, so his absence will be noted. Besides, what's a super valuable military asset famous for his chakra transfer skills doing on a bog-standard sealing research mission? Either the research mission's a cover, which draws attention, or you're doing some kind of sealing research that needs tons of chakra, which draws even more attention. Everyone, including Akatsuki, already knows you're researching 3D sealing so you can fix the Great Seal."
"What if we change the cover story? Hazō asked. "For example, we have it on relia- good authority that the Forbidden Dungeon on Crimson State Island holds some valuable lore, and I was thinking of sacking it while we were out, though I guess that might be less viable with a smaller team. Could we combine the missions with that as the cover?"
Naruto smirked. "Because of course you hear the name 'Forbidden Dungeon' and you instantly want to delve it. You know, it's moments like these that make me feel like you and I could get along as just two guys, as opposed to political allies or Hokage and minion or whatever.
"As a cover story, though, it misses the point. A team of Leaf heavy-hitters heading to a legendary location on a quest for ancient lore? That gets plenty of attention, especially from the kind of people who know how powerful ancient lore can be. But what else is appropriate for Gōketsu Hazō? Offensive operations aren't on the table against anyone that matters right now. You're not a diplomat and you're way not an infiltrator. A sealmaster doing sealing research, though? Nobody's going to blink an eye.
"As for the dungeon, if you really think the lore is super valuable, go for it. Realistically, though, the research matters more."
Damn. Not off to a good start.
"I need Kagome-sensei as a fellow sealmaster," Hazō said. "We have plenty of experience working together, and he's a weapons specialist who can speed things up for me when it comes to paper sealing."
"How much do you need him?" Naruto asked. "No beating about the bush, you're a sealing genius. You came up with skywalkers–the theory, anyway–at fourteen, and even if you were in the right place at the right time, a new sealing paradigm at sixteen is ridiculous. I'm sure Dad would be so mad if he heard.
"Kagome… isn't a sealing genius. If he's come up with any game-changers since he joined the village, he hasn't let the Tower know. Can you tell me you're confident he can come up with some now, enough to outweigh sending out two summoners and sealmasters?"
Could Hazō, in all sincerity? Hazō and Kagome-sensei both knew he'd long since outgrown his sealing master. They both knew he'd long since stopped seeking him out for collaborative research, or even to double-check the theory behind his ideas before prototyping began in earnest. But still, Kagome-sensei had never stopped being Kagome-sensei, and Hazō had only recently realised how important it was for his master to know that.
"I can see why you'd want Mari," Naruto said, mercifully moving on. "Everybody wants Mari."
Hazō silently raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, shut up."
"Mari's the clan's strongest fighter," Hazō said. "I trust her more than anyone to keep me safe. It was brought to my attention a while back that I must be a priority capture target for half the world by now, between the sealing and the scroll, and AMITY should stop people from coming after me in theory, but still, I'd be crazy to go out there without a bodyguard who can handle the worst.
"Also, she's one of my two full-time sanity checkers. It may have come to your attention that sometimes when I'm in the grip of creativity, I… miss stuff. Minor details that somehow stop being minor at the worst possible time. Mari is Leaf's shield against that happening, and I think I could do with one of those when I'm making paradigm-changing superweapons."
"Best case yet," Naruto said. "Sage's ballsack, best case yet.
"Mari's not a summoner, either, so that helps. Sending her with you isn't a no-brainer, though, considering the state of Leaf right now. Ami's unavailable, and Kurenai's not up to a ton of travel right now for multiple reasons, and that suddenly leaves Mari as our top negotiator in the age of international diplomacy. Kei Ruri's helping pick up the slack, which is why Mari's not in Cloud right now, but she's also hella busy coordinating the Great Diaspora for the Condors, and is going to get even busier once the first wave is done. Oh, and our spies in Wind say something big is about to go down, and what'd you wanna bet that's going to mean all hands on deck at the Diplomatic Corps?
"Anyway, she's not your only sanity checker, right? Kei and I may not hang out as much as we used to, but I've been there for her drowning her sorrows with carrot cake more than once."
"Scurrilous exaggerations!" Hazō exclaimed. "What you don't hear about is all the day-to-day sanity checks during which I bring her sensitive clan head stuff and she shrugs and says something like, 'I perceive no obvious disasters that could result from this course of action, testimony though this may be only to my failure of imagination', and then I go ahead, and look, no disasters happen.
"Anyway, yes, she's the other person I trust to catch me before I fall. In fact, some of my most critical failures happened on occasions where I decided not to consult her first for whatever reason."
Like the Elemental Mastery experiment and everything that followed.
"Also, she's a very competent fighter in her own right, and a summoner with all the advantages that entails."
"And one of the most famous people in Leaf," Naruto noted, "as well as essential to the running of the KEI now she's its most senior member. Speaking of which, when's the victory party? I don't recall being invited."
"Victory party?"
"For the KEI elections," Naruto said.
"Huh," Hazō said. "She never even mentioned it to me."
"Weird. You'd think even Kei would feel good about having all those people choose her to be their leader.
"Anyway, sorry for getting us off topic. That just leaves Yuno. Honestly… I'm pretty OK with sending Yuno with you. She'd make a good bodyguard, and I won't say her unique hunting expertise isn't valuable, but Leaf won't collapse without her either."
Naruto thought for a moment.
"Yuno plus two out of Kagome, Mari, and Kei. In my judgement, that's about as far as we can afford to push our luck right now."
"I'd rather not take Yuno without Noburi," Hazō said as his heart sank. "They're important stabilising influences on each other."
"Your mission, your call," Naruto said. "Just don't forget that Yuno's a Leaf ninja, just like the rest of us. She goes where the village needs her to go. If it ever looks like we can't trust her to do that…"
Hazō didn't know what the implied end of that sentence was, and he decided he didn't want to ask.
"Now," Naruto said, "it's getting late, so let's speed this up. What else are you worried about?"
-o-
A quick summary of the rest of the conversation:
Orochimaru knows everything that Naruto knows about the rift, and Naruto expects that he'll find you to get more details now that he's clued in. Give him the rift seals, but Naruto would prefer it if you kept his father's original work out of Orochimaru's hands whenever possible. Once you're out of Leaf, Naruto suggests minimising contact. He doesn't trust Orochimaru one bit and thinks anyone who did would be dangerously clueless for a ninja.
You Declared that you had a copy of the Akatsuki dossier on hand for 1 FP. Naruto was delighted to receive such valuable intel, but the building mood of camaraderie died an icy death when he realised that you'd failed to do the thing that should be obvious to any loyal Leaf ninja and pass it on to the Tower the instant you got it.
Naruto's certainly going to try to get Orochimaru's countermeasures out of him, but he fully expects to be deflected, and he can't put too much pressure on Orochimaru because if he goes missing now, Leaf loses the rift race by default.
Anti-ninjutsu techniques aren't quite a holy grail of the shinobi world because they do exist, and in fact Naruto knows some, but they're invariably either highly specialised or too weak to be useful in a high-level battle. He doesn't have any relevant Minato seals.
Speaking of Minato seals, Naruto's father didn't leave behind any useful sealing notes of the kind you're looking for. All the "good stuff" got passed on to Jiraiya years ago and you must have already seen it, but most of Minato's notes were only ever intended for personal use and have vast gaps where things were so obvious to him, or so well-memorised, that they didn't need writing down.
If you want to know Uchiha clan secrets, ask the Uchiha.
Naruto is fine with endorsing your Toad Sage training application, but only if you can explain to him what good it would do right now, considering that combat training wouldn't give results fast enough to affect the rift race and the sages can't teach you anything about sealing.
-o-
XP for this time period has already been awarded. You have purchased 3 FP and spent 1 FP.
"What am I doing here, brat?" Tsunade demanded, dropping into the visitor chair with an angry sigh.
Naruto sat behind the desk commissioned by the Third, God of Shinobi, leaning back in the chair conjured from the dirt by the raw power of the First, the man who founded the village, with his fingers interlaced on his stomach. He studied her silently for a moment and then said, "Brat?"
Tsunade's face soured. She matched his gaze for a few seconds, then rolled her eyes and sketched out a trivial mockery of an elaborate bow. Somehow, she managed to do it without moving more than one arm and vaguely dipping her head.
"What am I doing here, O Great and Powerful Lord Hokage?"
"You're having tea with your Hokage while talking about strategic-level issues. Here, have some tea." He plucked one of the cups off the tray beside him and handed it over. She took it with narrowed eyes but raised it in response to his toast and took a sip.
"What are your plans for the next few months?" The words were calm, Naruto's usual verve and energy absent. So was the smile that normally crinkled his lips and danced in his eyes. He leaned back again, rolling the steaming mug between his hands.
Tsunade shrugged. "The usual. Terrify the new rack of doctors into losing some of their smugness. Inspire the new intake to the pipeline. Make sure the hospital is running right. Go and check the hinterlands to see what's happening so I can get out in front of any new diseases. Find cures where I can, quarantine where I can't."
"I like all of that except the last one," Naruto said. "I need you here."
She snorted.
"I do. Tsunade, Akatsuki killed Asuma basically where you're sitting. They blackmailed you for clan secrets and we ponied up. They'll do it again."
"You think I should have done something else?" Her teeth were gritted and the air trembled with the faintest hint of mountain.
"Reel it in, Auntie Sunny," Naruto said, waving a hand around the room. "I'm not one of your kid doctors and I'm not impressed. You're a grownup and you should be able to control your temper."
The mountain shimmered, trembled, and snapped away.
"I think you did exactly the right thing," Naruto continued. "We had two choices: pony up or get the city burned." His gaze drifted towards the ceiling in thought and he waved a hand. "Heck, even if we had somehow managed to catch and kill the bastard the rest of them would have hit us as soon as he didn't show up back at their little clubhouse. You can't defend a village against S-rank ninja."
"Gonna have to do something about that."
Naruto studied her. "I put Gōketsu on it. And I never said that to you."
One fine-lined blonde eyebrow rose. "You think that's smart?"
The trademark smile returned, peeking out at the corners of Naruto's eyes. "Are you doubting your Hokage, Auntie?"
"Yes. The kid's an unbalanced kunai. And smart as anything, which makes it worse."
"Worse?"
"He'll have ideas. Might cause a major seal failure, which would suck. Might succeed, in which case I have no idea what happens next."
"What happens next is that we burn those fuckers off the face of the planet."
Tsunade studied him for several long seconds, her usual facial growl slowly unwinding into more like worry. "Naruto...you know it's not that simple, right?"
"It's exactly that simple," Naruto said. "The minute we're sure we can win, we kill them."
"Don't be an idiot. Have you even spent one moment thinking about the collateral damage?"
"We don't do it in the city, duh."
"FUCKING SAGE!" She exploded to her feet, her teacup hitting the wall so hard it puffed back as a wash of powder. "IT'S NOT THAT FUCKING SIMPLE, YOU LITTLE DIPSHIT!"
"Sit. Down."
From any other Hokage, the words would have been accompanied by a blast of psychic power. From Naruto they were short and sharp and no more.
Tsunade whirled on him. "Don't you—"
"Sit your ass down and shut your mouth."
Tsunade's fists clenched. She glared at him and the air around her shimmered as her rage strained against the bonds of her will.
"Jōnin Senju," Naruto said, eyes locked on hers. "Put your ass in that chair. That is an order from your Hokage."
Slowly, Tsunade settled into her seat.
"Here's the thing," Naruto said, leaning forward and interlacing his fingers. "In this room, you're not 'Auntie Sunny' and I'm not 'brat' or 'kid'. I am your Hokage, Tsunade. You will do as I tell you. If you have a problem with my orders, I'll listen. And then I will make a decision and that will be the end of the discussion. You know that's the way it is, and the way it has to be. Right?"
Her jaw clenched but she said nothing.
Naruto waited.
She said nothing.
Naruto waited.
"Yes," she said at last.
Naruto smiled and leaned back. "I could be an asshole and make you say 'Yes, Lord Hokage', but I think we've made the point." He gestured towards the window and the city beyond it. "This place is a disaster, and we've got a lot of work to do fixing it. I want your advice, but Leaf needs your service. Specifically, you need to stay in the city for a while. If those assholes come back we need to be able to wave a big enough stick in their faces to make them play nice, and you're one of the biggest sticks in the world."
The corner of her mouth twisted in amusement. "Stop trying to butter me up, kid."
"I'm trying to make a 'biggest stick of butter in the world' joke here, but it's not quite coming together. Hang on. Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!"
Another Naruto poofed into existence and promptly sat down, leaning against the side of the desk with a frown of concentration.
"I assigned him to figure out the joke so I can stop thinking about it," Naruto explained to Tsunade's clear confusion.
She snorted in some unclear amalgam of annoyance and amusement. "Fine. So, you're locking me up in this old pile. What am I doing until you graciously permit me to see the outside of the walls again?"
"Basically, the things you said a few minutes ago. One more thing too, and this is not an order. It would be a big help to me but I'm not ordering it. You're the expert and I'm not going to overrule you in your own field."
"I can tell you're running Sensei's attack plans, but he was a lot smoother about it. Much less obvious. It made the guilt trips way harder to resist."
"Really? Thanks. Multiple Shadow Clone Technique!" Another Naruto popped into existence. "He'll sit here and think about how to be less obvious the next time I need to manipulate you."
She laughed in surprise, the sound for once unalloyed with anything else. "Fine. What's this thing that you're so carefully asking me for?"
"Noburi."
"...What about him?"
"He's a good medic, right? I was told you gave him a shot at an apprenticeship and he almost made the grade."
"Miss by a foot, miss by a mile, you still missed."
"Yah, well, I need Noburi to be strongly motivated to stay in the city for the next...let's say year. Hopefully less, but let's say year. I would prefer it if he didn't want to take missions outside the city and if he would actively push back against any outside missions Hazō might assign him. So—"
"Don't you fucking dare finish that sentence, brat."
Naruto raised his hands in injured innocence. "Hey! You don't know what I was going to say!"
"You were going to say that I should take him on as an apprentice just because politics."
"Okay, maybe you do know what I was going to say."
"Sagedamnit, Naruto! I am not—"
"Oy! Take it down a notch, Auntie. I said I wasn't going to force you. It would be very convenient but I'm not going to force you."
"Sensei was guilt-tripping my patriotism before you were born, and he did it way better than you ever will."
Naruto shook his head and sighed in amusement. "Okay, okay. Still, I'm not pulling this thought off the top of my head. I did my research, and Kon Ai says that he's improved tremendously since you tested him. That he's been busting his ass and getting results."
"What is it with this kid? First Oro is pushing me at him, now you? He failed the test!"
"I'm just saying, you could retest him if you wanted. And hey, if Snakeboy is bothering to notice another human being and say nice things about them, maybe it's something to consider."
She folded her arms and glowered. Her glower bounced harmlessly off Naruto's invincibly sunny smile.
"If I retest him and he fails again, you're not going to keep pushing this, right? You'll stay off my ass?"
"If you retest him and he fails again, I will stay off your ass, yes."
She glowered some more.
Naruto waited patiently.
"Fine," she grumbled. "Is there anything else, O Great Lord Almighty Hokage?"
Naruto looked to the ceiling, tapping a finger on pursed lips in thought.
"Well?!" Tsunade snapped after a few seconds.
"Nah, I'm good," Naruto said with a chuckle. "You're dis—"
Tsunade was gone before Naruto could finish the word, much to his disappointment.
Vote time! What to do now?
Voting ends on Wednesday,
.
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Chapter 654: In Which Hazō asks the Hokage for Cheating Eyeballs
It was no longer getting late. It was now getting early. Naruto had started to yawn. There was no possible way Mari would still believe (or plausibly pretend to believe) that he was here to chew Hazō out over some minor issue. Somewhere out there, Naruto Prime was already in bed and cursing Hazō's name while wondering what was taking so long.
But Hazō had just had another brilliant idea, and there would be no escape for his victim.
"I accept your terms," he began. "Kei and Kagome-sensei, assuming we can get first priority on Noburi's chakra."
"They're not my terms," Naruto said with weary impatience. "Hazō, I am trying to help you choose a team that will slip below Akatsuki's notice for as long as possible without sacrificing more effectiveness than we have to, and if we don't manage to thread that needle, we lose instantly. I'm also trying to explain all the trade-offs that go into each possibility, because those do matter. It's not just about handing Leaf resources over to you: the more valuable someone is to Leaf right now, the more suspicious it is when they leave on a long-term mission that's not even supposed to be particularly important.
"Believe me, if I thought I could give you everyone you wanted and it would mean that after a few months, boom! Akatsuki and Pain would just vanish forever, guaranteed, you'd be walking out of the gates of Leaf tomorrow with the entire Gōketsu Clan, all of Leaf's other summoners, and maybe a few hundred KEI ninja to keep you topped off on chakra. But if I actually do that, Leaf burns the next day.
"Ah, forget it. Sounds like we're just about done here anyway. Of course you're getting the chakra you need. Did you ever get the impression that Leaf doesn't have enough to go round?"
"Great," Hazō said. "In that case, can we take Hyūga Neji as well?"
"Sure," Naruto said lightly, "if you can get that asshole out of my village for a while, that'll be a fantastic–wait, what? You want to take along your worst enemy's strongest chūnin on the mission where you plan to give birth to a stack of massive new clan secrets?"
"The Hagoromo are our worst enemy," Hazō corrected him.
"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. "Hinata and I have a pretty good relationship, and I'm fairly sure I'm in the process of swaying her towards greater cooperation."
Of course, he was also planning to trash her finances by exploiting their gemstone deal in bad faith, but that was a problem for tomorrow's Hazō, who wasn't in the middle of trying to save the world yet again.
Naruto stared at him. "OK, apparently one of the people in this room is way more perceptive than the other, and maybe it's a sign of how tired I am that I'm no longer 100% sure which one."
"Do you think it's an actual problem?" Hazō asked. "If I take him along and you make it clear how incredibly classified the whole thing is, will he betray the Gōketsu and reveal runecrafting to his clan?"
"Nah," Naruto said with a shake of his head. "Neji may have a stick up his ass the size of the God Tree, but he's loyal. I trust him to obey an explicit order. What I can't do, though, is promise he won't screw up. You know that saying, 'bars are the breeding grounds of espionage'?"
"We had 'bars are the spawning pools of treason'," Hazō said, "but I get the general idea. Ninja get drunk and slip up, and no matter how tiny the mistake, there's always an enemy of the state waiting to take advantage."
"I haven't exactly been watching Neji's drinking habits," Naruto said, "but I reckon you and I can agree that he's not the sharpest saw in the shed, socially speaking. He goes with you, he becomes an infoleak vector outside your clan. The Hyūga all become secondary vectors. And then your real problem is Hinata, because she got all the social skills in the family, and if he ever slips up, she will notice and know what to do.
"Why would you ever want him, anyway? You realise you'd be spending months at a time with Hyūga Neji as the majority of your human contact?"
"He's a powerful warrior and a summoner," Hazō said. He didn't actually have any idea what Neji's combat skills were like these days, but the title of 'Hyūga's strongest chūnin' suggested that he hadn't been slacking off since the Exams (which, come to think of it, he'd been disqualified from without ever having a chance to show Hazō what he was capable of). "With the Byakugan, he's perfect for countering trackers and ambushes, which will be some of our top threats out there.
"Besides," he added, "he can help us make ambushes of our own. At the point where we design a rune-based trap even he can't detect, we'll know we've struck gold."
"I guess that makes a kind of sense," Naruto agreed, "and it's not like I'm going to overrule you if you decide you're willing to risk your clan secrets in order to improve our odds against Akatsuki. It's weird to have a Hyūga randomly on a Gōketsu research mission, but we can just leak that you're researching, I dunno, seals that create tiny particles that you need to be able to keep track of or something. You're the sealmaster. You come up with something plausible and not too exciting."
"Plus he can reverse-summon out of the way of a sealing failure," Hazō added, "which is a really good thing for any research sealmaster's bodyguard to be able to do."
"Kinda sorta," Naruto said. "I remember Gramps once telling me a bedtime story about a summoner who did that, only the ground where he left had become so contaminated that he could never go back, and he had to live in exile on the Seventh Path forever. I think he was trying to cheer me up because I was being sad I couldn't be a summoner, but honestly, it just came out terrifying. Anyway, point is, sometimes it's better just to run.
"I'm happy to give you Neji. In fact, if it wasn't for the scroll, I'd be tempted to say keep him. What I can't do, though, is send out a team of four summoners. Frankly, even three is a gamble, and I was mostly counting on the fact that Kagome has a super low profile and news of the Arachnid Summoner leaving would take a while to spread. If you want Neji on the team, I'm going to have to ask you to drop Kagome or Kei. Hazō/Mari/Neji would be fine, obviously."
"Got it," Hazō said. "Please don't contact Neji just yet–I'll want to go over all this with Kei before making the final call."
"Yeah," Naruto said, grinning. "I wish I could be there to hear what she's got to say about that."
"Personal grudges aside, I hope she doesn't come up with anything veto-worthy," Hazō said. "The way I see it, S-rankers like Akatsuki have bottomless bags of tricks. Anything you throw at them, they can counter."
"Hold up," Naruto interrupted with a raised hand.
"What?"
"You absolutely can't think like that," Naruto said. "Trust me–I've been getting groomed to take out demigods since I was in my nappies. That isn't how combat works at the very top ranks. You've got the occasional Itachi, but mostly we pick a niche and stick to it. Take Aunt Sunny. She's got fists that cause earthquakes and crazy medical ninjutsu. Does she have ninjutsu and seals to cover for weaknesses in that arsenal? Of course she does; she's not dumb. Are those ninjutsu and seals on the same level as her specialities? Of course not. Why? Because at the core, all top-tier combat is offensive. Your goal is to bring your biggest strength together with the enemy and let it do its thing. Even if you're Orochimaru and your biggest strength is being unkillable, your goal is to make the enemy fail to kill you so you can use the opening to kill them back. The moment you try to fight defensively, you're using your secondary defences against their primary attacks, and things go downhill fast. So no, S-rankers don't have bottomless bags of tricks. What we have is a hell of a lot of skill at forcing you to face the best we've got."
"Fine," Hazō said. "But my point is that whatever S-rank defences the enemy has, whether it's a hundred or a handful, they're all reactive. If we want to bypass them, our weapons have to be too fast or too subtle to react to. That makes Neji's help invaluable. It also makes data on Itachi's precognition invaluable. There is no possible way to design a reliable anti-Itachi weapon if we can't make sure he doesn't see it coming. Lord Hokage, please. I need to know how the Sharingan works, at least in broad strokes–does it literally see the future? Can it spot an ambush about to happen even if there is no visible evidence whatsoever, or does it just pick up on tiny details and make predictions? How far ahead can it see–seconds? Minutes? How long can it be sustained, and is Itachi likely to have it running full-time? We need that information, and you'll be able to get it where Uchiha wouldn't listen to me."
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. Just remember, anything he shares goes no further than you, and your research team if it's absolutely necessary."
"Thank you," Hazō said. "One last thing…"
"Promise?"
"Promise," Hazō said. "I mentioned the Toad Sages earlier, and I wanted to elaborate on that. I'm pretty sure they're sitting on major chakra- and Path-related secrets that would be extremely useful for developing anti-Akatsuki countermeasures. For example, I have an idea for a rune that would change the amount of energy, so to speak, that a certain amount of chakra is worth, making chakra effects more powerful for us or less powerful for Akatsuki in a wide area. At present, that's just an idea in my head. The Sages can probably tell me if it's possible, and maybe even give me some hints on how.
"Of course, right now Noburi and I are little more than some random chūnin to them. With runecrafting at such an early stage, I don't have much I can go to them with and say, 'Here, please teach me the kind of secret lore that Jiraiya earned by being a demigod'. But the closer we can make our relationship, the more likely they'll be to give me what I need."
Naruto shrugged. "Look, I'll get you your letter of recommendation, because at the end of the day, my goal is to support you in getting this mission done, not micro-manage what you do when you get out there. But frankly, I don't think you appreciate how much time training with those old curmudgeons is going to take if they decide to make a serious go of it. Sacrificing a big chunk of your very limited research budget for the sake of building rapport for the sake of lore that you don't know if they have or how far it'll let you skip ahead again… It's not a winning move from where I'm standing. Also, no offence, but you've got a solid track record on sealing research and a very swingy one on diplomacy. It bothers me to think that you're making one depend on the other.
"Ah, whatever. I can't wait to dispel myself and make all this Prime's problem. Though I guess I do have one tiny errand to take care of first…"
Hazō frowned at Naruto's sudden sly grin.
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."
Hazō took the papers. His mind was already whirling with possibilities.
"Now," Naruto asked, "are we done here?"
"We're done," Hazō said, aware that his work had only just begun.
-o-
We have technically now rolled over to the next day, but this is still the same conversation and XP awards are better saved for plans that cover more than the early morning.
"Mari, welcome!" Naruto said, offering her a genuine smile. "Come in, sit down. What can your Hokage do for you today that doesn't involve paperwork?" He shoved aside the stack of papers he'd been working on so that he could see her more clearly from where she stood at the door. Half the stack spilled onto the floor.
Isobe cleared his throat. It was a very meaningful throat-clearing; it packed minutes of stern and passive-aggressive disapproval into a single sound.
"Oh come on, Isobe," Naruto said, struggling to keep the whine out of his voice and not entirely succeeding.
"It's no trouble, sir. The mission can definitely go out tomorrow if you prefer not to provide the relevant authorizations now. I feel certain there will be no consequences to the delay."
"That's a relief! I thought you were going to say—"
"Certainly the Kazekage will be insulted, but I'm certain that can be smoothed over with sufficient generosity in the next trade negotiation. It probably won't cost us more than a few hundred thousand ryō over the next five years."
"Fine! Multiple Shadow Clone!"
Poof! "Aw man! Boss, why you gotta do me like this? Do you know how much it sucks to know that your entire purpose for existing is to review, initial, and sign some mission analysis?"
"Just do it!"
"I have to review and initial and sign mission reports so that he can talk to the hottie," the Naruto clone muttered as he swept the papers up, got them somewhat organized, and stumped out of the room.
Mari kissed him on the cheek as he went by, surprising the clone so much he jolted to a stop.
"Tell you what," she said with a wink. "You get the paperwork done while I talk to him and afterwards you and I can go get some ramen. I'm always up for lunch with a gentleman."
The paperwork clone's face split open in a smile. "Sweet. See you soon."
"Hey!" Naruto said.
"Yes?" Mari asked, eyebrows raised as she approached the desk and settled in opposite him.
"How come he gets taken out to lunch?" he asked, chinning towards where his clone had disappeared out the door along with Isobe.
"Taken out to lunch?" Mari demanded, hand on her bosom in shock. "Is he such a cad that he would make a lady pay for her own meal?" She shook her head slowly. "Naruto, you need to talk to your clones. They do not represent you well."
He didn't seem to know what to say to that.
"What can I do for you?" he asked after a moment.
"I wanted to talk about Noburi."
"Yes? What about him?"
"You had him refilling shadow clones for other ninja so they could train harder. I'm glad we can help Leaf like this, but it worries me a little and I was hoping you would reassure me on some things."
"It worries you? What worries you?" Naruto asked, confused.
"Well, like what it means for Noburi going forward. His entire life, he's only been valued for this one aspect of himself—the kids used to call him 'barrel boy'. He's a good kid and he knows how valuable his chakra transfer ability is, so he always does the job with a smile on his face, but he's really started to bloom lately and I don't want him collapsing back into self-doubt and a feeling of uselessness."
She paused, studying him for a moment. "Basically, how much do you intend to use his chakra transfer ability? Draining enough people to fill his barrel usually takes a reasonable amount of time—not the draining itself, just the getting them shuffled through part. It's not a big deal now, when you only have him helping a couple of people, but I'm trying to think ahead more these days. I can see a time when all the jōnin of Leaf are practicing full-time with shadow clones, all powered by Noburi, and that means he's spending hours a day draining genin so that he can top off the jōnin and their clones. Is he going to be able to have a career outside of that? Is he going to be able to take missions outside the city if it means he isn't there to enable those other people to train? Can he continue his studies? Apparently Tsunade is considering taking him on as a student; I doubt she's interested in a part-time student, so how do we balance his chakra transfer work with his other commitments?"
"I'm sure we can make it work," Naruto said.
She looked unhappy. "Don't take this the wrong way, Naruto, but that's not super reassuring. When you come to your Kage with a situation that's giving you some existential dread, you're really hoping for a more detailed answer."
He shrugged. "What do you want from me? This is all new and we're still feeling our way into it."
"Fair," she said. "Can you at least give me a sense of how many people you're likely to be fueling up from Noburi?"
"Probably...not that many," he said, shifting uncomfortably.
She narrowed her eyes. "With all due respect, you're looking sketchy right now. Are you thinking of using Noburi to empower the Hagoromo?"
"Wasn't considering it, no."
"But you're not ruling it out, either, yeah?"
"Yeah."
She shook her head uncomfortably. "Naruto...Lord Hokage...you absolutely have the right to order the Gōketsu on whatever missions you want. If you're going to claim that having Noburi refill other ninja is a mission then you have the right to do that. Still, it's going to taste pretty bitter if you use him to power up the Hagoromo or anyone else that we're at odds with. And it's not just them—all clans get into it now and again. Our Uplift ideas aren't popular with the conservative faction, but we're not going to give up on making the lives of Fire's citizens better in every way we can. If one of the conservative clans starts in on how we're being unnatural or whatever, are we still going to have to empower them even while we're actively fighting? Then there's the loss to Noburi himself, and to the clan...every minute that he spends draining people so that some other ninja can get more training time is a minute he didn't spend on his own training. Every scrap of chakra that goes to a Hagoromo didn't go to a Gōketsu."
"Do you honestly believe this is an issue?" Naruto asked, his tone chiding. "Come on, Mari. He's only refilling Sasuke and one or two others and the draining doesn't actually take that long. I can parade a bunch of genin through the room to get drained, Noburi tanks up Sasuke, boom. Five minutes, in and out. Hardly impacts Noburi's training time."
"If you're having him drain those genin dry, sure," she said. "If you want them to still be able to do their own training then he can only take a little bit from them, which means you need five or ten times as many. The time adds up." She bit her lip. "You know, that's actually an interesting option...have you thought about making 'chakra source' be an entire specialization?"
"You mean have ninja who don't do anything except donate chakra?" His face suggested he had just now seen a maggot in his food.
"No, hear me out. How many kids have the chakra system to go to the Academy but they can't cut the academics or the conditioning? Instead of washing them out completely, teach them how to train their chakra systems and send them on their way. They stay in Leaf where they aren't at risk of having our training secrets stolen—let's be honest, most people in Leaf never leave the city, so that's not hard. It gives Noburi a chakra source that doesn't impact any other ninja's capacity and, big plus, MSD ninja will have a way to contribute to the nation and earn some ryō."
"I've thought about it," he admitted. "There are some issues with it, but it's an interesting idea."
She cocked her head in surprise, then nodded. "Ah. You're worried about the effects on morale, and on the trust in doctors. If MSD ninja were compelled to be chakra sources then everyone would be worried that the medics might not work as hard to get them back on their feet. Especially the clanless—they're going to fear that the medics will prefer to do a quick fix that left them permanently MSD but functional as a chakra source, just so that the medic could move on to save a clan ninja." She considered. "Plus, you would end up with a two-tiered system, one group who get respect for doing missions and ones who only exist to power them up. The more often someone donates chakra, the more likely they are to get stuck in that second group. And if you're ordering them to donate then they'll worry that you are pushing them in that direction."
"Something like that, yes."
"Fair enough," she said. "Will you take a suggestion?"
"Sure, whatcha got?"
"Comes in two pieces: First, don't compel chakra donations. In fact, forbid their compulsion. Make a law that ninja can't be forced to donate their chakra by anyone—not their Clan Head, not their mission commander, not their sensei, not even by the Hokage except during wartime. People can voluntarily sell their chakra if they want but they don't have to worry about it being forced on them. If someone wants to have a safe career doing nothing but serving as a chakra source, they can and more power to 'em, but no active-duty ninja needs to worry about it."
He frowned.
"Forbidding the compulsion won't cause you any trouble," Mari continued quickly. "The people you want to get extra training are mostly jōnin already. They have plenty of money to pay people to come with them to the Gōketsu estate in order to sell their chakra."
"And the second part?" he asked.
"Let Noburi be valued appropriately for his skills. If a ninja goes on a mission, they get paid. If a ninja is hired to train someone, they get paid. Noburi's abilities are no different and he should be able to charge for them."
"You want me to pay Noburi to transfer chakra to my senior ninja so they can train more?"
"I want my son to see that his services are valuable to Leaf, in a measurable and tangible way. I want senior jōnin to speak respectfully to him when he helps them in the way that only he can. People respect those that get paid for their expertise, Naruto. Ebisu got more respect than the Academy teachers because Ebisu charged for his time while the Academy teachers were just there, an assumed part of the landscape." She chuckled and shrugged one shoulder. "And because he was a brilliant teacher, granted, but the point stands: people respect what they pay for and they don't respect things that are free. If you compel Noburi to perform chakra transfer then you are placing these other ninja above him, saying that their time is worth more than his. If you let us sell his time like any other ninja can then people will have to treat him with respect."
Naruto pondered that. "Isn't this already the case? I know you're buying chakra by posting missions on the board. Weren't you also getting paid to fill up jōnin during the war?"
"Yes, but under my proposal the person who needs the chakra pays for it. We'll still be buying plenty but it will be for our own training and our own projects. If Sasuke wants to get his clones filled up, he can round up a bunch of genin, pay them, and bring them to Noburi. Plus, we'll be able to set our rates and refuse service to clans who are actively opposing us."
Naruto looked dubious.
"We'll give the Tower preferential rates?" Mari offered with a smile.
"You'll give the Tower your service," Naruto said, a trace of cold in his voice.
She met his eyes with a disappointed tilt to her lips. "Yes, Naruto, obviously we will give you our service. You're the Hokage; if you give an order then we will obey. Still, you said it yourself a minute ago: this is all new and we're still feeling our way into it. What you do in the next few weeks will define your relationship with the Gōketsu going forward, and the way you treat us will send a signal to all the other clans as to how they should treat us. If you treat us like a resource to be exploited, the other clans will look down on us. If you treat us like an important clan with a valuable resource, they will treat us as an important clan with a valuable resource.
"I'm really only asking that Noburi be treated like everyone else. When you order Sakura and her team to do a beast extermination mission, they do the job and then they get paid for their time and their skills. When you order me to infiltrate the Kazekage's Dome, I'll do the job and then I'll get paid for my time and my skills. Treat Noburi the same way: if he's going to use his skills to benefit Leaf then he should be allowed to set a price."
Naruto rubbed his chin. "I dunno...seems like it favors the clan over the clanless again. The clan ninja will have a lot more money. Clanless might not be able to afford it."
She shrugged and laughed. "Naruto, have you met us? We're the Gōketsu. We are all about helping the clanless, and the civilians, and pretty much everyone who isn't trying to screw us over. We'll provide discounted rates for those we judge need it, and we can work out barter deals. There are lots of missions that we want to hire—mostly till'n'fills but plenty of other stuff. If someone wants to do missions for us instead of paying Noburi in cash, that's fine. Or if they want to sell us jutsu or seals then Noburi will give them unlimited transfers for some period of time."
"I...suppose that's not unreasonable," Naruto said slowly. "I'm at least willing to try it for a while."
"Thank you. Would you mind letting us work directly with the other clans? If you hire the job then it removes our agency and tells people that they don't need to worry about our opinion as long as they get on your good side. Basically, if Sasuke wants to get powered up, tell him to come to us himself instead of you doing it for him. Please?"
"Like I said, we'll try it. If you start pricing people out of the market then we'll need to reexamine it, but if you're being reasonable then it can work."
"Completely fair. It will be a good opportunity for both of us to figure out what our relationship is going to be going forward."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?" There was a trace of frost in the words.
"Naruto," Mari said, "you're a new Hokage and no one in this village knows what to expect. We're all trying to figure out what our relationship is going to be with you. Are you going to be an autocrat who does whatever he wants and plays favorites? Are you going to listen to advice from those who have more experience on a subject than you do, or will you assume you know better because you're the Hokage? Will you reward service or merely expect it?" She raised both hands, palm up. "Like I said, we're all trying to figure out what our relationship is with you."
"Huh." He leaned back in his chair, studying her carefully. "I'm going to take a wild stab and say that you have some suggestions, now that you have so very carefully led the conversation around to this point."
She grinned. "Me? Lead the conversation? I am shocked! Shocked, I say!"
Naruto laughed and shook his head ruefully. "Out with it."
"Fine," she said crossing her legs and leaning back, fingers interlaced on her knee. "I don't think I have anything political to say that you don't already know. The Third and Jiraiya were better politicians than I'll ever be and I'm sure they taught you more than I'll ever know about that stuff. What I know is people, interactions on an individual basis. I know that the Gōketsu drained our coffers dry helping you get elected because we thought you would be the best choice for Hokage." She quickly raised a hand to cut him off. "Yes, yes, part of it was making sure that Hagoromo didn't get the hat, but we still strongly preferred you over Lord Akimichi.
"This is where we go back to that 'figuring out our relationship' stuff." She eyed him for a moment. "You're very hard to read, did you know that?"
"Huh?"
"I can't tell quite how you see us. In order to get the hat, you gave multiple S-rank jutsu to each of several moderate or conservative clans; the Gōketsu didn't get those despite spending our coffers empty to help you. When Hazō spoke to you about it, you listened to him, acknowledged that he had a point, and you gave him your father's seal as a thank you. It showed respect and acknowledged that we had done you a service, but it also showed that you felt one seal plus having you as Hokage was worth as much as the money we spent plus the jutsu the others got. Fair enough, maybe a good combat seal from the Fourth Hokage really is worth that much. Maybe there's enough seal theory information in the notes that it will add value of its own. It feels like being taken for granted a bit but, okay. You're the Hokage. You should be able to take the support of your ninja for granted.
"Then you come to us when you need a high-priority research mission done. It's important enough that Hazō is dropping everything and leaving for months. That's not something you ask of any random Tanaka off the street, that's something you ask of someone you trust. An ally."
She raised both palms in confusion. "I don't understand how I'm supposed to act. One part of me thinks that you recognize our value and want us to be allies, a clan who believes in your vision, actively looks for ways to support you, and takes initiative to make it happen. Another part thinks that you want us to stay out of your hair and just be like all the other clans—spend our time pursuing our own advantage, take initiative only in support of ourselves, don't cause trouble, and follow orders."
"I think the clans do a little more than follow their own advantage, Mari," Naruto said, amused.
"Not really, no. Who fed the hungry? Us. Who supplies free explosive tags and other seals to anyone who wants them, thereby boosting survival rates? Us. Who teaches basic education for anyone who wants to show up, civilian or clanless or clan? Us. Who runs a free medical clinic to handle what Leaf General can't? Us. Who thought that helping the outer villages would help all of Fire and therefore would help make new ninja for Leaf? Us.
"The clans, and for the most part the KEI, care about the nation, sure," she continued, "but they don't actively devote themselves to building it up. They see their military service as the sum total of what they owe to Leaf and anything else is the Hokage's job to figure out and organize. They aren't proactive like we are."
"Your 'proactive' can be another person's 'troublesome'," Naruto said with a small smile.
"Hey! Bad Naruto, no biscuit! 'Troublesome' is Shikamaru's word and you're not allowed to steal it!"
He laughed. "I think there are some real holes in your position, but let's roll with it. You're clever and proactive and eager to serve Leaf. The other clans, many of whom literally built the place, are stodgy old stumps who don't feel the need to do anything useful. What of it?"
She shrugged. "I'm saying that it's your choice what you want the Gōketsu to be to you. We're loyal and we'll follow your orders. If you want us to be another group of soldiers, we're happy to do that. We would prefer to be more."
"Such as?"
She shrugged again. "We have our agenda, just like every clan does. We want to exalt our own people, just like they do. The difference is that our definition of 'our own people' is wider than theirs—it covers at least everyone in Fire." She thought about that for a moment, head tipped. "Maybe not Lord Hagoromo. He can go suck farts." That startled a bark of laughter from the teenage boy across from her; she flashed him a grin and then continued. "I think your agenda lines up pretty well with ours overall, but I don't know what your priorities are. Tell us what you're focused on, big picture, and we can start creating ways to make it happen." She raised a finger in warning. "We won't compromise our own principles for it. If you want to exterminate every human in Earth Country, we're going to have a problem. Fortunately, I don't think that's going to be an issue. Based on what I know about you, genocide isn't a very Naruto thing to do."
"It's not, no. I notice that you didn't have any problem burning a city before this. That's not genocide?"
"You're talking about Nagayama? Yes, Asuma ordered Akane to do that and she obeyed. It was a war, not a time to be arguing with lawful authority. It almost destroyed Akane and I don't want to see any of my other kids go through that again. If you ever order one of them to commit genocide, I am going to tell them to stand down while you and I go at it until you see that it's counterproductive and you withdraw the order." She smiled a half-smile. "Or until you get so tired of arguing with me that you withdraw the order just to shut me up."
Naruto smiled back, slightly. "Fortunately for all concerned, I wasn't planning on ordering any cities burned in the near future."
"Good. Now, seriously, how can we help?"
Naruto studied her for ten long seconds, rocking his chair slightly back and forth on the rear legs the whole time. Finally, coming to a decision, he brought it back upright and leaned forward, hands laced together, and began to speak.
By the time they finished, it was too late to take NarutoPaperPusher out for ramen.
There's another scene to do in which Hazō goes to the Toad Sages. It's late, I'm tired, I'll do that one for tomorrow, maybe.
"Hello, boys," Shima said. "Come in, come in. I just made some spice tea. Let me know what you think!" She waved them along into the home of the Toad Sages.
Hazō and Noburi were both trained ninja with years of experience in combat situations. They had excellent situational awareness, honed over years of danger until it amounted to virtually a sixth, and perhaps even a seventh, sense.
At the friendly words of the toad matron, all of that experience and all of that awareness screamed DANGER.
Without thinking about it, Hazō and Noburi drifted half an armspan apart: close enough for mutual support, not so close as to get in the other's way. Their steps shifted into a combat rhythm, feet staying in contact with the ground, weight deep in the hips as they moved.
Shima seemed completely oblivious as she led them to the table where Fukasaku waited. She waved them to a pair of seats and poured four cups of tea. When she turned to take her seat, Fukasaku waved his webbed hands frantically, looking meaningfully to the tea and then rolling his eyes back in his head, tongue lolling out in simulated death.
And then Shima was on her chair and facing them again and Fukasaku looked completely normal.
"Let me know what you think," Shima asked, excited. She took a sip of her own tea, pinky finger extended, and sighed in satisfaction. "Ahhhhh."
Nervously, Hazō and Noburi picked up their own cups and raised them to their hostess. "Health," they said in unison. And then they sipped, in unison.
The tea went down Hazō's throat like a blob of lava. It felt like his teeth were melting and he was certain that he could taste his tongue burning away. It hit his stomach and declared war, knives out and slashing.
"Smooth," he gasped, eyes watering and face flaming with heat.
Shima beamed with pride. "You like it? It's a new recipe. Cinnamon, anise, and some of those peppers from Pangolin to add a bit of warmth."
"Delicious," Noburi managed, setting the tea back down and wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"What do you think, Pa?"
Fukasaku's smile was sickly but he raised the cup to his lips. From where Shima sat it must have looked like he sipped, but Hazō could see the tea strike a wall of chakra repulsion before it could enter his mouth. It flowed along his cheek, around his squat neck, and was absorbed by his robe.
"You have outdone yourself again, Ma," the old toad said, setting the cup back down. "Never tasted anything like it, and I'm sure it'll be popular. Still, I prefer your last recipe. It was the first thing you ever made for me and it brings back good memories."
"Awww!" The toad matron blushed. "You're so sweet, Pa. Well, at least the boys liked it. I'll be sure to have more on hand next time you come."
Hazō sincerely evaluated the benefits of death's sweet release before deciding that no, he still had too much paperwork waiting for him.
"What can we do for you boys?" Pa said. Undoubtedly out of a desire to be helpful and not in any way to move the conversation away from the death fire that was Ma's tea.
"Sir, ma'am," Hazō began, "I came to ask your help. I'm not sure how much Noburi has told you about Akatsuki?"
"A bit," Fukasaku said. "But please, feel free to expand."
Shima shot him a furrow-browed look. "What are you doing, old goat? You never want to hear them expand. You're always too busy hustling them out."
"I'm in a good mood, Ma," he said.
"Uh-huh."
"I'm allowed to be in a good mood!"
"Are you trying to delay me serving lunch? You could have just said you didn't want any of my pasta!"
"I want your pasta, you loopy dingo! I'm just in a good mood and I want to hear the boy talk!"
"You never—"
"You're always wanting me to try new things! Fine, I'm trying new things. I'm trying to learn how to pretend I'm interested while the boy does his blah blah blah! It might help the next time you start talking about weaving!"
"Don't you criticize my hobbies you fat old idiot! You don't hear me telling you how stupid those old scrolls of yours are, do you?"
"Excuse me, sir? Ma'am?" Hazō asked. "Please, this is very important to me."
Shima harumphed but folded her arms. "Fine. Go on, boy."
"Thank you, ma'am." In quick, carefully prepared words, he laid out the nature of Akatsuki. Their dominance over the nations, their murder of Asuma, their prior ritual and the risks posed if they resurrected Pain and once more tried to make humanity 'better'. The impotence of the nations to control them, and Naruto's desperation. Everything, including the mission he was being sent on.
"Sounds like a right drama," Shima said when he finished. "What's it to us?"
"We need your help," Hazō said plainly. "I know there's nothing I can do to compel you or even influence you." He smiled, small and rueful. "I looked for a way. I thought about bribing you, and then I realized that people as powerful and influential as yourselves can get anything you want without needing me.
"I thought about trying to frame this as reciprocity—Noburi and I were instrumental in saving the Seventh Path from the Dragons and so won't you help us save the Human Path? Then I realized that you don't owe us anything for that. We did it for our own reasons—yes, in part to save our friends among the Dogs and Toads and other clans, but also to retain our power as summoners.
"I talked and talked with my clan, looking for any angle I could find and realized there isn't one. All I can do is come to you on bended knee, begging for your help."
"Yes, yes, whatever," Fukasaku said, waving a hand. "A lovely bit of sucking up but you still haven't said what you actually want!"
"I want you to train us," Hazō said, gesturing to himself and Noburi. "You trained Jiraiya and it turned him into a titan, quite possibly the most powerful ninja alive at the time except for Pain. We need to be strong enough that people have to respect us. I need to know technique hacking so that I can create the tools I need to recover Jiraiya, and Akane, and everyone else we care about. Everyone in Leaf who knows you says that you are the greatest masters of jutsu creation and modification that anyone has ever seen, far better than the humans we have access to. Please, I desperately need that expertise. Will you help us? Take us as your disciples and train us."
Hazō found that he had been leaning forward, intensity in his face, so he sat back. It was important to give them space to think, Mari had said.
The two old toads looked at one another, a conversation flashing past in the tilt of a head, the raising of an eyebrow, and the knowledge of one another built up over the course of a marriage that had persisted longer than reliably recorded human history.
"We retired from teaching years ago," Fukasaku grumbled. "Teaching humans is a pain in the tongue, and you die so fast that it's hardly worth it. Just as we're getting you to a decent level of power you kick the bucket from old age. It's frustrating, seeing all that work go to waste."
"Plus, it takes so much time," Shima added. "Whenever we train a human we have to set everything else aside. And you're always so aggravating with your 'ow ow ow I can't do any more pushups' and 'this jutsu is too complicated' and 'help, help, I'm turning to—"
"Bup!" Fukasaku said. "Not that."
Amazingly, Shima looked chastened and sketched a vague wave of apology instead of snapping back at him.
"Please," Noburi said. "I'm the Toad Summoner but I'm not old enough to do right by the clan, and—"
Shima held up a hand. "Don't interrupt. We didn't say we wouldn't teach you, we just said that we had retired and that teaching you lot is a pain."
"Let's imagine, just for the sake of amusement, that we were going to consider this," Fukasaku said with a sniff. "Why do you need jutsu creation training?"
"It looks like the Fourth Hokage figured out how to create effects that are half jutsu, half seal," Hazō said. "Some of his work is relevant to opening the rift, so I need to be able to understand it."
"Why can't you just work with an experienced jutsu master?" Shima asked. "You provide the seal knowledge, he provides the jutsu knowledge."
Hazō shook his head. "No good. The seal work and the jutsu work are tightly woven together, not separate things that interact. We would spend so much time explaining the contributions of our discipline to each other that it will be faster for me to learn jutsu theory myself." He paused, debating with himself. "I'd be glad to show you the material, if you'd like. It's an entire new paradigm of chakra manipulation."
"Hm," Fukasaku said, pretending at disinterest and failing.
"Hmph. And you couldn't learn this on your own?" Shima demanded. "Jutsu creation, I mean."
"I've been studying it," Hazō said, "but I'm being ordered to leave the village now, so I won't be able to finish my course of instruction. I need someone expert enough to teach me to a high standard, and it needs to be someone on the Seventh Path so that I can work with them even while I'm out of the city." He paused, then hastened to add, "I considered asking my jutsu teacher to come with me but it's not practical for a variety of reasons."
Shima frowned, an impressive sight given the size of her lips and the shocking purple of her lipstick.
"Me, I need ninja training," Noburi said. "I need to be the badass that the Toad Summoner should be. In part so that the Toad Clan looks good in front of the other summoners and everyone else on the Human Path. In part because, when we go after Akatsuki, Hazō is going to need a badass beatstick to cover his back while he's making and deploying seals and runes and whatnot."
"Hm," said Fukasaku, meeting eyes with his wife for a moment. The old toad was leaned back in his chair, tiny arms folded across his tiny chest, pipe clenched powerfully in his mouth as he puffed furiously away. The smoke gathered in a tight cloud above his head, refusing to drift around the room and inconvenience anyone else.
"It would be good to have someone strong again," Shima said, her voice speculative. "I didn't want to say anything, but it is a bit embarrassing."
Fukasaku sighed, long and drawn out. "I do want to see this 'new paradigm'"—he made air quotes around the words and his voice became mocking—"but training them is just such a bother!"
"I know, I know," Shima said. "We could switch off, I suppose."
"Ugh."
"Look on the bright side. If the new stuff is boring or he can't keep up, you kick him out. And if the Summoner washes out then we tell Naruto-brat to get us a new one."
Fukasaku's eyes lit up in a way that Hazō found worrisome.
"If we're telling the brat anything, we could tell him to send a jutsu hacker and a jōnin trainer along with them," Fukasaku said. "They should be able to learn everything they need from a human just as easily as from us."
"Sir, I really can't," Hazō said quickly. "This mission needs to be very unremarkable. Supposedly it's just me and Kagome-sensei going off to do some research, with maybe one or two close family going along for a vacation. If we start bringing unrelated ninja with us, that puts the whole cover story into question. If Akatsuki starts asking questions and gets suspicious, they could end up using our family as hostages to force us to come home and turn over everything we've created."
Shima sighed gustily and Hazō struggled not to wince.
The two Sages held another silent conversation of expression.
"Fine," Shima said at last. "We'll take you on."
"Yes!" Noburi and Hazō both said, Noburi pumping a fist and Hazō throwing his hands in the air.
"—on a trial basis!" she continued. "We aren't committing to what we did for Jiraiya. That little brat took years to get to a remotely decent level. We'll take you on for a few weeks."
"Basically, if you piss us off or slack on the training, you're out," Fukasaku said, puffing on his pipe. "We'll expect some serious dedication."
"No problem," Hazō said. "If it's okay—"
"And we aren't doing general training with you," Fukasaku said, poking Hazō with the stem of his pipe. "You get jutsu creation training and be grateful for it. You should be going to Cannai or one of his people for training, not us, but I want to see this 'new paradigm' of yours."
"Also, you don't get general training because becoming 'a badass beatstick' is for our summoner." She gave Noburi a smile that carried portents of doom, sweat, and tears along with it.
Noburi looked to Hazō, one eyebrow raised in an implied 'do we keep arguing?' Hazō shook his head.
"That will be absolutely fine," he said. "Thank you very much. Would it be all right if I started a week from now? Like I said, I'm going on this research trip and I need a few days to get everything in place and get to the site."
"Fine, fine," Shima said, waving a hand. "I expect you can start immediately, boy?" She poked Noburi in the bicep.
"Yes, ma'am." Noburi started to stand up, only to stop when Fukasaku waved him down.
"She didn't mean right this second," the old Sage said. "We'll start tomorrow. Bright and early."
"Yes, sir! And thank you, sir!"
"Truly," Hazō said. "I can't tell you how much we appreciate this."
Shima sniffed. "As you should. Now, drink your tea while I get the pasta ready."
Author's Note: You asked Kagome about bringing Neji. He was very glad that you consulted him before making the decision; he said that no, he does not want Neji along unless there's an actually important reason. Hazō said 'well, his cheating eyeballs can help us make stealth runes', to which Kagome said 'eh, make the runes first and then add the stealth ability.' You can override him in the next plan but you will need to exclusively vote that in.
Second note: I originally wrote this on the assumption that we were going to jump ahead to the 'they have left the city' part, hence why I did the Naruto/Mari conversation which was supposed to happen after Hazō left the city. In retrospect that was an invalid assumption. Go ahead and vote in whatever other prep you want to do before the team departs. Once the departure update has happened (however many chapters that might be) we will repost the Naruto/Mari chapter with an updated chapter number so that the timeline doesn't get wonky. Please do not do anything that would influence that conversation.
Third Note, take heed: This took long enough to come out that the voting cycle would be too short to be practical. As such, this will be the Thursday update and we will have an extra-long voting cycle.
"Come in," Tsunade called through the brass-studded walnut door, her sharp voice barely muffled by the solid wood.
Noburi entered and quietly removed his barrel and the Toad Scroll, as Tsunade looked up from her papers.
"It's you," she said. "Your brother promised me money, and Shizune is asking about it. Tell him to sell off whatever damn gemstones he needs to, because lives are on the line if Shizune can't source the medicine she needs to deal with the coalbelly sweeping through southern Fire."
"I'll let him know, ma'am. Is that all?" Noburi asked. The messenger that had called him to the hospital had been scared halfway to death (thankfully, Gaku had a remarkable collection of peppermint tea to calm her down), so Noburi decided fewer words meant less chances to piss Tsunade off.
Tsunade scowled. "No, that's not all. You, for whatever reason, are the talk of the town. Everyone's stumbling over themselves to tell me what an amazing medic you are and how stupid I am for not taking you as an apprentice. I'm sick of it.
"You're not an amazing medic. I tested you, and you fucked up the surgery on that guy's leg, and he was going to bleed out if I didn't step in. You don't make the cut. You understand that, right?"
Noburi tried to keep his pain off his face. "I understand that, ma'am."
"Good," she said, expression still dark. "Then why are people shoving you in my face all the time? Have you been pulling strings and spending favors? Because you have to know what happens when I feel like someone's trying to manipulate me. They only ever try once."
"No, Tsunade," Noburi said. "I haven't been trying… anything, really. I've just been working at the hospital and studying the materials you gave me. Have I done anything wrong?"
"You…" Tsunade fixed him with his glare, and Noburi had to look down. When he looked back, her expression was softening – less diamond and more solid steel.
"No, you didn't do anything wrong," she said with a slight sigh. "Fine. I've made my decision."
"You're not going to be my apprentice, so don't get ahead of yourself. But you're… you're a decent medic. I've seen you work. And by the look of it, you've spent a lot of time practicing with your bloodline, which looks pretty useful for hospital work.
"I've been… convinced," Tsunade said, with her voice bitter like thistle, "that your bloodline has potentially valuable medical applications that are far from fully explored. So, I intend to explore it. We're going to spend the next several months studying your bloodline, trying to figure out what it does and how it does what it does. I'll work with you to develop new unique medical ninjutsu, and if we're lucky, we'll come up with something truly incredible. Worst-case, you get some jutsu and a much better understanding of your bloodline. Is that clear?"
Apparently, Tsunade had taken it upon herself to fulfill his greatest dreams as a Wakahisa-born medic instead of leaving Leaf yet again. And sure, it wouldn't be an apprenticeship by name, but given how much he'd learned during his last time shadowing her around, he had no doubt that he'd advance by leaps and bounds while working personally with the world's greatest medic-nin. Except…
"That sounds incredible," Noburi said honestly. "But the Toad Sages have offered to train me-"
"Oh, fuck off," Tsunade said. "Tell those old geezers I told them that. I'm going to be in Leaf for the next few months no matter what, and I don't appreciate having my time wasted, Noburi. Either you're going to show up at the Senju estate tomorrow morning so we can start figuring out your bloodline, or you're going to go figure out a way to make sure that your damned name never gets spoken within my earshot again. Got it?"
So, either permanently torpedo his relationship with Tsunade, or scorn the incredibly prideful Toad Sages' offer of training to work on the medic skills that they didn't really respect. Fantastic.
"Understood, ma'am," he said. "I'll let you know by tonight."
"Good," she said. "Dismissed."
o-o-o
"Hazō," Naruto said, glancing up from the technique scroll he had been studying in the tiny, cramped Tower meeting room. The meeting room was actually a decent size, but was overtaken by a tropical-looking tree in a large pot in the corner whose broad, waxy leaves filled most of the head-height area of the room.
Naruto noticed Hazō studying the plant and shrugged apologetically. "It was a gift from the Noodle Country ambassador who was here last week, and this was one of the sunnier rooms where I could have put it. Just watch the roots. They get excited when they smell a new person."
Hazō blinked in surprise as he saw a few gnarled roots poke out of the soil and orient themselves towards him. He shook it off and took his seat.
"Have you spoken to Shinji about his public brawling yet?" Naruto asked.
"Actually, not yet," Hazō said.
"Damn it, Hazō! This shit matters, if you want to be a decent clan head. You can't just ignore everyone in your clan until they become a problem."
"In fairness," Hazō said, crossing his arms, "I've been busy preparing for my mission."
Naruto nodded, faux-anger fading off his face. "I know, sorry. A couple clones just finished setting up the privacy seals."
"And I did talk to Shinji, though it's hard to be too mad at him when I know you were the one who set him up," Hazō said. "I'm just finishing up a couple things that I figure you ought to know about."
"Right, that makes sense," Naruto said. "If you'll give me a second…"
A short sequence of ninjutsu later, Naruto leaned back in his chair. "What's up?"
Hazō looked away from the roots that were steadily creeping towards him on the floor. "Two things. First, I know you asked me not to give Orochimaru any of your father's original work, but I want to try trading the initial seals in your father's jinchūriki seal chain in exchange for some more chakra-conductive stone for runecrafting. Those seals are useful for building up skills in advance of the rift project, and if I needed the experience, Orochimaru will definitely benefit from it. Don't worry, there's nothing particularly useful in there, just some chakra sensing stuff that I'm sure he already has better versions of, and I'll give him Gōketsu-copied notes rather than your father's stuff so he hopefully won't be able to tell that it's connected to the Fourth Hokage."
Naruto sighed. "Yeah, I'd prefer if you didn't, given that my dad's seals are apparently something really special if I read Asuma's notes right. That said, I trust you can manage the OPSEC appropriately, and if you need the fancy rocks, who am I to second guess you? Just make sure you actually hand over the core rift stuff that Orochimaru needs, okay?"
"Got it," Hazō said. "The second thing is actually related to that."
"Oh?" Naruto asked.
"The thing is… the rift seals are clan secrets, per the agreement I made with Asuma. I realize the fate of the world is at stake, so I'm going to trade them to Orochimaru willingly, but I just wanted to let you know that otherwise, this would have been you ordering a clan head to disclose clan secrets."
Naruto raised his eyebrow. "Really, Hazō? You want to go there?"
"I'm not going anywhere," Hazō said, stifling a faint hint of amusement at the similarity of Naruto and Asuma's reactions. He kicked the roots away from where they were trying to wrap around his ankles. "I'm not trying to make any fuss, I just wanted to let you know what exactly you're asking me to do."
Naruto shook his head. "First of all, come on. I've seen enough of you trying to squeeze jutsu and seals out of solid stone that I'm sure you'd be trying to do the same to me right now if it weren't for the fact that you have no real negotiating position without going to the Clan Council and blowing a bunch of important secrets sky-high. Honestly, I'm not even sure they'd side with you – Asuma had a soft spot for you, and he probably shouldn't have let you take Tower seals and make them a clan secret. People might not like the favoritism."
"The notes were Tower property, and we didn't make them our clan secret," Hazō said. "It was just the seals we made with our own work, that no one outside our clan could make. That's normal, and that's just how clan secrets work."
"That's not how it works when any other sealmaster decides to take research notes from the Tower, but whatever," Naruto said. "The big thing is – that's my dad's stuff. I respect the Third a ton, but I don't agree with his decision to take big chunks of my dad's sealing work and make it property of Leaf. That's clan secret theft, plain and simple. Sure, the Third had reasons for it, but… why in the world would I think Asuma would be able to let you claim my dad's stuff as your clan secrets?
"Actually, picture this. Some tragedy happens to, say, the Nara Clan, and the Hokage decides to take copies of some of their shadow jutsu for preservation – whatever, just assume the reason for taking the jutsu makes sense. Later, a different Hokage decides to hand out those jutsu to another clan so they can make modifications. After all, it's not like the jutsu are being used otherwise, right? Lastly, the other clan comes back, saying that their modified shadow jutsu are their own clan secret, that no one else has a right to. Technically? Okay, sure, it matches the dictionary definition of a clan secret. But how are people going to think about it in practice? How is a hypothetical Nara Hokage going to feel?"
"I see," Hazō said. "I don't think the Nara Hokage would feel very charitable to the other clan. Thank you Naruto, I think I understand better now."
Naruto leaned back in his chair. "Good. I don't want to be an asshole about this, or run back Asuma's decisions too much. As long as you're making progress towards recreating my jinchūriki seal, feel free to reap all the benefits of the intermediary seals for your clan, no tithe to the Tower required. But I should make expectations clear – as long as you're working on my dad's stuff, I expect that you'll actually comply with my reasonable orders about what to do with it. And like you said, 'the fate of the world' is a pretty good reason for me to ask you to share your seals. Are we in agreement there?"
"We are, sir," Hazō said, standing and bowing, almost hitting his head on a broad leaf. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed a couple more roots crawling up the back of the chair towards his neck.
"Good," Naruto said. "Good luck with the rest of the preparations for your mission. Let me know if you need anything else."
o-o-o
Once Orochimaru had given Noburi the basic training exercises for forming chakra scalpels in the bright and sunny training field as far from the Basement as reasonably possible within Leaf, the Sannin didn't bother talking with Hazō. Instead, he efficiently set up a perimeter of privacy seals. A hemisphere around an unassuming patch of grass was turned into a warped, distorted haze, and Orochimaru looked at Hazō expectantly, then disappeared into the dome.
"Looks like I need to go talk with him," Hazō said. "I'll try to do it in terms he understands. Hopefully I don't get eviscerated."
Noburi grunted, staring down at his hands with intense focus, where pale green wisps were periodically appearing and failing to coalesce into any kind of scalpel. "Good luck with that."
"Thanks, bro," Hazō said. Kei had already struck a few lines from Hazō's conversational flowchart that she had deemed likely to traumatize Noburi, given the way that Noburi would have had to scrape Hazō's organs off the grass in order to get Hazō to cremation. Hazō still planned to ask questions close to Orochimaru's core identity, if in a more gentle way. He couldn't predict what would happen.
"Given recent revelations," Orochimaru said as Hazō entered the warped and hazy hemisphere, "I have taken the liberty of bringing my privacy seals despite your brother's refusal to meet in a suitably secure location. I am certain that additional time thusly gained will be used on a matter of great import that you have previously hidden from me: the imminent resurrection of Pain."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. In fact, I'd first like to discuss that matter. Here is the research work that Naruto has ordered us to give up to you," Hazō said, laying down a thin stack of papers on the table – the work of a single week studying the first of Kagome's sketched-out rift seals. "Here is additional, highly valuable preliminary and preparatory work we did ahead of working on the main rift seals." He laid down a second stack of paper, easily ten times larger – all of Kagome's original research notes for the first eight seals in the Fourth Hokage's jinchūriki seal chain, produced over the course of six months.
Hazō would have traded his own research notes instead, but Akatsuki had stolen his originals and Hazō hadn't had the time to make new copies. As it was, after copying out his recalled progress on the initial rift seal from months ago (unfortunately, he'd done the research with a shadow clone, so the Iron Nerve hadn't helped him much), he'd spent all day reviewing Kagome's work and expunging any reference to the Fourth Hokage, further seals in the chain, and any possibility of a connection with technique hacking. It had left quite a few holes. Hazō could only hope he'd gotten all of it.
"I'd like to trade this additional preparatory work, along with the otherwise-secret location of a rift in Iron suitable for basic experiments, in exchange for more substrate for runecrafting. Perhaps however much substrate you can produce from five of Noburi's barrels?"
Orochimaru raised an eyebrow. He reached across the table, claiming Hazō's very thin notes on the rift seals and flicking through them with impressive alacrity. After a few seconds of review, he set the notes down and reached for the second, larger stack. He stopped himself before he grabbed it, then turned his outstretched hand around to display his open palm.
"If you would," Orochimaru asked. "That I may judge the quality of what you are bargaining over."
Reluctantly, Hazō handed Orochimaru the stack.
Orochimaru flipped through the papers, slowly at first, then rapidly accelerating once he hit the second seal and realized they were just more research notes for more seals. Finally, he set the stack down.
"I sent Kabuto to ask about and determine why exactly Akatsuki would be so interested in you," Orochimaru said, voice almost airy in a way that made Hazō shudder. "Imagine my surprise when I'm suddenly accosted by the Hokage, who insists on explaining a certain, now-familiar affair with Akatsuki, and Pain, and you. How strange it was that only when Kabuto asked basic questions about rare and secret knowledge known only to the entirety of Leaf's buffoon clan heads did someone deign to inform me.
"I appreciate that the baseline odds of something worth my time happening in Leaf are so low that I am willing to accept the risk of occasionally overlooking such things in exchange for peace during my research. Perhaps I will even grant that the resurrection of Pain, wielder of the Rinnegan, is something that could be competently prevented without my intervention. However, I find this course of events, wherein my aid is clearly helpful, yet deliberately evaded by intentional omission, only to be demanded by mewling infants moments before I would otherwise discover the problem myself, frankly reprehensible.
"You are just as invested as I am in preventing the return of Pain. You will give me your uncle's seal notes, and you will be grateful that I am not taking action against you for increasing the risk of Pain's return. Unless you believe I have perhaps misconstrued the situation…?"
Hazō couldn't lie to Orochimaru and say that he'd forgotten to tell him. Hazō had obviously been hiding it, apparently Orochimaru knew that the whole Clan Council knew, and he was offended. But…
"You're right," Hazō said. "My apologies. But I do require additional substrate to complete my runecrafting research."
Orochimaru took the stack of notes and blanks and folded it over, making Hazō wince slightly, before tucking it away in a pocket. "I am right, and I have neither interest nor time to expend hundreds of genin's-worth of chakra making rocks for you. I have taught you the requisite technique. If you need substrate in a shorter term, you may give me some storage seals and I shall have Kabuto fill them with the scraps I have lying around."
Hazō wordlessly reached into his pocket and pulled out a stack of a hundred storage seals. Byakuren's mast, having sealing minions could be really nice – it had been over a year since Hazō had to scribe his own storage or explosive seals.
Orochimaru took the stack of far-more-storage-seals-than-reasonable. Did Hazō detect a hint of sourness on the older man's face?
"Kabuto will see to it," Orochimaru said. "Now, let us discuss the O'uzu Island rift. I require your first-hand testimony, and I remind you that the penalty for withholding information, if not exacted by myself, will be exacted by Pain. Describe, in as much detail as you are able, the conditions of rift's formation…"
o-o-o
What felt like hours later, Orochimaru finished grilling Hazō about the rift, Hazō's research into it, and what exactly Akatsuki had taken. The older man had left to check in on Noburi's progress, leaving Hazō to think.
"With that additional time to reflect," Orochimaru said as he returned, "have you identified any further information that would aid me in researching the O'uzu Island rift and averting Pain's return?"
"No, Lord Orochimaru" Hazō said. "I've told you everything you need to know that's not in the research notes."
Orochimaru nodded. "Your brother has made satisfactory progress on chakra scalpels, sufficient that he will likely be able to finish learning the technique on his own. He has begun learning the paired pain manipulation techniques. You will now discharge the rest of the questions you had for me. Begin."
Hazō took a second to study Orochimaru. The Snake Sannin's skin was unnaturally pale and free of any wrinkle, scar, or blemish that would indicate age or experience. Still, the structure of his face was oddly sharp and mature. Even if he tried, Hazō probably wouldn't be able to guess which decade of his life Orochimaru was in.
Orochimaru stared back at him, uncaring.
"I've been wondering about something," Hazō said. "I'm sure it's something you've spent time thinking about. Suppose there were multiple immortal beings, living in perpetuity. What would a long-term equilibrium between them look like? I can imagine one. If the immortals saw each other as threats, they might descend into conflict, fighting until only one remains. That doesn't seem wise to me."
"Oh?" Orochimaru said. "Do go on."
"I think that equilibrium would be wasteful," Hazō said, trying to ignore the creeping feeling that he'd caught a predator's attention. "It would be pointless for them to kill each other for minimal gain. If they could coexist, everyone would be better off – for instance, because everyone would benefit from having amicable allies against existential risks if they pop up. Is long-term peace and cooperation possible at all, at least when restricted to those wise enough to attempt to persist forever?"
"Accepting the preposterous premise, despite the lack of even one human immortal enough to participate in your scenario," Orochimaru said, "it posits too much. Why should one expect hypothetical immortals to be evenly matched, such that conflict is a risk to both parties? Why should lesser ones be useful to superior ones? The expected dynamic is not open warfare, but a few superiors and many lessers who hide from the superior's attention."
"Even that assumes conflict, though," Hazō said. "Why should there be conflict at all? These people are presumably intelligent enough to last for a very long time – why can't they coordinate?"
"Nephew, the hidden villages and the clans before them have long been led by intelligent, competent people who are highly capable of achieving whatever goals they set their minds to. When I call them idiots, I insult their judgment and choice of objectives, not their cognitive capacity. Nonetheless, conflict flourishes, because the goals of one are not mutually compatible with the goals of another. Among such powerful beings as you imagine, do you expect all of them will be sufficiently unambitious that they will be content to never raise their eyes to the metaphorical territory of another?"
"They might want things that would imply conflict," Hazō said, "but they could still refrain from fighting because fighting is too destructive to be worth it. I'm saying it might take more wisdom than normal to become immortal, given that no one's done it, so why shouldn't these people be smart enough to at least attempt cooperation?"
"They may attempt it. Many have," Orochimaru said, gesturing at the unfurled map of the Elemental Nations, now marked with the locations of the O'uzu and Iron rifts. "Behold, the divided Elemental Nations, the fruits of their labors."
"The thing is, I want more than to just survive among a few immortals standing in the graveyard of humanity." Hazō let a hint of frustration seep into his voice. "I want the whole world to be better, such that humanity can last forever, growing in wisdom and stability with every passing year."
Orochimaru chuckled, a cold, stuttering hiccup of a laugh. "You fancy yourself an immortal then? Fascinating. My apologies, I interrupted your tirade of idiocy."
Hazō held himself back from reprimanding Orochimaru's dismissal. Instead, he continued.
"You scorn humanity for its failings, but I find that those failings are from circumstance, not from inviolable nature. Sure, they aren't you. They don't have the vision and brilliance to begin breaking their chains on their own. But people can be taught. Institutions can create incentives, and those incentives can be changed to point in positive directions. Just because the bulk of humanity is lesser than you doesn't mean they need to be as lowly as they actually are. The world can be made better.
"Look, I know you find the existence of stable, competent people to be useful to you. Sage knows that what few people I know like that are incredibly useful to me." Really, Noburi and Gaku were both lifesavers. "I just want everyone to be more like that. Surely you can see how this is a better world, and one worth pursuing, right?"
"Your blustering attempts at manipulation are noticed and disdained," Orochimaru said. "I respect ambition, but I do not respect you making plainly ridiculous claims to win my favor.
"I have few objections to a more orderly, sensible world, but you incorrectly attribute the current state of deplorable chaos to… inadequate institutions? An inadequately educated populace? Whatever problem you imagine, it is incorrect. All evidence I have seen suggests that man is fundamentally a petty, controlling creature, driven by desires for social status and personal comfort, with little care for the joy or suffering of others beyond his immediate circle. The world around us is not an unfortunate accident of historical circumstance; it is a straightforward consequence of the hearts of men. To think otherwise betrays a staggering naivety that inhibits my ability to seriously consider the rest of your words."
"Please do take it seriously, because I do mean it," Hazō said. "Yes, people have small-minded, even destructive desires. Still, those desires can be set to productive means through the right social structures, and I don't think peace and progress are impossible."
"Progress, in the sense of developing more destructive weapons for more destructive wars? Certainly possible," Orochimaru agreed. "You provide no evidence for the rest of your claim except for rhetoric. If you can prove your claims, by all means do so. As I said, I will not object to a marginally more tolerable world if my intervention is not required."
"Well, I don't know if this is something you can just ignore, Lord Orochimaru. Civilization is ending itself, caught in a downward spiral, applying more destructive weapons to fight more destructive wars, as you said. The world will burn before the shortsighted fools in charge give up their fight."
"Correct, though I fail to see why I should care."
"I care, because I want to change the world's political, economic, social, institutional… everything, so that the equilibrium point is collaboration and mutual improvement, rather than wasteful self-destruction."
"Your more concrete suggestion is straightforwardly impossible," Orochimaru said. "Collaboration is primarily incentivized in positive-sum situations where all parties benefit from cooperating. A positive-sum arrangement requires that value is created, and value cannot be created infinitely. Any equilibrium in which collaboration is favored is necessarily transient."
"It is possible," Hazō insisted. "Honestly, if Akatsuki weren't largely made of short-sighted and unstable people, AMITY would be a viable route to world peace."
"World peace under the threat of annihilation by an overwhelmingly powerful, deeply hated enemy," Orochimaru said. "What a shocking triumph of human nature."
"Maybe at first it's awful," Hazō said. "But after a generation, culture could adapt to new circumstances and let people truly believe in peace."
"'Believe in peace'? How childish. The Seventh Path has had far more time and liberty to create a culture of peace, yet they still jealously guard their capacity to make war. Even were your institutions not doomed to fail, the ordinary desires of ordinary men make what you want impossible."
"Just as I'm talking rhetoric, you're also not doing anything more than flatly calling what I believe impossible," Hazō said. "With all due respect, Lord Orochimaru, where's your evidence?"
Orochimaru fixed Hazō with an unblinking stare. "In the Second World War, I have seen Hidden Villages tear themselves apart without the action of any external enemy, because people's desire for power and status was greater than their allegiance to their country. I have seen Leaf gradually decay under the weight of its Clan Council, carefully preventing anything useful from getting done in order to win ever-larger shares of their piles of rotting fruit. I have seen over a dozen clans collapse on themselves due to succession crises or internal warring, do you wish me to name them? Yoshida, Sasaki, Nisshoku, Hasegawa, Yari, and more. I have caused such conflicts for my own convenience, and it takes shockingly little to have brothers driving their spears into each other's throats. Even in those scarce few corners of the world that I would call peaceful or idyllic, I have seen men murder and rape for the most idiotic reasons. It has only ever been under the threat of violence that I have seen people restrain themselves. Hashirama brought Leaf's clans in line by the strength of his own ninjutsu, and all the evidence I have seen suggests that it is the risk of their destruction that restrains them still. Does that suffice?"
"I… I suppose so."
"Good," Orochimaru said. "This conversation bores me, and I believe we are nearing the end of your bargained time regardless. Ask your final question."
Hazō paused, letting the wording settle in his mind before he spoke.
"I want your advice on one more thing," Hazō said. "I want to know, given my values, if there are flaws in my goals and approach. What should I be doing to maximize the general welfare of humanity in the short and medium term, and what can I do to help humanity become stable for the infinite future?"
"There are indeed flaws in your goals and approach," Orochimaru agreed. "It is simple: you are starting from incorrect assumptions, using faulty reasoning to draw flawed conclusions from inadequate evidence, and expecting this to yield useful results. I would recommend starting from scratch."
"Starting from scratch?" Hazō asked.
"It's clear that my words aren't penetrating your skull, so you must ask a Yamanaka to rip from your head all the foolishness you talked about today and hope that you manage to formulate meaningfully achievable goals next time.
"Of course, I recall a condition of our deal was that I would actually answer your questions rather than dismiss them out of hand, so I should provide a full answer. You aim to end generational hatred, unite all nations into one, and make every man see every other man as his brother, sufficiently so that conflict is all but gone. To achieve this goal, the possible paths are obvious. Assuming you want to avoid the tyranny of total conquest, I would recommend simply rewriting the personalities of all of humanity to align them with your imagined conception of human nature. I trust you see the parallel?"
"To Pain? Yes."
"It is good that you are now capable of making basic inferences," Orochimaru said. "Perhaps you will also infer the consequences if you tried such a thing without being a wielder of the Rinnegan.
"Your actual question is far easier to answer. In the short term, I have no suggestions. General welfare is suitably improved by providing walls and basic services as you are already doing, and I suspect you have put far more thought into short-term considerations than I have. In the medium term, I can imagine two interventions that would dramatically improve the quality of life for ordinary civilians. First, you should end chakra beasts."
"End chakra beasts?" Hazō asked.
"Or, at the very least, render them somehow as peaceable as the fauna and flora of the Seventh Path," Orochimaru said. "Of course, this is impossible, as all living things exist in a highly interconnected web, and chakra beasts cannot be all killed without condemning all of humanity to extinction, but the point remains that current beast suppression missions are insufficient, and that a true solution needs to be found. Perhaps runes can do something useful in this regard, somehow minimizing the mutagenic impact of human chakra on the beasts? I defer such investigations to you, as they clearly interest you more than me.
"Second, you should dramatically improve the nutrition of the ordinary farmer."
"Nutrition?" Hazō asked. "Why?"
"Nine in ten civilians live on farms," Orochimaru said. "Actually, eight in nine in Fire, and the ratio is worse in less fertile countries. Tsunade spends time curing plagues and tending to ailments, but her work is misguided. Not only would her goals be better achieved if the civilians she cured didn't starve during a winter shortly thereafter, but better-nourished civilians are simply less likely to fall ill. Improvements in nutrition will not just turn dry seasons from mass-starvation into simple rationing, but will also improve the civilians' ability to work more efficiently in the fields, thereby securing their own continued good nutrition. It is one of few self-reinforcing, lasting positive changes that I can imagine."
"It is just an oddly specific idea that I'd never heard of before," Hazō said.
Orochimaru frowned. "It is one I entertained long ago. The high-fertility rice crop that is now a staple to all of Fire was my invention. The original strain still farmed elsewhere is more docile – increased mobility and aggression were inevitable consequences of increasing the species' capacity for chakra absorption – but the new strain is considerably hardier and produces substantially greater yield in less physical space and with less stringent requirements on water level management. Was Sarutobi truly so spiteful as to strike my name from the work?"
"I think he must have," Hazō said as he struggled to mesh this supposed claim with the actual, monstrous Orochimaru he knew.
"How pitiful," Orochimaru said. "Regardless, I have moved beyond such endeavors. Determining how to make biomodifications heritable was but a stepping stone towards true bloodline research, though humans are naturally far more challenging to modify than plants.
"Lastly, long-term civilizational stability in the way you envision is impossible. I believe that fully answers your question."
Orochimaru stood and walked back towards the training field. He paused at the edge of the privacy seals.
"Perhaps had you a few more years of experience under your belt, I might have been able to say that it was a pleasure working with you."
With that, he left to finish tutoring Noburi in the basics of his techniques.
Hazō stayed in the OPSEC-safe bubble, thinking thoughts he'd never thought he'd think. Hazō had spent plenty of time considering the depths of Orochimaru's atrocities – how could he not, having explored the Basement first-hand? Yet… if Orochimaru wasn't lying (and Hazō saw no reason why the Sannin would), and the Sannin had indeed created higher yield crops for the entirety of Fire to farm with, just how many lives had Orochimaru saved?
Noburi is willing to take suggestions regarding his dilemma, though will make the final decision himself.
Doctor Yakushi confessed that he had no real understanding of technique creation or modification, and thus would be useless at examining Noburi to judge if techniques could be modified to work with Noburi's bloodline. Doctor Yakushi said that Orochimaru was uninterested in Noburi's reasons for refusal, nor in compensating foolishness with additional jutsu.
In the interest of good grammar, I inserted the word "to" into the following plan line:
If immortals see each other as threats, are they forced to fight until only one remains?
Ordinarily, this would make the plan 400 words, and thus give it a wordcount penalty of -1. I'm not actually applying the penalty this time, but I will in the future. Apologies, but I want to stay far from the slippery slope alternative where plans become even more wordcount-compressed and even less legible. If you're pasting into Google Docs to check wordcount, you can also check for blue underlines that might indicate illegibly-overcompressed grammar.
The murmur of Hazō and Mari's conversation–she attempting to offer unsolicited bedroom advice as a way of relieving her stress, he utilising every conversational stratagem in his arsenal in order to forestall her–made for pleasant background noise as the Gōketsu waited in Cleaning Supplies Overflow for the unfortunate man of the hour. Alas, Kei was neither in the mood nor in a position to join in the traditional family hobby of Hazō-teasing, nor to benefit from the educational value should Mari emerge triumphant (not that she was remotely curious, of course, but the way of the Nara demanded that she assess the information before rejecting it). There was simply too much to contemplate, and no oversight could be tolerated.
Kei was seeing to the handovers and contingencies for the Nara projects within her sphere of responsibility, especially the NFF and Project Synergy (in the unlikely event of her survival, it should be prepared for her journey to Mist by the time she returned), the usual mountains of KEI work, those elements of the Gōketsu finances that could not be entrusted to Gaku, and the regular check-in on Murai (monitoring whom was usually an ACC activity, but as the architect of Murai's warped lifestyle, Kei felt responsible for liaising with her personally). A hundred different tasks. Would the Nara stewards heed her injunctions with regard to Shikamaru's proper nutrition and sleeping hours, both of which invariably slipped as clan head duties accumulated, or should she put the fear of herself in them again? Perhaps she should prevail on Tenten to monitor their efforts on a periodic basis.
Meanwhile, Snowflake was in charge of liaising with Jin with regard to the ex-KEI adoptees, arranging protection and contingency plans for the Rainbow Fire (she pitied anyone who made a hostile move at a time when retribution would come not from herself but from Mari and Anko), internal polycule matters, a final safety check on Ami's leftover contingencies, and other miscellanea that did not require Kei's clearance or authority.
Nothing could be neglected. Hazō had not shared the details of the upcoming mission with the team, but the timing, and in fact the lack of detail, spoke for itself. This was an expedition beyond Akatsuki's reach, timed to maximise the interval until their next visit to Leaf (Kei having followed the last, an initial investigation into the village whose destruction she had permitted, as closely as she dared). Initially Kei had assumed that rift research would be the goal, since she did not truly believe Hazō would ever abandon his efforts. However, Hazō's nomination of Hyūga weighed the balance of probability towards weapons research in truth, in which case the special need to evade Akatsuki's notice made its intended target obvious.
In other words, Hazō and his chosen team were setting themselves directly against Akatsuki, on nothing more than the hope that countermeasures effective against a squad of demigods could be discovered before Akatsuki grew wise to their plans and found a means to compel their return for execution.
Kei should not have agreed. Kei had been suicidal to agree. So much rested on her shoulders that would be lost when she was murdered, to say nothing of the likelihood that her loved ones would be taken hostage to be used against her. She knew how competent Akatsuki were at torture from the darkness that sometimes surfaced behind Naruto's eyes, even at home, even among friends.
Kei should have sent her mother and her brother to their deaths as she and Snowflake sat at home in relative safety. It would have been the rational, responsible decision. She should have abandoned them as she had abandoned Ami. As her parents had abandoned her.
Motion triggered her paranoid missing-nin alertness as Noburi swung open the door with a performative abundance of energy.
"What's up, ladies and gentle–well, Hazō, anyway. Sorry to keep you waiting. Good news, my Tsunade-dodging game is at another level now. Bad news, she's Tsunade. I'll be counting on you guys to help me get out of this one."
Tractable problems.
"By all means, elaborate," Kei invited as Snowflake, sensitive to her mood as she could never be to anyone else's, subtly squeezed her hand. "I need not be convinced of the danger that exalted luminary poses to life and limb."
"Right," Noburi said, casting off his pack onto the floor with the sacrilegious thud of a grimoire carelessly treated. "Long story short, I'm in a bit of a pinch, courtesy of being just too talented for my own good. A couple of days ago, me and Hazō negotiated with Ma and Pa. Side note, it's weirdly relaxing being the one doing the optimising while Hazō's the one putting himself in the line of fire. I can see why you girls are so into it. Obviously, that made it a roaring success, which is to say Ma and Pa very reluctantly agreed to give Hazō some ninjutsu crafting lessons while we're away on the mission, and more importantly, I'm getting a trial run for hardcore Toad Sage training of the kind that turned Jiraiya into a legendary badass."
Classic Hazō. When the opportunity finally arose to dedicate himself to sealing research with only limited interruption (neither Kei nor Snowflake doubted that Noburi would soon bring word of a new crisis that their presence might have mitigated), he promptly deviated from the original plan to pursue a new and different ambition with wild abandon.
"From the fact that you mentioned Tsunade," Snowflake said, "I infer that she has a separate claim on your time which she naturally considers superior."
"Got it in one. Apparently, people have been pushing for her to take me on as an apprentice, and while she's not up for that, she's interested in doing research on my Bloodline Limit, which would still teach me a lot and would probably leave me with some amazing medical ninjutsu."
"And there's only one person who can push Tsunade in a way she'd even notice and who has a vested interest in Noburi being reliably on hand in the near future," Mari added.
Noburi looked at her silently. His expression fell.
"...yeah, OK. No point in pretending. It's a Barrel Boy thing, not an 'I want to work with Noburi' thing. Thanks for the reminder."
Kei and Snowflake gave Mari synchronised cold looks.
She shrugged. "You have to be clear on people's motivations before you can shape them the way you want."
"Either way," Hazō said quickly, "we're in a difficult situation where Noburi has to pick between two, well, three people who will all be seriously offended by a refusal and might refuse to deal with him again. We need solutions.
"My first thought is a Noburi timeshare. Maybe they could trade off days, or take half a day each? That would get us the best of both worlds."
Mari shook her head. "I don't see it. The Toad Sages taught Jiraiya. They'll be expecting total dedication, and frankly, the kind of training regime we're talking about needs to demand total dedication, or it's not worth your time. Trust an elite jōnin. If they came to you with a timeshare proposal, I'd assume they were fobbing you off."
"I would expect the training styles of ancient masters to be more optimised than those of contemporary jōnin," Kei objected, "especially contemporary jōnin who achieved that rank at a young age through prodigious talent and thus relied less on a well-developed training style than most of their fellows.
"On the other hand, I find it difficult, nay, impossible to imagine Tsunade accepting anything but absolute cooperation from any lowly mortal on whom she has deigned to bestow her time. She is not a woman of compromise."
"She must have patients she could look after in the downtime," Hazō said.
"Now that we have received unequivocal confirmation that Tsunade both possesses and has no philosophical compunctions over using the Shadow Clone Technique," Kei said, "it seems reasonable to assume that she could simply assign one or more shadow clones to ensuring that her hospital duties are uninterrupted, or vice versa."
"Actually," Noburi said, "that's one of the great unsolved mysteries of Senju Tsunade. You'd think they'd be massive for multiplying her medical skills, but until the battle, nobody knew for sure whether she used them at all–or at least nobody ever caught her in two places at the same time, or two of her in one place at the same time."
"Research, perhaps?" Snowflake speculated. "It would be a criminal waste of her abilities to spend all her time on individual patients at the hospital"–Noburi frowned, but didn't say anything–"and whom better to assign to work with hazardous substances and vicious disease spirits than a shadow clone whose suffering would be nothing to her?"
"Huh," Noburi said. "Now you say it out loud, it's kinda obvious. Also, uh, my condolences."
"It is what it is," Snowflake said. "I claim no right to speak for others of my kind, but I at least choose the suffering of this cruel world over the peace of oblivion every day."
It was one of the many mysteries of Snowflake that on rare occasion, her divergence looped in a perfect circle to being another Kei.
"I don't suppose," Hazō said speculatively, his gaze fixed on some distant plane of possibility, "we could just get them in a room together and have them talk it out like reasonable adults?"
…
"Nice one, Hazō," Mari said once the laughter settled down.
Kei, too, envied the extraordinary smoothness with which Hazō had dispelled the sombre mood created by Snowflake's words, and with deadpan in no way inferior to her own.
"...thanks," Hazō said after a second. "All right, why don't we get Naruto to meditate? If Mari's theory is right, he's willing to exert his authority to make this happen, and the Toad Sages seem to have a soft spot for him in a way they don't for us."
"Sure," Mari said, "but flip that around to what it would mean for us. Naruto must already have exhausted his pull with Tsunade if she didn't go for the apprentice idea, which could have kept Noburi under his thumb for years. The Sages might like him more, but that doesn't mean they want him meddling in business between them and their summoner. In return for nothing more than his personal charisma, we'd be losing face in front of both parties."
"What do you mean?"
"Just like what happens every time I go to negotiate on your behalf," Mari said. "Nobody bats an eye at a clan head sending his trained diplomat to persuade or negotiate in his stead, especially when the stakes are high, because using every resource at your disposal is how the game is played. But at the same time, it's a signal that you don't think you're good enough to get the job done yourself, and those signals accumulate. That's why other clan heads negotiate with you in person on anything big, even if they have social specs who could do a better job, and why I'm not constantly volunteering to handle clan PR."
"And not all because you'd rather laze around the house drinking hot chocolate and reading smut," Noburi clarified.
"Perish the thought," Mari agreed. "You take my point, though. If there's nothing Naruto can say to them that you couldn't say yourself, then you're just making yourself look weak by relying on him, in front of people whose limited respect you can't afford to lose."
"Furthermore," Kei said, "the core concept is critically flawed. Assuming Mari's theory regarding the Hokage's influence is correct, he has a compelling vested interest in Noburi accepting Tsunade's offer while rejecting–or being rejected by–the Toad Sages, at least for the time being."
"For the time being?" Hazō repeated. "Actually, that's a thought. Could we get the Toad Sages to put off the training by a couple of months, until Tsunade's done with her side?"
"Could go either way," Noburi said. "Maybe two months is nothing to them on account of their age, and they'll say whatever. Or maybe they'll be offended that I'm getting the offer of a lifetime and then trying to haggle because some slip of a girl on the Human Path wants to work with me on medical ninjutsu, which, by the way, they think I should drop because it's a dumb choice of discipline for a summoner and is stalling my growth.
"Slip of a girl?" Kei clarified.
"They're like six hundred years old," Noburi said. "To them, the difference between me and Tsunade is that one's an uppity toddler and the other is an uppity toddler who doesn't need to have a grown-up constantly holding her hand."
"Right," Hazō said. "Then I guess it comes down to pros and cons. The Toad Sages have a lot of marks in their favour. They taught Jiraiya, which is a great track record."
"A single data point cannot serve as a track record," Kei objected.
"Even if they spent years doing it?"
"Even then."
"Well, it proves they can be good teachers, anyway," Hazō said.
"It does no such thing," Kei said. "Certainly, the summoner position would have been an element in Jiraiya's rise to power, but it is beyond our means to select any given capability of his and reliably attribute it to the Toad Sages. Even his signature Toad ninjutsu could plausibly have been obtained from other summons; after all, I required no particular contacts to obtain one of the holy grails of shinobi warfare from the Pangolins."
"Fine," Hazō said. "But there are other reasons to be on their good side. They know a lot of eldritch lore they might be persuaded to share, ideally weaponisable eldritch lore. That's part of my goal in learning technique hacking from them, in fact–and that's another benefit which might get lost if we offend them. Noburi also needs to stay on good terms with them to remain the Toad Summoner."
"What? No, I don't."
Noburi gave Hazō a perplexed look. "Gamabunta's the one who decides my summoner status. I mean, if Ma and Pa decided they really hated me, they could tell him to cancel my contract and get a better summoner, but even then, I don't know if he'd go for it. The Toad Sages aren't sitting on his shoulders telling him what to do–they're a pair of powerful hermits living in the woods who we happen to know by sheer chance because of Jiraiya. It would be like Tsunade dictating terms to the Hokage."
"Which I can entirely see her doing," Hazō countered.
"Tsunade is strong enough to challenge the Hokage," Mari said. "She was certainly stronger than Asuma. But what that means politically is that if the Hokage thinks she's overreaching, he has to slap her down decisively or accept the erosion of his power–which is only a threat because she's a threat. We all saw what it was like when Orochimaru could walk all over Asuma. Unless Gamabunta's too dumb to live, he'll recognise what the precedent of letting the Sages pick the clan's summoner would mean for his authority and tell them to go screw themselves."
"Fine," Hazō said. "But still, we're potentially talking years of training here, compared to Tsunade's research, which has a definite end point when she thinks she's learned enough. At the same time, Noburi can't avoid Tsunade forever, and when she finds out he's turned her down, she's going to be furious."
"It occurs to me," Snowflake said, "that we may be dealing with an additional problem aside from Tsunade's fearsome ego. Unlike the Toad Sages, who have no particular stake in training Noburi beyond an abstract preference for a stronger summoner, Tsunade is presumably planning this Bloodline Limit research with the end goal of developing superior medical treatment for those in need. Refusal would then violate not only her sense of entitlement as Tsunade but also her sense of ethics as a doctor, which I imagine to be more powerful by an order of magnitude. If Noburi chooses to pursue training for pure personal power in preference to a project which would surely save many lives in the future…"
Kei nodded. "While the perpetual shortage of competent medic-nin leaves it unlikely that she would blacklist him from the medical profession entirely, the Queen of Doctors could reduce his hopes of professional advancement to ashes with a word."
"Shit," Noburi muttered. "I hadn't even thought of that."
"So that's a thing to put on one side of the scales," Hazō said into the grim silence. "Together with a lot of medical ninjutsu that there's really no way of getting elsewhere, at least if the Orochimaru option's not on the table–"
"It's not."
"–and the general benefits of Tsunade's reputation as a doctor. Noburi, you'd know better than me what those can do for you."
"Also the possibility of new Bloodline Limit applications, potentially eclipsing anything the Wakahisa were able to accomplish without the aid of an S-rank medical specialist," Kei added.
"Hey," Noburi exclaimed, "the Wakahisa have their own share of clan heroes. You realise somebody out there had to have invented the barrel seals, and with them the entire concept of carrying our chakra in a barrel? I dare Tsunade to try inventing practically a new Bloodline Limit."
"She did transplant the Sharingan that one time," Mari said.
"Yeah. One time. Do you have any idea what kind of medical breakthroughs we could've built on that? But no, she says it can't be done again, and she never shared the theory behind it, either. Who knows, maybe another genius medic-nin could've found a way to pull it off if she did. I mean, it's not like Hyūga really needs both eyes as long as he has the Byakugan."
"In fact," Kei opined, "I believe his experience of life would be greatly improved were he divested of all eyeballs in his possession, as well as any other senses you are able to extract. The man is an inexhaustible cornucopia of complaint about all that he surveys."
Hazō raised his eyebrows. "I didn't realise you two hung out together."
"Not by choice, I assure you. However, we are lamentably connected by Tenten in the manner of in-laws and by Hanabi in the manner of a master attempting to instruct her student while a foul, irritating, yet ultimately inconsequential insect bombinates around them."
"Normally," Noburi said, "interrupting a Hyūga-mocking session is the last thing I'd want to do, but this is kinda important, guys."
"Indeed," Kei said, generously refraining from mentioning that Noburi was the one originally responsible for the tangent. "We must also consider the disadvantages of selecting Tsunade, particularly those which are of import to our immediate objectives. Will the Toad Sages refuse to instruct Hazō in technique development if you spurn them, Noburi?"
Noburi thought about it.
"Probably not? They're separate agreements, and besides, I'd be the one taking the blame for picking Tsunade. I've got no reason to drag him down with me."
"On the other hand," Hazō said, "getting lore out of them relies purely on their goodwill, and that's going to dive like a chakra kingfisher spotting a cow if they decide Noburi's offended them by backing out of the side of the deal they actually care about."
"Do we have any reason whatsoever to believe that their lore will be of use for our specific purposes?" Kei asked.
"No, but given how old they are, some of what they know must be relevant, especially with regard to nature chakra. If they decide to withhold it, that could put Project Necromancy in danger."
"Project Necromancy? You mean to confirm that you are proceeding with rift research, in defiance of Akatsuki's restrictions?" Kei asked. "Or are you referring to some alternative contingency, such as–"
"Never mind," Hazō interrupted. "Let's not stray off topic. Noburi, I believe we've covered all the salient points. It's your choice, and you'll have our full support no matter what you decide."
"...my choice, huh?"
Noburi sat in silence, thinking.
Kei pondered choices of her own. It was entirely possible that her personal problems would be made moot by death on the Hyena front lines, her scheduled repayment of the debt incurred by Operation Murdersnout. Her demise would need to be communicated swiftly to Leaf, rendering her loved ones irrelevant as hostages (with the exception of those still being endangered by Hazō, notably Mari, Noburi, Yuno, and Ino), but that was easily accomplished. It would certainly be preferable to the most probable scenario of execution by Akatsuki after whatever means were necessary to compel her team's surrender.
Meanwhile, success was in many ways more frightening than failure, for it would leave the world as it had been once before, with weapons of unspeakable destruction in Hazō's hands, and Hazō in the hands of a Hokage fully cognizant of their power. This time, even assassination would not ensure containment, for Orochimaru also possessed the secrets of runecrafting, and proof of concept would render it even easier for him to replicate those weapons than it had been for Hazō to invent them.
Why had Ami left when she alone, with adroit advocacy and implementation of Operation A-Day, could have prevented this cataclysmic scenario from coming to pass?
Noburi stirred.
"I can do this."
"Do what?" Mari asked.
"I'm not giving up on being the next Tsunade or the next Jiraiya," Noburi said. "I'm going to go to Ma and Pa, and I'm going to wow them with the most masterful display of diplomacy the Toad Clan has ever seen, and I am going to convince them by hook or by crook to delay the start of the training until I've tied up my loose ends and can give them the ultimate fully-focused Noburi. Then I'm going to go to my loose end and work out a professional research schedule with a hard deadline on which I'll be able to kiss Tsunade goodbye and move on to my training come hell or high water."
"Perhaps reverse the order of those two?" Snowflake suggested. "You will be able to impress the Toad Sages more easily if you can make and keep a commitment to a specific date rather than vaguely requesting that they wait until you are available."
"Also," Kei advised, "I would refrain from any valedictory osculations. You will recall that reverse summoning fails if the target does not contain any of the blood used to sign the scroll."
"Good points all," Noburi agreed. "Thanks for your help, people. The countdown has officially begun to the birth of Hidden Leaf's fourth S-ranker."
-o-
You have received 1 XP (Brevity).
This conversation takes place on the night of the previous update so as to ensure that Noburi has a decision by the time he risks running into Tsunade. Accordingly, its normal XP award is already covered.
"Back so soon. Good." She threw her brush down, not caring that a drop of ink flicked onto the top sheet on her stack. "I assume you're here to tell me that you woke up and realized that training with me is the key to your entire future in Leaf and then you're going to apologize profusely for getting in my face about it and wanting to go off and study with that bitchy little stew-ruiner and her asshole husband."
Noburi stood in the doorway, blinking as he attempted to figure out which part of that to respond to. After a moment he bowed, walked to the chair across from Tsunade, and sat down. He sat straight, his back not touching the chair's, his feet flat on the floor and hands on his thighs. He forced himself not to wipe damp palms.
Noburi wants to convince Tsunade to put a deadline on their research so that he can convince the Toad Sages to push the start of his training until after that end date. The approach that Mari has helped him craft is to be open, honest, and straightforward about his needs and his desire to coordinate the different ways that he can advance his own career and his value to Leaf. Tsunade, of course, is a very relaxed person who is happy to respect other people's needs and desires, as well as to coordinate and cooperate with people in order to promote peace, harmony, and good feelings across the Elemental Nations.
We need to know both the outcome and how Tsunade will feel about Noburi going forward. Grab those dice!
Noburi, Rapport (24) + 3 (invoke "Zone of Friendship") + 3 (invoke "I Will Be the Next Tsunade") + 3 (invoke "Prepped with Lady Firehair, Manipulatrix Extraordinaire") +/- ? (modifier: QM opinion on Tsunade's fundamental opinion on the issue) + 6 (dice) = ?
Tsunade, Presence (?) + 3 (dice): ??
I'm not going to roll any further.
"Yes, ma'am."
Blonde eyebrows rose.
"Ma'am, I want this. I want to be a powerful ninja, I want to be an asset to Leaf, and most importantly I want to be...well, you. I want to save as many people as you have saved. I want to walk into a room where someone is bleeding and watch everyone, including the patient, stop worrying because they know everything is going to be okay. I think—"
"Yeah, because sucking up always works with me."
"Just being honest, ma'am. I recognize that studying under you is key to advancing my medical skills, and to gaining the experience I need to be the doctor I want to be. You are the priority, ma'am. I am going to study with you no matter what the Sages say, but I'm in a bind. Gamabunta makes the decision as to whether I remain the Toad Summoner, but the Sages are a big influence on him. They were there when I was inducted, and the only reason that Gamabunta accepted me was that Fukasaku spoke up in my favor."
"Oh, please. That was staged and if you don't realize it then I don't know what to tell you."
Noburi blinked.
Tsunade snorted. "They did that to Jiraiya too and admitted it twenty years later during a drunken bar crawl in Sand. They've been doing it to every summoner candidate for centuries. Gamabunta is the bad guy, acts like he's going to wave the candidate off, then either Ma or Pa comes up with some stupid reason why maybe he should give them a chance. Then the other one joins in with something else and Gamabunta gets 'talked around'. It puts the summoner on the back foot and keeps them respectful and cooperative for a few years."
"...That's an awfully manipulative way to start a relationship."
"Welcome to statesmanship. The three of them have a responsibility to the Toad Clan, not to Leaf and not to your career. They know perfectly well that human ninja are completely untrustworthy and that they become summoners in order to advance their own interests, not those of the Toad Clan. Given all that, it's absolutely appropriate for them to start things off with the most leverage they can get."
"I see."
"Anyway, you were going to say that you can't refuse those manipulative little fogeys because it might cost you your place as Summoner."
"Did the Slug Boss do that to you, ma'am?"
"Katsuyu is a little different than the other Bosses, but that's not the topic."
"No, ma'am. I intend to ask them to delay the start of my training until you and I are done. What I wanted to ask you is if you could give me some idea of how long you're thinking of us working together? It would help if I had a date to give them."
"You want me to pinky-promise that we'll have discovered everything interesting and I'll be done with you on Tuesday?"
Noburi smiled slightly. "I'd like to think it will take a little longer than Tuesday, ma'am."
"Sure, whatever. Of course, it's the later months that are actually productive, so when I tell you we're done in a month, I can pretty much guarantee that we'll discover some critical new thing in twenty-nine days twelve hours."
"Were you thinking a month, ma'am?"
"Obviously not, you stupid—" She placed her palms flat on the desk, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. "No, Noburi. I was not thinking that it would take a month to learn every relevant secret of a complex bloodline such as that of the Wakahisa." She studied him. "Three. Three months. It may not be enough time, but it's probably as much time as I can stand to spend in a room with a snot-nosed brat like you anyway. And I suppose maybe you have a point about it being valuable for you to get some actual skills." She frowned, then shook her head. "Tell those bug-spikers that you'll be free on September second."
"Yes, ma'am." He waited a moment to see if there was anything else, but she had already gone back to her paperwork, so he stood up.
He paused at the door and looked over his shoulder. "Ma'am?"
"What?"
"It sounds like you have a problem with the Sages. It's none of my business, ma'am, but I'm concerned that it might become my business if I get caught between you and them. Would you be willing to tell me why you dislike them?"
She snorted. "I like them fine. Ma and I have been tweaking each other's noses since before your dad got your mom drunk enough to marry him. Speaking of which, you need to get them down here at some point so we can go at it again. And stop kowtowing to them the way I'm sure you have been. Push back."
"Yes, ma'am."
o-o-o-o
Noburi needs to get the Toad Sages on page with his training plan. Let's see how he does.
Noburi, Rapport (24) + 3 (invoke "Zone of Friendship") + 3 (invoke "Prepped with Lady Firehair, Manipulatrix Extraordinaire") +/- ? (modifier: QM opinion on the Toad Sage's fundamental opinion on the issue) - 6 (dice) = ? Reroll! Noburi, Rapport (24) + 3 (invoke "Zone of Friendship") + 3 (invoke "Prepped with Lady Firehair, Manipulatrix Extraordinaire") +/- ? (modifier: QM opinion on the Toad Sage's fundamental opinion on the issue) - 3 (dice) = ?
"You're late," Shima snapped. "You were supposed to be here early."
Noburi raised an eyebrow. "Ma'am, it's not even dawn on the Human Path. I'm not late, so why are you lying and saying I am?"
"Are you mouthing off to us, boy?" Fukasaku demanded. "That's a bold move for a snot-nosed brat like you."
"I'm young, sir, but I'm not snot-nosed, I'm not a brat, and you're both being unnecessarily rude."
Shima sniffed. "You're later than I'd like."
Noburi's grin was brief but bright as the flame of a firefly.
"Well, I'm sorry to hear that. Before we start training, there's a thing I'd like to talk about."
"Oh? I suppose you're going to tell us that we aren't important enough for you to accept our incredibly generous offer to train you so that you can become an actually competent summoner and you're going to throw us over in favor of that bitchy little medical braggart?"
"Ma'am, I cannot begin to tell you how much I don't want to get caught in the middle of your and Tsunade's ongoing spat. Speaking of which, she asked that I invite you down to the Human Path for a visit."
Shima sniffed. "I suppose it's been a few years since I put her in her place. Might be fun to get some more practice in. Tell her we'll be there Thursday."
"Yes, ma'am. May I give her a time?"
"We'll be there when we're there!" Fukasaku snapped. "Tell her to keep her schedule clear."
"Sir, I'm not going to do that. I'll tell her you're coming. I'll summon you whenever you say and the three of you can sort out when you actually get together."
"Hrmph. Fine."
"Thank you. Now, as to the thing I needed to talk to you about: I need your advice on how to solve a problem I'm having."
The two old toads perked up at that. Fukasaku twitched his robe straight and wiped webbed hands down its folds, straightening out all the wrinkles.
"Well?" Shima demanded after a moment. "We're not getting any younger here."
"Yes, ma'am." He shifted in the chair and folded his hands on the table, leaning forward slightly. "I'm caught between different responsibilities coming out of my different roles. I am the Toad Summoner, which means I have a responsibility to the Toad Clan to be the best and strongest summoner I can be. I am a medic of Leaf, which puts me under the authority of Lady Tsunade as chief medical officer. I am a ninja of Leaf, which puts me under the authority of the Hokage. My bloodline was a significant factor in Leaf winning the war"—he grimaced—"to the extent that we can be said to have won it. Regardless, Lady Tsunade, who is my legal superior, wants to study my bloodline. Doing so will make me a better asset to Leaf, which is my duty to the city and the Hokage, and it will make me a stronger ninja, which is my duty to the Toad Clan and to myself.
"She is...not the 'sharing is caring' type," Noburi said, smiling. "She expects to work with me for the next three months, starting immediately, and she expects to have full-time access to me. At the same time, you two have very generously agreed to train me and you were expecting to start immediately. Working with you is an honor, and a privilege, and is my duty." He leaned back, spreading to his arms in a 'what can you do' gesture. "I'm stuck between different obligations, and I'm going to have to disappoint someone no matter what I do. I'm hoping that I can maintain my positive relationship"—he interrupted himself with a laugh—"my current relationship, however one might describe it, with all three of you. I'd be grateful for any suggestions you have on how to manage this."
"Simple," Shima said. "Tell that batty herb witch that you've got more important things to do because you're already committed to studying with us."
"Ma'am, not only would that be breaking my oath of loyalty to the medical corps and possibly to the Hokage, not only would it utterly ruin my relationship with Lady Tsunade, it would also have her pull my spine out through my nose. No, I'm not going to tell her that."
"You're wanting us to delay your training, aren't you, boy?" Fukasaku demanded.
"It would definitely be helpful, sir. With respect, the medical research may be more time-sensitive than my general training; like Hazō told you, Leaf is in a bad position right now with all this Akatsuki stuff. My bloodline has already been a meaningful factor in a world war based solely on the very limited training I was given in it as a genin. If there are more secrets to unlock, it could be critical for turning this around. For example, Orochimaru told us that Konan is just a web of chakra stretching between sheets of paper; what if it's possible for me to suck that chakra out of the air and tear her apart?" He didn't mention that mist drain already made that conceivable, but mostly he didn't mention it because he didn't want to sidetrack the conversation. Besides, there was no way that he could drain fast enough to kill Konan before she could react. Not without more training.
"There's also the fact of relative time," Noburi continued. "I don't know if this is correct, but I'm hoping it is: the two of you are much longer-lived than humans. Would it be true that three months to you isn't as big a deal as it is to humans?" He held his breath; that question had been the subject of much debate among the Gōketsu during the planning for this session. It had come very close to being nixed.
"Of course three months is important! Why would you think we wouldn't care about three months, you brat? We have better things to do than sit around twiddling our fingers while you prance around down there until you finally deign to come and graciously permit us to train you!"
"Sir, I'm sorry," Noburi said. "I'm young and humans are short-lived compared to you; it's hard for me to know what time feels like from your perspective. I took a guess and I was wrong. I apologize."
"Hrmph." / "As you should."
"In any case, how would you like to proceed? I'm hoping that you'll be willing to let me delay the start of my training for three months until Lady Tsunade is done with me, and then I'm all yours all day every day. If that's not okay then...well, tell me what you would like me to do. You've been very kind to offer me training and I want to be respectful of that."
The two sages exchanged speaking looks, and head-tilts, and other marital communications.
"Fine," Shima grumbled. "Take your three months. Take us as your second pick behind that rude little tramp, it's fine. We're just the Toad Sages, after all. Not like it's an incredible honor to have us agree to train you."
"It really is, ma'am," Noburi said, riding right past the wagonload of guilt-trip. "Thank you for being willing to train me, and for being gracious enough to help me manage my different responsibilities."
He forced himself to let out his breath silently; it wouldn't do to ruin the 'calm and mature' look he had been struggling to maintain.
o-o-o-o
Hazō closed his eyes and let his senses sink into the ground around him. He couldn't at first, his chakra still too roiled and spiky after a day of running, his mind unwilling to release the zanshin necessary for traveling at ninja speed through the wilderness. The trip had taken him back in time to his missing-nin days and he found himself to aware, too raw, to achieve the stillness required by the Earthshaping jutsu.
It's all right, he assured himself. After they arrived at the abandoned gold mine, he had helped Kagome-sensei and Kei build an initial perimeter and both of them were on guard now. Hazō was as safe as if he were in his own bed—perhaps more so, since it was much less likely that Hidan would find him in a random chunk of bush than in his own bed at home.
He breathed, and slowly his mind calmed. Mental fingers unclenched, one by one, from the fistful of concerns that had been weighing on him. His chakra calmed and steadied until eventually it was able to slip into the soil without being rejected.
He spread his awareness out, introducing himself to every speck of soil, every jot and tittle of Earth that dwelt in the earth. He noticed what and where everything was, all the nuances of 'flavor' and 'sound' that defined the various natures around him. Most of it was the normal sort of thing that he found anywhere but, here and there, in tiny specks and small flecks, there were fragments of a yellow metal that sang a single-tone note with no other voices mixed in.
He waited until he had fully saturated the area with his chakra and identified the feeling of gold spread through it, and then he reached out with that chakra and twisted.
gold, you should be here, alone
am not
no. you should be
...am with others
yes, but you should be here, alone
...yes
As always, his brain struggled to interpret the inputs that the Earthshaping jutsu was feeding it as Hazō pulled and prodded. Finally, it all clicked together and the soil began to flow.
It was slow, painfully slow. The sun was on the horizon by the time he was done and the bottom of its disk was hidden behind the trees before he finished withdrawing all his chakra from the earth and stood up, sighing and brushing off his pants.
Kagome-sensei rolled his eyes. "You had to bring it up underneath yourself? You couldn't put it somewhere else? In front of you, maybe?"
"Oh come on. Tell me you've never wanted to sit on a literal mountain of gold."
Kagome-sensei sniffed. "Hardly a mountain."
Hazō rolled his eyes. "Fine. A metaphoric mountain, then."
"What's it a meta for?"
"For the amount of economic destruction Mari will rain down on our enemies with this much gold behind her! Mwahaha!"
Kagome-sensei nodded. "Sounds good. Maybe she can hire missions to kill all those Hagoromo stinkers."
"That's not... Sure, fine. Moving on: help me bag up all this gold dust, okay? I want to get at least a few hundred pounds of it back to Leaf tonight and Noburi is going to be checking in on the Seventh Path any minute."
Author's Note: You had your date with Ino, then left Leaf in the morning. I wanted to write the date but there wasn't enough in the tank.
The plan called to have Canvass sniff you over as you left the city, to make sure no trackers were on you. She smelled something weird on Kei that freaked her out, although she couldn't precisely identify it. It was on Hazō and Kagome as well, but probably as a secondary contact, she thought. (i.e. it got on Kei and then you interacted with her enough to get some of it on you.) All three of you scrubbed until it was gone.
It took a few hours to get to the gold mine, then you spent the rest of the day mining, several hours moving the gold dust to the Seventh Path, a night of not enough sleep, and then three days of travel. You have now set up your research base in Aisu Bay. The plan called for it to happen on a skytower but Kagome-sensei freaked out at the idea since it could involve a seal failure happening right on top of a Five Seal Barrier seal with who knows what weird interactions. Instead, you are set up on a flyspeck island that is just slightly to the right of the 'Y' in 'Aisu Bay' on the map. You will probably need to click to enlarge, then right click and 'open image in new tab' so that you can zoom in enough to see it.
We aren't going to get too fussy about how much gold there is in the mine aside from 'more than enough.' You can use Earthshaping's filtering ability to pull the pure gold dust out, no need to mix it with dirt. Earthshaping is fine with manipulating metal ore but it's not as good at manipulating pure metal (which gold is), so uniting it into ingots is possible but not practical. Instead, you shipped it home in bags as pure gold dust.
Once she had the dust in hand, Mari melted it into ingots and then went to Naruto and said "hey, yo, mah dude, take this vig and then mint the rest of it into coins for us." Naruto said "why are you talking like that? Also, fine, happy to do it, but I'm not going to have you destroying Leaf's economy. You can have all the coins that I mint but we'll need to set some rules about how much of it you use in Fire and the rest will have to be dumped on someone else's economy."
The Gōketsu now have enough to cover all their debts and several gracious plenties more.
Despite the impenetrable, flawlessly-isolating barrier that was Kagome's armoured door, the former missing-nin was so attuned to the surrounding environment that he reacted before Kei could knock a third time. She listened to the dragging sounds of metal against metal as Kagome slid back the bolts, taking this final moment to organise her thoughts.
Why had she come? What purpose could this meeting possibly serve? She had laughed, instinctively, when Hazō proposed that she speak to Kagome and assist him with his personal problems, with the deep scars left behind by the betrayal that was Ami's adoption and the more gradual degeneration of his role within the family that Hazō himself was struggling to grasp.
Kei was not a healer. Even Akane had not dared to do more than subtly hint at future possibilities, which Kei had rejected out of hand. A slug stood only to lose from dreaming of flight.
Yet warped as the logic was, it was also inexorable. Their family had been collapsing, slowly, silently, ever since Akane's death. Noburi, her second-in-command on the emotional front, was unequal to the task of serving as her replacement–unlike Akane, who had been somewhat directionless and instead devoted herself to others' needs, he now possessed a medical career to devour his time and energy. Hazō himself was, needless to say, occupied with greater concerns, and while he sometimes demonstrated miracles of insight that made him seem a guru of personal problems, his failures were as devastating as his successes were extraordinary (and sometimes simultaneous, as with his unilateral adoption of Ami). Her mother was an eliminator of problems, not a solver, and her powers were too dangerous–to herself most of all–to utilise full-time. Yuno was of little help for similar reasons to Kei.
Kei feared to imagine what would have become of her after Isan's destruction and Ami's disappearance had she been forced to rely on the Gōketsu for support. She feared to imagine what would transpire should a blow of similar magnitude strike a family member without an external support network like hers.
Of course he was surprised to see her actively seeking him out. The process of elimination that had remorselessly marked her for this task neglected their usual dynamic: the two least sensitive and most volatile members of the family took care, by silent agreement, to limit direct contact, lest one carelessly trigger the other's MARS array of issues and catastrophe result.
"Hazō suggested that I speak with you," Kei said frankly, aware that the sophisticated social dance necessary to disguise the fact was beyond her. "I believe it is his impression that, as one who has miraculously achieved an acceptable degree of functionality in the face of a history of extensive self-loathing, realism, and suicidal ideation, I may be of service to you in coping with your own difficulties. Needless to say, the idea is wildly delusional, but I request that you humour him nonetheless."
"What difficulties?" Kagome demanded in the tone of a man unjustly accused of murder. "I'm not having any difficulties, Kei. That's just ridiculous. Everything is fine."
"Of course," Kei said placidly. "Then it will not concern you that Ami has just sent word of her return, together with a detailed blueprint of the room she wishes constructed next to mine, exploiting functions of the Earthshaping Technique which by rights she should have no way of knowing."
Kagome's eyes grew wide. "She what? I have to–I have to…"
He looked wildly around the room, his eyes stopping on various seal designs littering his desk and pinned to his wall, seeking, evaluating.
Then he deflated. "I have to do something…" he said in the voice of a man already defeated.
"That was an illustrative deception," Kei said. "Of course she has not returned to us."
Kagome glared daggers at her. "That was cruel, Kei. You know how I feel about Mori."
Kei nodded. "And as your response was to implicitly accuse and/or threaten my sister in front of me, I believe we are even in terms of offence given, while my point has been effectively made.
"I assure you, Kagome, that your frustration at being forced to tolerate the trust with which this clan has treated Ami, persistently ignoring your expert opinion that she is a threat, has been fully mirrored by my frustration at being forced to tolerate the suspicion with which this clan has treated Ami, persistently ignoring my expert opinion that she is trustworthy. I appreciate that you must have felt isolated and ignored, the others taking it for granted that you would suppress your true feelings and support them in the world they believed themselves to live in rather than the world that was real–not because I possess the least insight into human nature, but because I have felt the same."
"Huh," Kagome said. "Hearing you say that… after I take the Kei-ness out of it, that's actually a good way of putting it."
"None taken," Kei muttered.
"What?"
"Never mind," Kei said. "Then you feel my assessment of the situation is fair?"
"I get why they did it," Kagome said. "They made a point of explaining–once it was too late, anyway. Hazō is a good kid, always has been. Him wanting to offer somebody redemption from time to time is just the kind of thing you have to live with. It's how I ended up part of this family, and I was… well, I nearly killed him when we first met. Nothing like Mori and her silver tongue. And I get the politics angle, too. Even I can see how incredibly useful somebody like her would be as an ally–the difference is that they've let down their guard enough to think she can be an ally, and I'm sorry, Kei, but there's nothing you can say to make me believe that deep down."
"It is not my business to attempt to persuade you," Kei said. "By this point, I have accepted that she will earn your trust through her own actions."
The look Kagome gave her was not simply uncomfortable. It was haunted, to the point that for a second Kei felt remorse for what Ami's mere existence had inflicted on this man.
"That's what I'm afraid of," Kagome whispered.
This unproductive line of discussion was not what Kei had been aiming for, but she supposed there had never been any possibility of dancing around the Ami in the room when both of them had two left feet, no knowledge of the steps, and the coordination of a civilian stunned by a banshee wren.
"Regardless," Kei said, "I did not come to relitigate the merits of Hazō's overdue decision. Rather, it is out of a vague and unjustified hope that I will possess some insight which may somehow be of value to you.
"You have acknowledged your feelings of being ignored and isolated. I have recently developed a… converse perspective on the matter. After an incident in which Hazō failed to consult me as his sanity-checker, to predictable effect, I began to appreciate the privilege involved in that sometimes onerous role. It is a matter of discomfort to observe how others within the clan, though vastly more qualified than I in a variety of significant domains, are consulted only on matters directly within their purview, and otherwise kept from the levers of power–usually not out of distrust or disrespect, but simply because their opinions are… not necessary.
"Hazō has magnificently transcended his youthful flaw of disregarding others' humanity, and from a Nara perspective, constraining the number of parties involved is a perfectly rational approach to optimising the decision-making process. Yet what must the experience be on the other side of the divide, aware of the frequency and regularity of these meetings, yet so rarely invited to participate?"
Kagome looked at her thoughtfully. "You're a good kid too, Kei."
She gave him a look of deepest scepticism, such as would plumb the bottomless chasms to their limit and awaken the sleeping primordial horrors whose wrath once tore the caverns now known as Hidden Rock out of the flesh of the earth. Kagome appeared not to notice.
"It's not even that I mind so much," he said. "I know full well that I'm not the politician in the family, and economics sends me running to the willowbark drawer. Most of the time, I imagine you talk about stuff I wouldn't be able to help with anyway. But…"
"But there is no more efficacious means to degrade one's self-esteem than to witness one's loved ones treat one as surplus to requirements," Kei concluded. "I was only four years younger than Ami–a significant distance, to be certain, but not to the point that her conversations with my parents on abstract topics did not eventually become comprehensible to me. Yet it was not until I observed interactions among the Nara that I learned that it is not a given that a child be discouraged from participation in adult conversations, even banished should her ignorant comments be judged distracting.
"At the time, however, the experience only reinforced my conviction that I was a creature of a different species from Ami, and my business was to attend to my studies–which, I hasten to add, my parents supported and encouraged, in full understanding that utility cannot be reaped without investment–while leaving matters of import to those with actual competence."
"Kei," Kagome said, "I know we don't often talk, but I want to make sure you know your parents are terrible people, and you did not deserve any of that. Besides, look at you now, second-in-command of the smartest clan in the world, Queen of the KEI, one of the village's big movers and shakers–shows what they knew, huh?"
"The extent to which any of those were my achievements, or deserved in any way, is subject to debate," Kei objected. "However… I am in the process of re-evaluating certain life lessons that have shaped my identity. The process is slow and torturous, especially in Akane's absence, and plagued with subjectivity, as it is nigh-impossible for me to distinguish between those experiences which are natural to childhood and to which I merely overreacted as a result of my personal failings and those which were… abnormal, representing genuine harm. Sometimes I still wonder if the latter category actually exists."
This was altogether more openness than her relationship with Kagome merited, Kei was aware. She had not even discussed the subject with Hazō. However, Akane had led by example when offering vulnerability to earn vulnerability, and what Kei could not achieve through being a person deserving of trust, she could at least imitate for instrumental purposes.
"However," she said, having reached her limits, "I did not come here to speak of myself. My intended point is that any suffering on your part from feelings of uselessness or neglect is both legitimate and understandable. So much so, in fact, that even I can understand and accept it, despite my general obliviousness to the inner lives of others."
Kagome simply sat and stared at her for a while. It did not feel like a glare; rather, he was processing, and she, as the trigger, happened to continue to be in his field of view. Kei suspected it might be a social faux pas, so she made a note to research it in the library later.
"Hazō's surpassed me as a sealmaster, you know," he said eventually. "I'm ever so proud of him. 3D sealing, the art of the original masters, can you imagine? As his teacher, I always hoped–no, knew–that it would happen eventually, and look at him. Only sixteen, and he's already left me in the dust."
"You should perhaps refrain from discussion of certain topics in casual conversation," Kei said coolly. Honestly, how did this clan survive the periods of her absence?
"Oh. I mean, we were only talking about… about freebie stealing! Yeah! Hazō just loves the, uh, thrill of crime even when he's already getting the thing for free, everybody knows that!"
Kei sighed.
"Am I to assume, given the overall topic, that this jubilation at Hazō's success is not unqualified?"
"Well, that's the thing, isn't it?" Kagome asked. "What's the good of a teacher with nothing left to teach? Might as well stick old Kagome in a nice secondary research facility and let him tinker with his chūnin-level toys, maybe get him some more apprentices and see if any of them survive–not that they will because he's stupid and can't even drum basic sealing safety into their heads–while the special jōnin goes off to change the world and maybe finds time to come talk shop once in a blue moon.
"It's a good thing. It's how it's supposed to be. I get it."
"And yet," Kei said.
"Yeah," Kagome said heavily. "Sorry to be dumping all of that on you, Kei. Things aren't that bad. Honestly. I mean it. Just… everybody has their own stuff going on–you more than anyone, the way I hear it–and I can't just go complaining to them over every little thing. Heck, I'm the oldest one here. I should at least try to act like an adult."
"Adulthood requires relying on others for support when necessary, and if one is in doubt, then it is necessary," Kei said. "It is a lesson I am steadfastly failing to learn, but fortunately I have people who equally steadfastly apply it to my cranium with percussive force at regular intervals."
Kagome gave her a look she was unable to read.
"It was a good talk, Kei," he said, which she understood meant he wished to terminate the interaction. Frankly, she was amazed he had tolerated her blundering attempts at emotional connection this long.
His next words thus took her completely by surprise.
"We should talk more. Maybe you can come by again sometime?"
But... what of their carefully-maintained social no man's land? Had he forgotten that only cataclysm could come of their extended direct interaction, as on the day she received Mewhō from the Nara Keiko Fan Club, when he thoughtlessly touched her without warning and she equally thoughtlessly cursed him for that innocent mistake? No, safety could be found only in separation, for both their sakes.
"You know," Kagome mused as she failed to assent, "I came across a curious carrot cake recipe in an Akimichi cookbook the other day. Apparently, Fire Country walnuts really enhance the taste if you prep them right. Of course, the Akimichi love to exaggerate, and what's 'out of this world' supposed to mean anyway?"
"I believe that if I reorganise my itinerary, I can generate a free evening slot by the end of the week."
Kei suspected that a more insightful being than she could read volumes into the fact that over the last three years, she had been or become estranged from five different family members, or that she had successfully reconnected with them all, or that over half of the reconnections were in some way Hazō's fault.
"Greetings, obstreperous brat. Are you finally coming to pay your proper respects to me, or will I need to beat some sense into your sorry hindquarters?"
The disorientation and fading pain of reverse summoning had Hazō spinning until he found Cannai. The Alpha of the Dog Clan was sitting on his haunches, comfortably twice Hazō's height, and glaring at the summoner.
Hazō apparently didn't find words quickly enough, because Cannai's tongue quickly lolled back out. "I sense no respect coming from you, summoner. Was my impression of the Toad Sages inadequate, or are you treating them similarly disrespectfully?"
Hazō shook his head. "It was a fine impression, Cannai. But they normally put some oomph into their lines, instead of delivering it deadpan."
"Well, perhaps I must go ask them to teach me and hope they don't beat their lessons into my sorry hindquarters," Cannai said, panting in amusement. "By your lack of major injury, I presume your jutsu modification lessons are progressing nicely?"
"Well enough," Hazō sighed. "They're not as nice as my old teacher, but they're clearly far more knowledgeable. I don't know if that's a good thing though – they're worse at communicating the basic concepts, I think. Also, their technique hacking tradition is completely different from the one I was learning, so it's really hard trying to learn all the new abstractions and models they're using. At least some of the stuff I learned carries over, like sensing my own chakra system. Honestly, given how different humans' and summons' chakra is, I don't think any other summon could teach me technique hacking. Those two have the advantage of centuries working with humans."
"Old and learned as they may be, I still found their attitude rather poor," Cannai said, raising his nose. "One would expect such ancient beings to have self-respect instead of just pride, yet they are still cantankerous and rude."
"That they are," Hazō said. "But they're still good teachers."
"Oh? Everything you described didn't sound very complimentary."
"I was just griping!" Hazō complained. "They're not very forgiving of mistakes, and they brutally mock me whenever I forget an instruction, but they're razor sharp at actually catching those mistakes, and they have a dozen tricks to break me out of any rut I get stuck in."
"Hm," Cannai said. "Well, they are providing their knowledge to my clan's summoner free of charge, so I ought to show restraint and refrain from foul-mouthing them further."
"Probably for the better. How have matters been in Dog, lately?"
"Easy," Cannai said. "A few have complained about the lack of access to the various traded goods from Pangolin, but in truth there were only ever a few who depended on the Conclave's trades in the first place. The challenge we face is not in Dog, but in Hyena."
"What is the situation there?" Hazō said. "I heard the peace was holding, which is kind of a surprise given how aggressive the Pangolins have been in the past."
"Peace is not static, summoner. It is always dynamic. The peace is holding because the Pangolins are repeatedly relocating their troops to try to gain a strategic advantage, and we constantly adjust our defense to prevent them from finding an opportunity for a decisive victory. No fighting has yet begun, no blood drawn, but this is a situation maintained by our active effort. Or so Haikari tells me – my senses obviously do not extend so far as the eastern border of Hyena."
"I see. Haikari is the new leader of Hyena?"
"Indeed she is. Haiwarai was a leader who rose in a time of peace, for peace. Haikari is a blooded warrior. Despite being new to the mantle, in some ways I expect she will be better equipped to defend Hyena's land. That her reign is starting with a much-needed alliance with Dog is also an asset to us – already, we are more friendly than Haiwarai and I ever were."
"And the hyenas are treating our clan's warriors well?"
"To an extent," Cannai said, settling down but keeping his head perked up to be comfortably at Hazō's eye level. "Our warriors were killing their warriors and vice-versa in living memory. It is a hard thing to forget that the hyena by your side may have tasted your brother's blood between his jaws. Cooperation comes slowly, but Haikari has granted some strategic oversight to our pack leaders, so they will hopefully not be blindly given the most lethal assignments out of selfishness. Still, it is an unsure thing. I know that every one of them left Dog willingly, yet I still regret that many of them will never return."
"I'm sorry," Hazō said.
Cannai cocked his head. "Perhaps you are right to be sorry, given that this is ultimately caused by your invention prompting the Pangolins towards conquest. However, at this point, it cannot be stopped. Hyena will fight to recover the lands they lost, and Pangolin will not settle for keeping what they have stolen – they must expand. If you wished to help, I am certain your aid would be welcome on the front lines. Your combat power is irrelevant in this phase of war making, because merely being able to scout and pass messages instantly between points on the front would be a decisive factor in Hyena's favor. Yet, I am aware you have better things to do with your time."
Hazō shook his head. "Akatsuki is on the cusp of bringing Pain back. I don't know how many months we have until that happens, but if it happens, the whole Human Path could be lost. I just can't afford to spend hours every day scouting on the Seventh Path. Speaking of which, my assignment's changed. The Hokage has taken charge of the situation and given me an actual order: to build weapons to kill Akatsuki."
"If I recall, this is done at no small risk to himself, correct?" Cannai asked. "If Akatsuki discovers that your packleader is actively opposing them rather than merely allowing you to do so by oversight, based on the scant impressions I have received from you, I do not think Akatsuki would take it kindly."
"That sounds right. Either way, I need to figure out a way to kill some of the strongest ninja in the Elemental Nations."
Cannai perked up.
"And my chakra reserves are still not large enough to summon you."
Cannai lowered his head back down.
"One of my ideas was to work with chakra itself. Since all their strength comes from their ability to use chakra, if I can somehow change, limit, or take away that ability, then killing them gets a lot easier. I wanted to ask you some questions about that."
"Ask away, summoner. I can only hope that I have answers to your questions."
"Well, how much do you know about the philosophy of chakra? What do you think chakra is, really?"
"Ah," Cannai said. "This is related to your conversation with old King Kamehameha, isn't it? I do believe… just about everyone on the Seventh Path's south coast would have overheard it, given the King's prodigious volume. I'm sure there were no small number of Clan Bosses who were appalled by the wonderful tales he fed you, and who would have been happy to disabuse you of said nonsense with nonsense of their own. I should be grateful that you came to me first.
"Relatedly, chakra is not the thoughts of kami, whatever that would mean. Chakra does not have will in the way that thoughts do – chakra does not do anything on its own. Instead, it is known that chakra is the lifeforce of the Sage of the Six Paths, gifted from him to his many children – from the human ninja to the various seventh Path Clans. Gifted once, it remains eternal. When a Dog dies, their soul is split. Their essence is reincarnated, their knowledge fades away, and their vitality, their chakra, returns to Dog, to the lands, the skies, and the waters."
"So chakra is just… the Sage's power?"
"What else would it be?" Cannai said. "Is the Human Path so far gone that you have forgotten that it was the Sage who created chakra?"
"No," Hazō said, "it's just that others have told me differently. So then what's the difference between human and nature chakra?"
"These are the types of chakra you spoke about with Kamehameha? Where the Turtle King was mistaken before, here he was merely nipping your tail. I do not believe he has any particular reason to believe there are precisely fourteen types of chakra – that would be absurd. As to what they are specifically? I do not know. Perhaps some of our bards would know more, but the terms are unfamiliar to me. I am of course well aware that humans and dogs use chakra quite differently."
"Then how about the elements? Nature chakra, the type of chakra that dogs use, has so many more elements than human chakra, which only has five. Why is that the case?"
Cannai stared at Hazō for a moment, then looked away, down the hillside. "I confess I haven't really thought about it, summoner. Why is the plain different than the mountain? Why does the river flow down, and the trees grow up? Such things do not require explanations. They just are."
Idyllic as it may be, a mindset like that wasn't going to help Hazō make Akatsuki-killing weaponry.
"Have you ever heard of a human using nature chakra? Maybe by learning to use an element that isn't one of the human five?"
"I do not believe I have. That human elements are so limited frequently frustrated Kakashi when he was attempting to learn the various jutsu the Dog Clan had to offer."
"Well, maybe that's reasonable. Jiraiya warned us that using nature chakra could be deadly to a human, and the Toad Sages let it slip that training to use it might turn you into a rock. Still, apparently they can train someone to use it and combine it with human chakra. Do the Dogs have any knowledge of this?"
"Unfortunately not, summoner."
"I see. One last question – I've heard before that chakra is like a hilly landscape, and that we regenerate chakra by 'walking up' the hill, then expend it by going back down, gaining power like a ball would when it rolls down a slope. Does that make sense?"
"It seems like an explanation, summoner. Is it one that has any grounding in reality? I do not know. I often find such explanations are ways of fooling ourselves into thinking we understand, rather than a way of gaining true understanding."
"Well, if that's the case, I think it might be possible to make a seal that evens out the 'landscape', making it hard to regenerate chakra, or impossible to expend it. If I could make it specific to only human chakra, then I could shut down humans in combat while letting my summons fight unimpeded. Do you think something like that could be possible?"
"You are the foremost expert in whether something can or cannot be achieved by sealcraft. As to whether it is possible to manipulate chakra to make jutsu easier or harder to cast…"
Cannai paused. He waited for a few seconds. "You may try to cast a jutsu, summoner."
Hazō raised an eyebrow. Had Cannai done something to the surrounding chakra? He palmed a Poor Man's Yellow Flash disk from his pocket and threw it, unsealing a small log a dozen feet away. Hazō focused for a moment, pulling the chakra in his coils together for a Substitution technique.
He swapped with the log.
"What did you feel, summoner?"
"It felt the same," Hazō said.
Cannai didn't answer for a few seconds longer. "Try once more."
Hazō substituted with the log again, bringing him back to Cannai's side.
"Still no difference," Hazō said with a faint feeling of disappointment.
"Hm. Well, perhaps there is something more subtle I must do to achieve the desired effect. Or perhaps it is not possible at all. Who can tell?
"Regardless," Cannai continued, "I first tried to pull all the chakra away from you. Second, I tried to condense the chakra around you to suffocate you in it. If neither of these did anything…" his tail thwapped side to side, "then I know not exactly what is required. If you can tell me more precisely what I should be doing, then I would be glad to aid you in whatever experiments you wish. Otherwise, I will have to defer to your superior wisdom as a sealmaster in how this should be achieved."
"Ah, that's a shame," Hazō said. "Still, thank you for trying."
"You are welcome, summoner. If that is the end of your questions for me, do you have other pressing business? Canabisu wishes to give you a 'general debrief' of his findings after two years in Arachnid. I understand it was quite stressful for him to spend so long away from his pack, surrounded by only alien creatures of such a different culture, and you are one of the few that was with him in this unusual travail. I believe he also has plans to 'rehabilitate' Cantelabra, who spent so much of his youth among spiders instead of a proper dog pack, with which he would like your assistance."
"I can stay for another ten minutes," Hazō said, mentally picking through his plans for the day. "But… I do have to get to Toad by dawn for my training."
"I see," Cannai said. "Well, perhaps you will be free this evening? The Gray Oak pack is holding a taleswap in memory of Canaut, and they have made a humble request for your presence."
Hazō winced. "Once the training is over, I have seals to research. Depending on its duration, maybe I could join after the research is finished? Assuming no complications, of course."
"It is fine, summoner. Go and be a dutiful student. Canabisu will understand that you do not want ill-mannered Toads ripping your limbs off, I'm sure. You do not need to push yourself to rush your research. The Gray Oak pack would be grateful for your presence on another day. Time does not matter to the dead; they can always wait."
o-o-o
Hazō sat in front of the rune blank, considering it.
It was going to be dangerous. Maybe. That was the worst part of it. He didn't know whether the rune would fizzle out harmlessly, or whether it would cause a catastrophe beyond even Kagome-sensei's worst imaginations.
Hazō had invented two runes so far. The explosive rune had been drop-dead simple, just like the explosive seal had been. Just poke a hole into the Out, command up as much energy as you can, then let it all blast free. The math, the theory, designing the components had all been easy. When it came time to infuse the rune, he had been sure beyond sure that he knew what it would do.
The Fast Forward Rune… had not been so simple. Pulling on the threads of time was no mean feat, and it had taken hours for Hazō to even begin to conceptualize how he might start doing that. Still, over the course of days of research, he'd managed it. When he'd infused the rune, he'd known for certain what would come of it. At least, as long as he didn't introduce the tiniest of errors while earthshaping the blank, and as long as he stayed in perfect control of his chakra while infusing.
Unfortunately, while the threads of time didn't object to Hazō's gentle touch, Hazō just couldn't figure out how to properly, fully bend them to his will. The rune he imagined himself needing was too complex, trying to spend too much power through too few conduits to be safe. He couldn't figure out exactly what he needed to compress time to an actually relevant level.
Or at least, he couldn't without experimentation. When researching seals, Hazō made prototypes. Lots of them in fact. Often, those prototypes tested tiny, trivial properties of individual components (something he could not frivolously do with his limited supply of runic substrate), but he also frequently took weeks to design major prototypes of critical functions of the final seal before he put it all together in the end.
The chakra wasn't fully bound in those prototypes. The exact specification of what each intermediary seal needed to do was left partially incomplete by their very nature. This caused tiny sealing failures, but not the dangerous kind. As long as he made every brushstroke correct and stayed in complete control of his chakra, there was no real risk to him.
Major sealing failures were dangerous but probably not world-ending (as long as Hazō discounted the most extreme of Kagome-sensei and Jiraiya's stories). Tiny sealing failures, on the other hand, were totally manageable. Hazō had no clue what a full runic failure would entail, but runes were more than seals in every way, and that probably included the size of the crater left behind by a failure. He didn't expect he would survive it if he ever caused one. But what was a tiny runic failure going to look like?
He'd played around with the plans for the prototype. He'd analyzed it from every angle he could, even developed new bits of theory to try to find a way to keep the runic chakra fully bound and to keep any undefined behavior from happening. He hadn't found it. If he wanted to make progress on the next iteration of the Fast Forward rune, he needed to infuse a prototype.
He was a shadow clone, of course. Prime was on a skytower, two miles out and a mile up, and would reverse summon at first notice. Kagome and Kei were both on the Seventh Path, and wouldn't return until Hazō gave them the all-clear. Plus, it wasn't going to be a full runic failure. Only a tiny part of the overall energy would be unbound and free to act randomly. They'd all live. Probably.
But why couldn't he shake the faint feeling that he teetered on the cusp of catastrophe?
He shook his head gently, smoothing out the ripples in his chakra control caused by his anxiety. He was only playing with time itself, not any particularly lethal force. They'd placed a collection of things beside the weaker Fast Forward rune, including moss, grass, lichens, and potted plants from Leaf. They'd even jarred some of the island gnats and caught some sea creatures (a fire-breathing turtle and a strange crab-scorpion thing whose claws dripped venom) to keep in a stone box by the rune. So far, nothing had shown any ill effects.
Slowly, calmly, he lifted his hand and placed it upon the rune. He hadn't even begun the infusion, yet his hand felt heavy, weighed down by the metaphysical gravity of what he was about to do.
He opened his mind, letting his soul slip sideways into that place where he understood. He knew what he needed to do. He laced his chakra into the rune, little by little. His list of infusion instructions was etched into his mind like iron, and he followed it step by agonizing step, taking the utmost care in every instant to never let his chakra slip from his grasp in the slightest.
Finally, he twisted his chakra into place, opening that gap into the Out and letting its energy flood into the structure he had created. For a moment, he felt disembodied, like falling through a void in every direction at once, simultaneously motionless and about to impact solid stone.
The infusion had succeeded. Hazō backed away, finally releasing his control over his breath. He panted, wiping the sweat from his brow. The rune was humming again, a low susurration that he couldn't help but interpret as reality moaning as he twisted it into impossible shapes. The setting sun's golden light barely let him see the rune's glow, more blue than purple, as it sat upon the short granite pedestal he'd made for it.
Hazō pushed it experimentally. This rune also refused to move.
He sighed. There was only one thing to do now.
He reached out and fed his chakra into the rune. Energy built up in the rune, and built and built until suddenly the rune activated. Reality warped in a pulse from the rune as before, but something was different. From the center, Hazō couldn't tell, but the pulse was jagged instead of smooth, moving faster than it had the last time.
Hazō chain-substituted back as the runic hum turned into a squeal, into a shriek. He was just ducking behind cover when he saw the rune shatter.
He waited for several long, silent minutes before he poked his head out. The remnants of the rune were mostly contained on the pedestal, though a few shards seemed like they had fallen into the sand.
He started walking towards it. If he'd been Prime, he would have waited hours longer, observing from a distance with a telescope and leading his entry with a twelve-foot pole, but as MeatbagMinion189281, it was his duty to die in illustrative manners for Prime's sake.
He stopped a moment later. The island's gnats had frozen.
Surrounding the rune in every direction, the small, black bugs that came out to swarm at sundown had frozen dead in midair. He could still hear the faint sound of their buzzing. He turned and saw behind him, the gnats were still swarming. Only the ones within a few dozen yards of the rune had been caught in the effect.
Experimentally, he reached out to touch one. It resisted his touch at first, like he was trying to push a stone through honey. After a moment, it dropped into his palm. It still didn't move. He prodded at the sand within the area. It parted normally at his touch.
Why had gnats been affected, but he made it out okay? Was it because he was the one that infused the rune? Was it that he had chakra that resisted foreign effects, and the insects didn't have that protection?
Hazō looked at the hemisphere of frozen time he'd made, trapping tens of thousands of (admittedly insignificant) beings within its reach.
Runes were powerful, and researching them was going to cause far more trouble than he'd thought.
I skipped the following plan line:
Share what we learned from Orochimaru, does it match his experience as a Clan Boss?
As Hazō learned a lot from Orochimaru, this really doesn't pin anything down.
Day 1
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Force Walls.
Prep Faster Forward Rune v1. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Day 2
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Force Walls.
Prep Faster Forward Rune v2. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Below, all lines referencing "Faster Forward Rune" reference the V2.
Day 3
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Force Walls.
Prep Anti-Substitution Seal. Difficulty result: Jiraiya
Day 4
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Force Walls.
Prep Substitution-Triggered ARS. Difficulty result: Chūnin
Day 5
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Air-Conditioning Seal. Difficulty result: Genin
Infuse Force Walls.
[NB: With rolls this bad, I would normally have Hazō reroll, but he did some prep, and he recently pumped Calligraphy, so he's still confident in his new score. No reroll.]
With great difficulty and an unknown distance to disaster, Hazō finishes the Force Wall seal! Tentative mechanics: Not viable in combat, grants the taggable Aspect "Invisible Cutting Edges" on Trapmaking checks with a minimum TN of 50, and can be used to make Weapons:3 traps.
Day 6
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Force Claws. Difficulty result: Jōnin.
The Force Wall seal's effect is created and delineated by its paired seals. Without a seal on the other side to maintain the effect and define the boundary, Hazō thinks it'll be tricky to project the cutting field super far. That said, Hazō thinks if he anchored the seal to an object, perhaps his Pangolin gauntlets, he could add an extended, invisible blade along the object's existing edges…
Prep Demolition Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
This pacing is a little slow, but definitely comfortable. Hazō makes healthy progress on this seal; he thinks he's around a third of the way done.
Day 8
Prep RRBs.
Prep Faster Forward Rune.
Prep Demolition Seal. Difficulty result: Jōnin
Prep Ninja-radar rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Day 9
Prep Superchiller Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Prep Goo Grenade. Difficulty result: Genin
Infuse RRBs.
Hazō's making good progress. Perhaps with a good assistant, he would have been finished by now. Regardless, he thinks that with luck, he should finish this seal in one more cycle.
[NB: No reroll since Hazō's Earthshaping is still quite high relative to his Primordial Sealing, though it's getting close… Congrats to him for rolling PrimSeal above ES for the first time!]
This rune is definitely a bit harder than he was expecting. He'll continue, but with slight discomfort. He thinks he's about a third of the way done.
Day 10
SSA recovery.
Day 11
SSA recovery.
Day 12
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Reality Stabilizer Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Prep KISS. Difficulty result: Chūnin
Day 13
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Reverse Chakra Filtering Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Prep Time Stretch Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Day 14
Prep RRBs.
Prep CATEARS.
Prep Pause Rune. Difficulty result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Infuse Earth Bullet.
Hazō completes the Explosive 2.0. It's a slightly bigger boom. Tentative mechanics: Same as explosive seal, but the dodge TN is 42 instead of 40. The returns are definitely diminishing, but he could probably try to research a chūnin-tier version…
Day 20 [Per the temporary rule this cycle, Hazō gets 1 free Fate Point, bringing him up to 2 FP. He then buys 2 FP, bringing him up to 4 FP.]
Infuse Earth Bullet.
Hazō completes the Earth Bullet seal. Tentative function: works on the nearest 1kg of dirt (usually between the user's feet). Dirt must be within Melee of the seal. Launches the dirt in the direction the seal is facing. Dirt gains no internal cohesion, and it doesn't work on non-loose material (e.g. stone). Not combat viable, no mechanics required.
Hazō completes RRBs! They're like Rocket Boots but reusable, with the strength and durability of the seal tuned up as well. Tentative mechanics: Reflexive Supplemental to activate, grants (+Sealmaster Sealing AB + 1; +9 for Hazō) to all physical rolls while active, grants +1 shift on Sprint actions while active, lasts 30 seconds. Hazō's Sealing stagnancy has cleared, and he gains 1 FP for overcoming this challenging project.
Hazō's making steady progress, and slowly gaining comfort with rune research. He thinks he's around two-thirds of the way done, and can finish this in another cycle with Jashin's luck.
Day 21
SSA recovery.
Day 22
SSA recovery.
You set up many past-blue HOWS of varying levels of past-blue, and set them up facing a wide variety of flora and fauna (see the list of creatures in the rune radius for inspiration). No negative effects were observed.
A Light Relay tuned to past-blue successfully emits past-blue when exposed to a past-blue HOWS.
You left your island and found another, larger, lightly wooded island to the northeast, getting near Snow Country territory. Hazō buried the Fast Forward Rune a hundred feet underground, and he tried to clean up as many of the time-frozen gnats as he could, though some certainly slipped through the cracks. Hazō's second runic prototype infusion on the new island seems to have affected the fauna again – this time causing the birds and bees nearby to hasten and slow. Unfortunately, genjutsu-laden birdsong that accelerates and decelerates at random is not pleasant to listen to.
You briefed Kagome and Kei on the Akatsuki dossier. Kei was suitably pessimistic about your odds of victory. They'll think about countermeasures, but neither of them are particularly adept weapons designers, relatively speaking. They can't judge the ideas fully without knowing what exactly they entail, and even Hazō can't predict exactly what these runes will do, so their best feedback in order is:
Time Stop Runes
Kagome: Time stopping them is basically the same as killing them, seems fine. Even if it's temporary, lots of ways to kill them if you can set up outside it.
Kei: Agrees, this seems like the right category of effect to counter their absurd defensive powers.
Chakra Potential Runes
Kagome: Some of them are sealmasters, so maybe will have chakra-free alternatives. Chakra-drainers exist, so they might have at least put some thought to what they'd do without chakra.
Kei: Important factors here: would shut down active ninjutsu, or just prevent casting more? Would it shut down bloodlines?
Hot Pocket Runes
Kagome: Seems great. Bigger boom.
Kei: Assuming some level of in-team paranoia (S-rank ninja, so guaranteed), they may have some plans to deal with big boom. Still, big boom is always a good start.
Runes that activate seals
Kagome: Isn't going to kill Konan, but shuts down a key capability. What's the plan for actually killing her?
Kei: It mimics her own ability, so it's not completely new like Time Stop. Still seems super promising to turn it against her.
Runes that disrupt chakra threads
Kagome: This is probably going to require a chakra thread user to adequately develop. Do we need to go capture a Sand ninja?
Kei: Sounds like it would totally nullify Sasori. There's probably some complication here making it not so easy… but it sounds like it would work.
General feedback:
Kagome: (no feedback, just envious about Hazō runecrafting big fancy weapons, and him not being able to do that)
Kei: It sounds like there are lots of ways to kill them if we can lure them into range of the glowing, humming, static, slow-to-activate runes. The most important thing, then, is finding a way to reliably get them into range to activate a rune. Assume they're not going to be fooled by trivial things like "start an engagement, run to a prepared site, they chase us into trap/ambush". Solve a way to reliably deliver the rune effect, and then slot in whatever kill rune is required to win the current conflict. Without a delivery mechanism, all the kill runes in the world do nothing.
Hazō's technique hacking lessons are progressing well. He misses having Ino to learn beside, to check his understanding with, and to bounce ideas off of.
Hazō has spent 7 FP, bought 3 FP, gotten 1 FP for free thanks to the temporary rule this cycle, earned 1 FP for completing a difficult project, and refreshed 1 FP. Net: -1 FP.
It was with some unease that Hazō approached Kei when he saw her apparently napping on a grassy knoll. On the Human Path, this would have been suicidal: pick the wrong knoll (blue flowers were a particular danger sign), and you would drift off quickly and peacefully, and there were no survivors to speak of what happened next, nor even bones to be found. They were almost as bad as gazebos, and Hazō had been horrified to learn that those actually existed on the mainland, as opposed to being a metaphor for landlubbers getting killed by their own laziness.
Come to think of it, Kei, with her alphabetical knowledge of means of suicide, probably knew exactly how to identify a suitable grassy knoll, in which case it made more sense for her to be at ease on an obviously safe one.
She turned at his approach, eyes opening, and Hazō felt a touch of relief. It was one thing to relax in foreign territory with no one keeping watch, another completely to ignore a potentially hostile shinobi's approach. From the sister forged in the same fires as him, it would have been cause to suspect lupchanzen.
"Hazō," she acknowledged. "Apologies. I realise it must be past check-in time, but I desperately needed respite after my illl-judged attempt to engage my pangolin subordinates in philosophical discussion. It was as I imagine speaking to Hyūga Hiashi might have been, save that he allegedly possessed enough intellectual sophistication to argue compellingly for his beliefs, assuming sufficient respect for his interlocutor."
"No worries," Hazō said. "I got caught up in organising my notes myself. Apparently, leaving a notebook's worth of transcription to Hazō JustKillMeNow, who didn't have it already stored in the Iron Nerve, wasn't my brightest idea ever.
"Still, Kei, a grassy knoll? Even on the Seventh Path, I'm impressed you were able to let your guard down enough."
Kei gazed up at the distant firmament.
"Here, it is safe to imagine," she said softly. "Just think of it, Hazō. A few minutes of indolent peace, then your eyes close slowly, and there is no more pressure. No more obligations. No more risk of suffering or even death for those around you should you once misstep."
Even without seeing his face, she must have somehow sensed Hazō's horrified stare.
"No need for that, Hazō," she said testily. "Suicidal ideation is harmless without intent, and I would hardly murder Snowflake for the sake of my own selfishness."
"And also you value your life too much," Hazō prompted.
"And also I value my life too much," Kei agreed. "To fail to change the subject, how goes the mission? What news from Aisu Bay Murderland?"
"I wish you wouldn't keep calling it that," Hazō muttered.
"Kagome and I outvoted you," Kei said, "if perhaps for different reasons."
"And that's another thing," Hazō grumbled. "Since when were you two swimming in the same current?"
"There would have been no hope for you in any scenario," Kei said in lieu of answering the question. "Noburi possesses a marked tendency to side with me when he is not counterbalancing my social ineptitude, and would have chosen the option most likely to annoy you even were I absent. Mari would have found it hilarious. Yuno would have sided with either her husband or the Pangolin Summoner. In fact, why are you the clan head again?"
"Because nobody else wants the workload."
"Fair."
"To answer your question," Hazō said, "all is well. The time control rune research is moving forward even faster than the last time you asked, though I'm torn between a bunch of ideas for the naming scheme–no suggestions, please, Lady Aisu Bay Murderland."
"So this is the taste of instant karma."
"Sure is," Hazō agreed. "I really thought the Kittensphere and the Snow Globe had taught you better. Anyway, I do have something I wanted to consult you about."
Kei sat up at the more serious tone.
"I can replicate the effect of Elemental Mastery with a rune," Hazō said without preamble. "I don't mean hypothetically. I mean, I can see the research pathway, and it's within my reach. I haven't done the groundwork yet, but my guess would be a matter of weeks rather than months."
It was Kei's turn for the horrified stare, which did not bode well. Hazō hurried on.
"I know it's dangerous. I've been hesitating. But still, looking at my other research, it's not like there aren't plenty of other ways to destroy a city, and runes aren't going to proliferate the way anybody with Fire Element affinity could learn Elemental Mastery.
"More importantly, think about what it would mean. The summoners could reverse-summon if they were fast enough, and Orochimaru's dossier suggests that Konan might make it. But Sasori? Deidara? Hidan? Half of Akatsuki gone. Nothing but dust.
"But you're my sanity checker. Frankly, all things considered, there's nobody whose feedback matters more." Admittedly, that was out of the tiny handful of people who even knew about Elemental Mastery. "What do you think?"
"Hazō," Kei said after a few seconds. "Hazō. You are labouring under a fundamental, cataclysmic misperception. Elemental Mastery is not an anti-Akatsuki weapon. It is a city-killer that possesses an incidental application in destroying Akatsuki, just as the Great Fireball Technique possesses an incidental application in pest control. That you have other routes to city-killers is not something to boast about–it merely means that most of the same objections must apply to them as well.
"Before anything else, did you learn nothing from the original incident? You are delivering city-killers to the Hokage. To be sure, the Eighth is of a different mould to the Seventh, and is a man to whom I am prepared to feel a certain amount of actual loyalty, but he is human, just as the Seventh was human. You wish him to live his entire life with the temptation of ultimate destructive power, of eliminating any given threat to all in his care, of creating a permanent Pax Konoha with but a single great sacrifice? Or do you wish to keep your death runes under sole control, defying the Hokage's direct orders when they come, facing off against Leaf in a war where the fate of the world is at stake, all our loved ones are on the other side, and your only weapons are weapons of mass destruction?
"The other side of the boatman's coin is the greater future. In a world of city-killers, humanity's survival is founded exclusively on the fact that you alone possess them, and can trust yourself not to abuse them. Is that enough? In the first place, Hazō, I… I love and trust you more than most people in this world, and yet I do not consider you a moral titan beyond temptation. You have erred in the past, as we all have. You will err many times more. In fact, you are in a much worse position than the Hokage, for so much more rests on your shoulders, and always will. He is the guardian of Leaf. He is coming to understand his responsibility for protecting AMITY, for protecting world peace from those who would devour it, but it is not yet instinctive to him that one's responsibility is truly proportional to one's power.
"You will save the world. Not merely from war, but from ignorance, hunger, illness, the thousand hatreds that tear humanity apart on levels below geopolitics–in short, from itself, and you will not cease your labour until it is done. Responsibility crushes one, Hazō. It warps one. It causes one to make choices an earlier, more innocent self could not imagine. I would not trust myself with ultimate power, and you must not either.
"The original runecrafters, we believe, were the Sage's companions, in other words the founders of the so-called Thinker Clans. Hazō, do you believe, in all sincerity, that between us we could not have preserved the power that forged the Great Seal and must have been capable of a thousand more miracles besides? That power was surrendered, by shinobi of legendary collective intellect, because they understood down to the marrow of their bones the concepts I am now flailing to express. It was erased from this world, and the instant Pain somehow rediscovered it, he nearly triggered an apocalypse. He, like you, was an idealist determined to save the world, and his ritual might well have done so, at a price he deemed acceptable.
"But suppose you are a moral titan. Let us speak of non-proliferation. To begin with, runes are not exclusive to you. Anything you create will be an inspiration to Orochimaru once seen in action. I am uncertain whether he would ever create a city-killer on his own initiative–his heart's desire, as I understand it, is to be left alone to solve the mysteries of the world, yet the second he displays such power, the world will beat a path to his door. On the other hand, knowing that such weapons are in use may well motivate him to ensure he is not left behind. Indeed, they are much more threatening to him than some targeted weapon optimised for use against Akatsuki and their specific powers.
"Regardless, Orochimaru's death is on the long-term agenda. A city-killer will not save him from us once we are finally prepared. Beyond that happy day, do you intend to take runecrafting to your urn? Does Kagome know it? Will he before your death? Will you instruct no others in this art you intend to reshape the world, forsaking any possibility of mass production? Will you leave it to an heir, or allow it to go extinct so that no Gōketsu of future generations may use it?
"Or perhaps you will successfully protect the secret of this particular city-killer's function, maintaining OPSEC until you die along with everyone else who knows. Can you ensure that it will only be used once, against Akatsuki? That in the course of that encounter, no clues will be left behind, including any observation by Akatsuki survivors? The Elemental Mastery weapon's basic concept is counter-intuitive, but it is not complicated once clues suggest a direction of experimentation.
"No city-killers exist in this world. The concept of a shinobi single-handedly annihilating a wide area, beyond the power of other shinobi to counter or evade, is laughable. It is a dream. Even the greatest S-rankers cannot assault a hidden village alone, for they have finite chakra, and a coordinated assault by jōnin willing to sacrifice themselves will eventually end them. Nor can a Zoo Rush be accomplished without an entire village's worth of chakra, and I do not doubt that research on hard counters is already underway across the Elemental Nations. The weaknesses of summoners and summons are common knowledge.
"You would make city-killers possible. We know from Elemental Mastery that it can be done with ninjutsu. Doubtless paper seals hold even more potential. Once the potential is made real, once every shinobi knows that they are there to be found, the world will change. Perhaps it will end.
"I suppose I have said enough. You requested a sanity check in good faith, and thus I have endeavoured not to rant, but this is an issue close to my heart and my self-control is finite. I will even refrain from belabouring my final point regarding the difference in reaction from other villages between learning that Leaf is capable of exterminating S-rankers and learning that Leaf is capable of exterminating them."
"So what you're saying," Hazō said eventually, "is that you don't think I should pursue this direction of research."
"I believe it would be unwise."
"Then I won't," Hazō said simply. "It's not as if I don't have plenty of other ideas."
Kei looked taken aback.
"You mean it? You would exercise common sense in a matter of weapons research on my word alone?"
"It's what I keep you around for, Kei," Hazō said wryly. "That and you're a good Hagoromo-mocking partner. Mari's creative and knows curses from all over the world, but she doesn't have your fire."
A small smile tugged at the corner of Kei's mouth.
"Hazō, I am for the moment rationing my dispensation of hugs so as to preserve my limited emotional endurance while I am unable to recharge from Tenten. That caveat notwithstanding, please consider yourself hugged. Affectionately, even."
"Have you made progress on the time-shifting runes?" Kei asked.
Hazō looked up from where he had been ladling beans into his bowl before scurrying back to his calculations. The calculations that sprawled messily across two dozen pages and thirteen scraps of paper pinned under a rock near Hazō's workspace.
"Hm?" he asked, beans dribbling from the side of the ladle as he looked up in surprise. "What? Oh. Yeah, I have." He dropped the ladle and started spooning the beans into his face, eyes looking blankly into the distance.
Kei waited. After a few seconds she cleared her throat.
"Huh? What?"
"On the knoll, you mentioned a time-shifting rune and said we would discuss it later. I confess that my surprise at the topic of discussion caused me to be distracted to the point that I did not remember to pursue the issue at the time. Tell me more about your progress on the time-shifting rune, please."
"Oh...right. Um...so, right now I'm looking at the latest iteration of the Temporal Rune and yes, that is what I have finally decided to call it." He brightened. "I had this cool idea actually, regarding an extended naming pattern. I haven't decided if I actually like it yet, but it was interesting. See, a lot of times something gets called 'version 1', 'version 2', and so on, but I was thinking I could name it by the percentage. The first version was about a 3% speedup so it would be the T103 rune, and the next one will hopefully be the T125, and then after that—"
"The nomenclature pattern is clear, thank you. I note that the purpose of this expedition is weapons research. I suppose the temporal rune is intended to give you more time for researching the things that will actually be fit for purpose?"
"Exactly! Plus, they'll be even more useful once we've dealt with Akatsuki. Free training time that no one else gets except the Gōketsu and their allies."
"My concern is that the effort invested must more than repay itself or it is a poor choice of investment."
"It will."
"...Very well. You are the expert and I shall trust your assessment. So long as you are pursuing this path, have you considered reversing the effect? If you could trap Akatsuki in a region of sufficiently slow time we could simply ignore them from then on."
"I have, yes. It's on my list, a couple items down, and I expect to get to it in a few days. And yeah, sticking them in stretched time sounds great. I have so many ideas." His eyes began to shine with a demonic fever as he looked off into imagination. "We could set up explosives around the perimeter and detonate them in series. Can they dodge the blast of an explosive tag at short range with their stupid S-ranker bullshit? Probably."
Sitting across the fire with his own bowl of beans, Kagome-sensei stopped chewing long enough to grunt in dissatisfaction at Hazō impugning his preferred problem-solving technique.
"On the other hand," Hazō continued, "can they dodge a thousand explosive tags, one after the other, each coming what seems like a fraction of a second after the last one and from a slightly different direction? They'll be in slow time so they won't be regenerating chakra, but we can sit out here throwing whatever we want through the boundary, then go off and have a nap and regen some chakra before going back to it. How do you feel about being known as the woman who killed Itachi with a shuriken through his stupid cheating eyeball? I bet we could get you ten or fifteen thousand shuriken and you could spend a couple of days filling the entire area with an absolute wall of steel."
"I grant that the idea is appealing, yet I suspect there will be some practical challenges."
Hazō waved dismissively. "Eh. It'll be fine."
"I find your confidence both charming and well supported by the historical record. I strongly urge you to commence a newsletter, which I feel certain will be filled with wit and insight."
"Awww, thank you!" Hazō said, surprised. "That's one of the nicest things you've said to me in months."
Kei closed her eyes and breathed deeply.
o-o-o-o
"You look like crap."
"Thank you, Noburi. Your concern is touching, and I'm fine." The sharp words were given the lie when Hazō was suddenly overtaken with a jaw-cracking yawn.
"Crap that's been run over by a wagon, shoveled up, and thrown onto a bigger pile of crap. Seriously, Hazō, get some sleep before you destroy the world."
"I've been pushing a little hard to get some of these calculations done, that's all. Don't worry, I always make sure to be well rested for infusion day. The work is pretty interesting stuff, actually. I came up with a new theorem that proves the maximum number of connections between two field tensors of opposing localizations is three, but if you introduce a third tensor at the halfway point then it increases to twelve. I'm working on extending it to an arbitrary number of tensors; I think it's going to turn out that the maximum in higher-level interactions is the square of the number of tensors plus the number of tensors but there are other possibilities that I need to rule out. If I'm right then—"
"Hazō."
"—it would revolutionize the study of—"
"Hazō."
"...I was nerd dumping, wasn't I?"
"Little bit, yeah."
"Sorry." He glanced at the barrel. "Um."
"It's okay," Noburi said, sliding his arms out of the barrel's straps and setting it on the table of the house in Toad that had been arranged as quarters for the Horizon Chasers and a meeting point for the human summoners. "I got you, bro." He dampened a finger and touched Hazō's wrist for a moment, then dipped out a cup of water and started to pass it over, then pulled it back when Hazō reached for it.
"Before you drink up and vanish on me, I've got a juicy bit of gossip for you."
"Oh?" Hazō struggled not to fidget. His calculations would wait. His brother was important. His calculations would wait. His brother was important. His calculations would wait. His brother was important.
"Yeah. Word just came that there's a new Kage over in Sand. Apparently Tō Fura just got chosen as the Sixth Kazekage. Get this: she's clanless!"
"Whoa, really?"
"Yup. Tō Fura, clanless jōnin of Sand. Her bingo book is pretty out of date but it says she's a weird blend of jutsu and weapons. Created the 'Severing Winds Style' of jutsu-enhanced swordmastery, whatever that means."
"'Jutsu-enhanced swordmastery'," Hazō mused. "Maybe something like that Cloak of the Wind God jutsu that Orochimaru gave us? Wrap wind chakra around a weapon to make it cut better, fly farther."
"Could be, I guess. Seems like there's got to be more to it than that. The intelligence report says that it 'emphasizes mobility and invisible attacks' but there weren't any more details about the combat style. There were, however, details about her. Want to guess?"
"Tell me," Hazō said, struggling not to seem impatient. His brother mattered, and being interested in what Noburi had to say was important. The calculations would wait. Tensor field arrays weren't going to change their maximal connection numbers, not even if he didn't finish creating his masterwork of nonspace mathematics for a few extra minutes.
Noburi could clearly see the insufficiently-hidden impatience in Hazō's eyes, because a grin spread across his face. "Wellll," he said, dragging the word out. "Turns out to be quite the barn-burner. Really impressive, you know? I mean, sure, it's a little thin on details but who would have thought the intelligence department would use language like that in a formal document? It's like imagining Mari volunteering for dish duty. Oh, hey, speaking of: did you by any chance take the blue mug with you? Mari was looking for it, and—"
"Noburi!"
His cruel, thoughtless, mean, ugly, nasty brother cracked up. "Yeah, yeah. The jacket said she is Sand's Hatake Kakashi, less the Dog summons and plus social skills. Which, granted, doesn't say a damned lot on the social front since Hatake was about as social as a mudsnake, but in this case it actually means something. She's quite capable of just slicing up anyone who got in her way to the hat but instead she was unanimously elected and it doesn't even look like it was grudging on anyone's part. Who'da thunk it?"
"A Leaf intelligence briefing said 'who'da thunk it'?"
"Yeah. I don't know for sure, but I think Mitarashi might have written it." He finally passed over the mug of chakra-rich water.
"...That tracks." Hazō accepted the mug and knocked it back, feeling the energy flood back into his body. "Thanks for this, bro. I needed it to infuse this second rune."
"No worries, man." Noburi clapped him on the shoulder. "Go save the world."
"Doing my best."
Author's Note:@Paperclipped might write the conversation with Canabisu or it might get offscreened.
Happy Memorial Day to our American players! I hope you have a good holiday filled with delicious food and good fellowship.
XP AWARD: 79
Brevity XP: 10
"GM had fun" XP: 0 No strong feelings
Day 1
Prep Temporal Rune 125.
Prep Time Stretch.
Day 2
Prep TR125.
Prep Time Stretch.
Day 3
[Hazō buys 1 FP, bringing him to 3 FP.]
Infuse TR125:
Hazō completes the Time Stretch Rune! It works identically to the Fast Forward Rune, except time within the radius flows 3% slower, and this rune lasts for 1 week instead of 1 month. There are no noticeable boundary effects.
Day 4
SSA recovery.
Day 5
SSA recovery.
Day 6
Prep TR125.
Prep Runic Air Dome. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Hazō completes Temporal Rune 125! He thinks that, contrary to his expectations, reducing the duration has increased the difficulty.
This rune accelerates time by 25% for objects and creatures within its AoE. This is very visible – a clone within the rune's area of effect moves and speaks noticeably faster. There is no partial acceleration of a single target – as long as a target's center of mass is within the AoE, it's accelerated. Hazō thinks that trying to cheese this (e.g. by tying a string to a lead weight to extend the time acceleration very far from the rune) could cause a runic failure.
There are no unusual boundary effects (e.g. red/blue shifting of light, weird air pressures, etc). It works in roughly the way Hazō-the-character would want and expect it to work. If you think physics should have it work a different way, feel free to make your argument for why that should be the case, but chakra may simply raise the middle finger.
Hazō won't get any benefit from this rune in this update, as he'll be safety-testing it with clones and miscellaneous lifeforms collected from around the island. If you want him to start using the time runes in the future (while that term still has meaning), you'll need to vote in a plan specifying how you're using them.
The area of effect is 3 Zones in every direction of the central rune (so if Zones are laid out in a square grid, a 7x7 of Zones). Assuming a sufficiently open area, that's around 100 meters from the central rune in any direction.
Steady progress. Hazō thinks he's a bit less than halfway.
Day 14
SSA recovery
Day 15
SSA recovery
Day 16
Prep TR135. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Day 17
Prep TR130. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Day 18
Prep TR130.
Prep Runic Air Dome.
(the first day of prep on Runic Air Dome is nullified as Hazō can only take 2 prep days with Primordial Sealing 18, but Hazōpilot would rather waste that clone-day and get full prep on the Temporal Rune)
These runes are definitely getting hard, especially with Hazō's strict limitation on how long the rune can last. Still, thanks to his steady buildup of veterancy on the time-related runes, things are starting to come together. Hazō thinks he's a little over halfway done with this rune.
Progress continues. Hazō thinks he's over halfway done. Two more cycles should do it, maybe one with Jashin's luck.
Day 20
SSA recovery
Day 21
SSA recovery
Kagome has finished the Scenery Clone Seal Array and has started work on the Silence Shell Seal Array.
Hazō has spent so long working on seals massively below his Sealing score that seal scribing hasn't been an issue. Luckily, Reusable Rocket Boots fixes that. He'll timeladder 3x for Sealing (making infusions take 10 minutes) and 2x for Calligraphy (making scribing take 30 minutes). Thanks to the Iron Nerve, he only needs to make the Calligraphy check once, as long as he does his infusions with Prime hours.
The Light Relay seal can indeed output visible light when the input is tuned to past-blue and exposed to a past-blue HOWS. Hazō tests a variety of output colors across the rainbow and finds they all work, so long as the input tuning matches the tuning of the relevant HOWS.
Hazō has purchased 1 FP and refreshed 1 FP, and is now at 4FP.
A huge thank you to @Paperclipped for doing all the seal research rolls.
A profoundly drenched Kei ducked under the tarp covering Hazō and his work desk, which he'd decided to move outdoors to take advantage of the nice sunny weather less than an hour ago. Hazō wordlessly unsealed the changing screen, towel (not the lavender-scented one–he wasn't that insensitive), and mug of hot chocolate.
"What news, Hazō?" Kei greeted him as he urgently turned away from the screen on general principles. (That Kei was willing to trust him this far was stunning progress, but "don't invade Kei's privacy" was the same kind of family rule as "don't startle Kagome-sensei with loud noises" and "don't touch Satsuko without her explicit permission".)
"I noticed that your eyebrows have returned well ahead of schedule," she commented. "Also, is that piece of avant-garde art the product of a self-inflicted haircut?"
"Yeah," Hazō said. "The time rune prototype glitched out a bit. Suddenly I was dangerously starving, sleep-deprived, and with longer nails and hair than a hardcore mountain ascetic. I had to do some emergency maintenance work before Noburi turned up and took the story back to Mari and the others with his usual embellishments."
"It would seem to have considerable non-lethal incapacitation potential," Kei said approvingly, "as well as bypassing most standard defences. Sasori might perhaps be unimpressed, but I doubt Hidan's immortality will be of much service when starvation and sleep deprivation have left him as weak as a kitten."
"That still leaves him as a lethal threat to commoners," Hazō noted. "Anyway, I think it happened because I forgot to carry the two while the moon was in its third phase, so I'm in no hurry to try it another day in case next time it comes out still user-targeted and less friendly."
"That would be unwise," Kei agreed, stepping out from behind the changing screen in a red-and-green uniform she wouldn't normally be caught dead wearing outside a Gōketsu formal occasion. "Especially when your other hairdressing options are to trust me to wield a blade around your face during a period of extensive physical contact or to rely on Kagome's personal grooming expertise."
"I think I'll play it safe and stick with turning the laws of nature inside out in a large area, thanks."
"Blessed am I to be on another plane of existence during your infusion days," Kei said. "Is that the productive activity to which the nature kami have taken very reasonable exception?"
"Actually, no," Hazō said. "I figured I needed a little time off after that disaster, so I've been tinkering with the Imagawa converter. It's such a generically useful piece of kit, and I'd feel bad if the runecrafters of future generations never had a chance to use it because they didn't get much training in paper sealing, so I'm trying to create a rune version."
"I see. Well, it is an improvement on those square grid number puzzles that have Shikamaru so entranced. However," she said, wringing out her clothing onto the grass with a grimace, "considering the vast differences in format, can it truly be said that much of the original would survive even if analogous functionality is attained? It seems to me it would be more of a Gōketsu converter at this stage."
"Don't say it!" Hazō exclaimed. "If you say it, the power of kotodama might make it catch on–that's very important in sealing, just like sprinkling your notes with moth dust if you're going to infuse on a Tuesday–and I'm saving it for something really amazing that I want history to remember me for."
"Other than reinventing the entire discipline, you mean."
"Right. Trust me, you have to take control of these things in advance, before it's too late. There's nothing I can do about the Hazōlators anymore, not short of a clan head direct order, and if I start coming down on the research teams for creativity, I'm afraid that they might retreat back into their 'keep your head down and don't anger the scary ninja' shells and that'll be the last bold innovation I see out of them."
Kei nodded.
"On a more pessimistic note," she said, "I did not in fact take a stroll in the bracing weather for the good of my health. Today there is a matter I wish to consult you about."
"Gee, thanks," Hazō said with mostly mock petulance.
"It is the matter that is inviting of pessimism," Kei clarified," not your utility of consultation. In that respect, in fact, you are more qualified than any being in existence–perhaps even more than Ami, though that of course is by virtue of her lack of engagement with the subject, not lack of capability."
"I'm mostly honoured and a bit alarmed," Hazō said. "Hit me."
"I wish to reprioritise my training in the direction of improving my excruciatingly feeble social skills, at least for the moment."
"We can do that," Hazō said. "Not easily, maybe, considering your options are training in the middle of nowhere with two sealmasters who are too busy to be of much use and training on the Seventh Path with pangolins whose own social skills you're apparently unimpressed with. Still, I know this is your secondary specialisation, after combat and Frozen Skein stuff I'm not allowed to optimise for you, so it's not like I didn't already have a few thoughts."
"Hazō," Kei said almost pleadingly, "why are social skills my secondary specialisation? I do not mean to gainsay you, for indeed my balance of blissful paperwork versus wrangling recalcitrant humans collapses further every day, but I am a logistician by training, a flatfish by natural aptitude, and the girl who spent her lunchtimes reading alone in the library by inclination. Where did my life go wrong?"
The correct answers, of course, were Mari, Jiraiya and Lord Shikaku, and Ami, in that order, but two were dead, one was above reproach, and the other had only reconciled with Kei less than a year ago and Hazō would sooner try to infuse a rune without a single lucky dance than deliberately put strain on that relationship.
"Sometimes these things just happen," Hazō said vaguely. "Could anyone ever have imagined Noburi spending his life faithful to a single woman?"
"Considering that his originally intended woman was myself, and that I have since been cornered into extensive polyamory, I suppose you have a point."
"Anyway," Hazō asked, "what brought this on? Just the other day you were complaining about your combat skills getting rusty."
"Something I only wish I could expect of my socials," Kei said. "Hazō, in the unlikely event that I survive not only this mission but its immediate aftermath, I am to travel to Mist… on a diplomatic mission."
Thunder rumbled ominously in the background.
"Well, quite," Kei muttered, looking at the darkened heavens.
"A diplomatic mission?" Hazō repeated in the hope that he'd misheard and she was about to correct him.
"A diplomatic mission," Kei confirmed in the voice of a liberal atheistic polyamorous lesbian of foreign birth announcing her engagement to Hagoromo Ritsuo.
"I know Naruto said Leaf is hard up for diplomats right now, but no offence, Kei, are you sure you're the best choice? Did you maybe feed a fox to Jūchi Yosamu in front of him or something?"
"I take better care of my familiar than that, thank you," Kei said scornfully. Hazō was unclear on what made the yellow-eyed mass of alternating apathetic indolence and simmering, barely-contained destruction a familiar rather than a mere pet, but he and Kei were in agreement that one was strictly superior to the other.
"No," Kei went on, "this is, allegedly, a task only I can perform. In Ami's ongoing and likely long-term absence, it has been decreed that I must travel to Hidden Mist to reaffirm our bonds of friendship and, more pertinently, explore the extent of the influence Ami's legacy can still exert on the Mizukage and the AMI. My main qualification, other than being Ami's sister, is not being Ami–or, differently put, the expectation that I will use any influence achieved to the benefit of Leaf and not in service of my own power maximisation. I confess this latter part is a touch optimistic on the Hokage's part, for when power begets responsibility, responsibility also begets the need for additional power. My priorities are Uplift, my family, and the people in my care. All benefit from the welfare of Leaf, but it exists in their service, not vice versa."
Thunder rumbled again.
Kei looked up, glaring.
"Not being my brother, I am aware when I am arguably speaking treason, thank you very much. Kindly do not interrupt."
"Uh, Kei, are you sure it's a good idea to provoke the weather kami? We are currently on a small island."
"Reverence only encourages them," Kei said. "If need be, we can reverse-summon and wait on the Seventh Path until they have exhausted themselves.
"Now, this is the actually important part, Hazō. While none of the aforesaid lacks utility as a data-gathering exercise, I confess I am inclined to view it realistically.
"Hazō, I am prepared to grant you an immense amount of trust, but I require your word that this next information will go no further, not even to the family until matters are settled and I judge it appropriate."
"Obviously," Hazō said. "Nary a syllable will pass my lips."
"The actual reason Shikamaru and I proposed this to the Hokage," Kei said after an anxious second, "is that while the Mori teachings as filtered through a mediocre genin have been of some value to the Nara, it has been judged time to implement a proper program of intellectual exchange, the shadow of an ancient bond weakened by space and time and then weakened again by the demands of the Village Era."
"And this isn't treason how?" Hazō couldn't help asking.
"No clan secrets are being exchanged," Kei said," nor village secrets, nor ninjutsu or seals, nor material goods of any significant value. Recall that we are speaking of clans renowned for their intelligence, caution, and having written the majority of their respective villages' laws.
"Nevertheless, the Hokage might perceive matters differently, which is why, on paper, this is but a brief personal diversion, even as it features a much more challenging, much more terrifying task.
"Hazō, I must face my birth family."
She paused, waiting for the thunder, but it did not come. In fact, the rain appeared to be easing off.
Kei looked pleased with herself.
"OK," Hazō said, "I'm starting to see why you want all the social skills you can get."
"In fact," Kei said, "it is worse than that. I must also introduce Snowflake to them. She, too, is their creation in her own way."
"And that isn't treason how? Kei, I want to be supportive, but Snowflake is a walking Shadow Clone Technique OPSEC failure."
"I fear to say," Kei said, "that ship has not merely sailed; it has returned from a lengthy journey to the eastern continent, laden with exotic goods from a dozen countries, and also trailing a school of chakra koi which will be a hazard to shipping in the region for decades to come. Hazō, I am a person of interest in Leaf. This is certainly true for the general public, for whom I have been a reliable source of piquant gossip ever since Shikamaru dramatically announced our entirely consensual engagement before the eyes of every power in the world, displaying himself to be hopelessly lovestruck and establishing us as either star-crossed lovers in a Tears of Red fashion, save that we were successfully defying our destiny, or the most successful act of seduction by a foreign agent in the Village Era and perhaps beyond."
"Hold up," Hazō protested. "What about Mari and Jiraiya?"
"There are indeed proponents of that argument," Kei said, "considering that Jiraiya was a prize an order of magnitude greater than the Nara heir. Perhaps two. On the other hand, Mari outed herself as an I&S jōnin in the process–the absolute worst failure mode, short of treason, for a seduction mission–and failed to ever secure a wedding.
"However, more relevant is that I am naturally a person of interest to every faction across the world with a stake in Leaf politics. As an inescapably public figure, I may be under more scrutiny than even yourself, and I assure you that the Nara and, to a lesser extent, the KEI, are beset by optimistic civilian infiltrators no less than the Gōketsu.
"In other words, every spymaster in the world is by this point aware of Snowflake. Certainly, I will eat Lord Hagoromo's beard if Mori Ryūgamine is not. Nor can it be claimed that the basics of the Shadow Clone Technique are not public knowledge, considering Naruto's extensive application of them during the Great Collapse and also since his accession. Besides, the Mori are the most likely in the world to understand that cognitive Bloodline Limits suffer from unpredictable interactions with cognitive ninjutsu, and that broader inferences from the data point of Snowflake may be unproductive.
"No, our concern is everything else. Will the Mori exalt her as I do, as the path to freedom and true humanity that we have sought in vain for centuries? Will they reject her as an abomination whose very existence perverts that which they hold holiest about themselves? How will my parents treat an additional version of a daughter who was already surplus to requirements?
"And, even as Snowflake fights her own battle, what of me, the child they never reached out to over all these years, the child they reared in a way that I am coming to understand could have been different, the child their choices shaped into this… this?
"Hazō, I am afraid."
The clouds parted, as if in celebration, as she finished speaking, and the sun's rays descended on them like a mocking parting shot.
"I hate to say this," Hazō said, "but this is really a job for Mari. Remember how she helped us prepare for more or less this exact scenario before the Chūnin Exams?"
"She may not be trusted with the truth," Kei said, "and I doubt my ability to explain the personal element of the situation while fully concealing the part which is actually important from a woman of her skill. I was able to persuade Shikamaru to obtain your assistance only because he recognises your capacity as a trainer–doubly so since he observes my progress, yet is unaware of WHOOSH–and I would waste months of potential preparation time if I failed to train effectively while on this mission."
She hesitated.
"You could also consider it an olive branch of sorts. While his personal relationship with you is complicated, he is aware of the additional tension between our clans due to the conflict between our duty of secret-keeping and your voracious hunger for dangerous lore. I believe that it is his hope that trusting you with a Nara secret of the modern day, a secret which will eventually serve Uplift indirectly, through advancements in human understanding, will strengthen a spirit of cooperation that does not violate aforementioned duty.
"I dearly hope for this to be the case, though I recognise that such simple wishes tend to be naive at best.
"To conclude that mess of an explanation, Hazō, will you help me?"
"Well," Hazō said after feigning extensive thought, "my original plan was to take my sisters who were both out to face one of the greatest emotional challenges of their lives, all while handling diplomatic objectives that could have an impact on world peace and the good of the village I live in, and who'd just gone out on a limb because they trusted me, oh, and there's some Gōketsu-Nara relationship stuff in there as well, and just leave them hanging, but you know what, maybe I could take a little time out of my research and see what I can do."
"Thank you," Kei said. "Truly. There has been a part of me that sees our inevitable death at Akatsuki's hands, before my journey can commence, almost as a blessing."
"Don't worry," Hazō said. "You help me send Akatsuki back to Naraka where they should have stayed, and I'll help you put your past to rest once and for all."
"Hm? Oh, yes. Good morning, My Lord." The older man turned back to what he was doing: supervising a tradesman and a trio of children who were busily setting up a rope harness in order to hold a long stone pole perfectly upright.
"Whatcha doin'?" Noburi asked.
"Indulging— Following Lord Gōketsu's instructions in order to perform a scientific experiment." Gaku studied the pole and ropes. "I presume, anyway. Either that or undergoing a particularly bizarre form of hazing."
"Yeah, I was wondering about that," Noburi said. "When he gave me the pole and the envelope I started to ask him to explain it and then I remembered that I had things to do today and didn't want to get sucked into the vortex of bizarre that is my brother. Did he tell you what it's about?"
"No, My Lord. He merely stated that I was to ensure the pole was precisely vertical, then to precisely measure the length of its shadow, and to do so precisely at noon. Ah, thank you. That will be all." The last words were to the team that had been checking the support ropes on the pole; they bowed quickly and hustled away.
"Uh-huh. How are you determining what 'precisely' noon is?" Noburi asked, ignoring the byplay.
Gaku shrugged helplessly. "I am using the waterclock from the Lord's office, which has been canonical time for the Gōketsu since we moved here. However, since he emphasized the word 'precisely' I did not dare to move the clock out here as that would have distorted its rate of flow. Instead I have established a signal relay who will tell me when to take the measurement. I am going to take measurements twice per minute for five minutes on either side of noon."
"What are you using for your signal relay? Explosives?"
Gaku shook his head. "No, My Lord. On any other estate that would be an excellent choice, but on ours it would be dangerously ambiguous. I am instead using a gong."
As though illustrating his statement regarding ambiguity, a trio of explosions went off nearby as one of the clan children chopped firewood The Gōketsu Way. The Gōketsu Way, of course, involved piling a bunch of logs inside a stone hut, tossing an explosive tag into the center of the pile, and slamming the door. It did a wonderful job of processing chunks of tree into fuel, kindling, and tinder all at the same time, and the process was then repeated until the desired ratio of fuel to kindling had been achieved. (It had, upon several occasions, been pointed out that the Force Wall sawmill was a far faster and cleaner way to achieve the same effect. The clan children had deployed weaponized puppy dog eyes in order to buy themselves enough time to bring Kagome-sensei to their rescue, and thus had firewood processing continued in the traditional Gōketsu fashion instead of being abandoned for some newfangled system that might happen to be more efficient but was definitely far too dangerous for young children. Trusting them with hundreds of lethal explosives was one thing, but sharp edges? Never!)
Noburi looked up at the sun, which was almost overhead. "I'll have to ask—"
The sound of a ringing gong spread across the estate and Gaku quickly bent and inserted a small flag with a '1' on it into the ground precisely at the end of the pole's shadow.
"The other challenge, of course," Gaku said, "is that he specified the measurements must be precise. After some consideration I have decided to simply send him strings of the appropriate length rather than a numeric account of handspans or strides. Do you suppose this will suffice?"
"Gaku, I think he'll be delighted."
o-o-o-o
"Not like that!" Shima yelled, thumping Hazō on the head with her spatula. "What do you think you're doing, blundering through the consolidation like that?"
"What do you think this is, boy? A sparring match?" Fukasaku demanded. "Do you treat your Ino like that? You don't punch chakra into doing your will, you seduce her! Cozen her, treat her nicely! Like I do with Ma!"
These words, of course, led promptly to a marital spat in which Shima objected that Fukasaku never treated her half as well as chakra needed to be treated. Said spat soon devolved into something rather more physical than a sparring match, which made their instructions seem more than a little hypocritical.
Hazō forced himself not to glare at his teachers, nor make any comment about the hypocrisy. It had required only a handful of examples to determine the unwisdom of giving side-eye, saying 'geez' at their pronouncements, or in any other way expressing a dislike of physical correction or other Toadly training techniques.
Instead, he reminded himself that he was just about done. This was his final exam and, if he passed, he would be an acknowledged jutsu creator, capable of bending the world to his will in yet a third way. He breathed, centering himself and clearing the kinks from his chakra to ensure that it would flow without hitch or hesitation.
With delicate 'fingers', he pulled the energy up from his hara, led it through the necessary twirls and spins within his chakra coils, (gently!) consolidated it, and flicked through a chain of handseals: Snake to raise the power, Rat to form it, and Ox to grant it purpose. He felt the moment when it all came together and the chakra construct burst forth from his lips, pushing ahead of it the words "Earth Element Technique: Furrowed Brow of the Earth Mother!"
In front of him, the ground flipped itself over in a long, neat, and most importantly straight furrow. It had taken an embarrassing number of tries to get it to that point; when he first created the jutsu it had tended to wander off in loops and swirls that, while quite artistic and beautiful, would likely be considered anti-helpful by a farmer.
The Toad Sages watched with narrowed eyes. Hazō held his breath, waiting for their judgement.
After a minute, Shima sniffed. "Not completely awful, I suppose."
Hazō grinned. "So is that it? Do I qualify?"
The Toad Sages looked at each other.
"I suppose if we qualify him it would get our afternoons back..." Fukasaku said.
"True. And he probably won't kill himself in the next couple of weeks."
The two nodded to one another and turned back to Hazō.
"By the power vested in me—" Fukasaku said.
"And me," Shima interjected.
"Yes, yes. By the power vested in us by centuries of experience with chakra manipulation and jutsu creation, and having trained and thoroughly examined your ability at such activites, we, the Sages of the Toad Clan, impart upon you the title of jutsu creator. Go forth into the world, Hazō of Clan Gōketsu, and speak to chakra in tones of both reverence and partnership. Lead it to your will and use your power always for the betterment of your clan."
Hazō could feel his grin about to split his face.
The toads let the moment hang solemnly in the air for no more than a pair of seconds before Shima nodded firmly and said, "Right, that's enough of that. Come inside and have some of my pie. It's a new recipe."
Hazō followed her inside, feeling like he could walk on air without the need of skywalker seals.
o-o-o-o
"What's wrong?" asked Kagome as Hazō settled down next to him. His student was re-reading the letter that he had been holding when he returned from the Seventh Path a few minutes ago. Re-reading it for at least the third time, based on what Kagome knew of his student's reading speed.
"Letter from Naruto," Hazō said, distractedly.
"Well?" Kagome demanded after a moment. "He wants a progress report, or what?"
Hazō looked up, his face serious, and waved the paper. "He wants a progress report, yes. Because Orochimaru is almost done with the rift runes. He's been working on one that will open it and then a constellation of three others that move it. The first decouples it from its spatial location, the second pushes on it, the third pulls on it. He estimates he'll be able to move it somewhere between five and twenty miles with one set of runes."
Kagome swallowed as the world's maw stretched open beneath him. The power of the afterlife in the hands of the Snake? The psychotic murderer, traitor, biosealer, and general crazypants bad guy who cared for nothing and no one, who had already tried to murder Kei and Hazō once. What might such a man do with the ability to bring people back from the dead, or imprison his foes in a place that could not be escaped? That would eat away at them slowly, leave them desperate and willing to do anything in exchange for their jailor extracting them from the slow mind-death of the beyond?
Worse, everyone else clearly thought this was a great idea.
Author's Note: Still not excited about the Canabisu / Cantelabra scenes, so we'll assume those happened offscreen.
Update duration: 12 days – 1 day for moving site, 11 days for research. I (ed: 'I' in this case means the inimitable and never-sufficiently-thanked @Paperclipped) only did four research tracks as I don't think Hazō can sustain 5 at the moment. If I'm wrong, please explain so that I can get it right for the following updates, but no additional prep days will happen in this update. Prep days take a lot of thought and discussion from the QMs. In the future, you shouldn't expect more than 10-12 prep days to get done (except perhaps in circumstances where a lot of the prepped seals are straightforward variations of each other) in a single update.
Prep day notes:
Prep day on Wormhole was done on the runic component, on the assumption that the hard part was opening the wormhole rather than giving out a signal.
Prep day on Time Twister was skipped due to the rune spec not being in the linked post.
Prep day on Balefire Bomb was skipped as I could not understand what rune was supposed to do from the linked post.
While "this rune smites the surrounding region of The Paint with a blast of eldritch fire (if it could even be called such), scouring it down to the metaphorical canvas" is very evocative, it doesn't help me understand what is happening or what the end result is.
Prep day on Substrate Rune was done on the extrusion version described first in the linked post.
Day 2
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep Unchained TR150. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Hazō thinks that pushing this series of runes as far as he can currently take it (i.e. infusing the highest TR he can manage) would remove a Sealing stagnancy barrier.
Day 3
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep TRA200. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Specifically, Hazō has no clue how one might make an array of multiple runes working in concert. He does not think he has nearly enough experience in runecraft to invent this.
Day 4
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep RARS. Difficulty Result: Chūnin
A single seal won't have the oomph to activate a rune, but Hazō can conceive of a design where dozens of seals work in concert to activate a rune remotely (via MARS). As Hazōpilot would know that the single-seal version wouldn't work, he directly prepped the multiple seal version.
Day 5
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep Mirror Dragon Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Hazō decides that 'attacks' is too generic, and limits the scope of the rune to solely reflecting ninjutsu (not storing, as storing ninjutsu seems like a totally different research pathway). Hazō thinks doing this rune would remove a Sealing stagnancy barrier (though this is no guarantee that the rune is doable).
Day 6
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Infuse CATEARS.
Prep Space Stretch. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Day 7
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep Wormhole Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Day 8
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep Flashlight. Difficulty Result: Jiraiya
Hazō notes that directionally constraining seal outputs without dropoff in power is pretty hard – even Kagome's directional explosives chose to constrain the effect by sealing a part of the output rather than by shaping the explosion directly.
Day 9
Prep for Army of One.
Prep for Force Blades.
Prep for CATEARS.
Prep Magnifying Glass Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks he could maybe do this rune.
As per usual with seals that Hazō has notes on, the Sealing component is relatively easy, and the Calligraphy component is harder by the lack of discount. Hazō thinks he's a sixth of the way through this seal. He'd be happy to shave off ~2 prep days, as they don't increase the Calligraphy bonus.
As far as jōnin-level seals go, this is pretty easy. Hazō thinks he could no-prep this seal (with SSA). As it is, Hazō thinks he's a third of the way done.
This pace is pretty comfortable. Hazō thinks he's three-quarters of the way done.
Prep Substrate Extrusion Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazō thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Day 11
SSA recovery.
Day 12
SSA recovery.
After a couple days of jetlag timelag, Hazō has adapted to his new schedule inside the TR125. I believe player calculations have this work out to ~3 hours a day, so you may use this extra time to have Hazō conduct extra reading of his various XP lootbox notes. That's 10 training blocks worth.
XP AWARD: 36 This update covered 12 days.
Brevity XP: 10
"GM had fun" XP: 0 It's getting harder to find fun stuff to write during lighthousing. Fortunately, Ma and Pa are always fun.
"Lochagos Panado," Kei said, intertwining her fingers as she stood before her superior. For every day she had thus far attended the matutinal briefing on the Pangolin-Hyena border, the Lochagos had expeditiously granted her dispensation to tend her own affairs. Today, however, he failed to immediately dismiss her.
"The Hyenas are growing more aggressive with their troop movements," the Lochagos said after scrutinizing her hands for a moment. "They will soon overextend themselves. You will take your squad and travel to the village of Chūkū to aid in its defense."
"I request additional mission-pertinent information, Lochagos," Kei said. "Is Chūkū a village of strategic relevance, such that my presence is particularly important?"
"On the contrary, Ypolochagos," the pangolin replied. "Chūkū has minimal strategic relevance, compared to a number of other similar border fortress-villages which guard key passes and keep Hyena from gaining access to the plains where they will have an advantage in strategic positioning. As a result, Chūkū is relatively under-defended, and the Hyenas have never held back from striking at a soft target. Your mission is to ensure that Chūkū's people are not harmed by Hyena savagery.
"An additional goal is to give your squad combat combat experience. It will not be battle-hardened Hyena skirmishers who attack Chūkū. Given that your squad has not fought any battles together yet, the relatively undisciplined raiders will be a better whetstone for your team's claws. Is that clear?"
"Yes, Lochagos Panado," Kei said, standing stiff.
"Then go. Your squad is ready to march."
o-o-o
Hazou SandPincher looked up to see Kagome-sensei walking towards him in slow motion. The older man crossed an invisible boundary and stopped abruptly, looking around. After a couple moments, he continued forward at normal speed, grumbling all the while.
"Stinking rune messing with the flow of time, going to pull open the folds of the timestream and let the chrono-reavers out so they can eat our faces. Are you sure you should be spending so much time in here, Hazou?"
Kagome glanced around at the other four Hazous and their storage-seal-manifested research stations that surrounded the glowing, humming rune on the island's wide beach. The Hazous were arranged in a ring, each about sixty meters apart from the others, all affected by the time acceleration provided by the central rune. Near the rune, a squat and sturdy MEW hut gave Hazou Prime a dark place to sleep when the time acceleration forced him to sleep during the day. Spent Daybright Lantern seals scattered around showed the price of Hazou working through the nights.
"Time is the only thing I need more of, Kagome-sensei. Do you think the rune is secretly poisoning me?"
"No…" Kagome said. All their tests with various flora and fauna had shown no harm from being within the rune's effect.
"Do you think the rune is going to fail?"
"No…" The rune didn't do anything dangerous when it ran out of power. The time acceleration just gradually faded away to zero and the rune turned back into an ordinary rock.
"Then I can't afford not to use every advantage I can get to win the rift war."
"Hmph," Kagome said, crossing his arms and quickly surveilling the field. "You're still going to the proper facilities for any infusion?"
"Of course, sensei," Hazou said. "Given what the rune infusions do to the environment, I wouldn't want to expose our actual camp to any risk. I really don't want to risk any infusion failures affecting the time rune while it's running, too. This is all only prep work."
"Fine," he said. "I just woke up. I saw what you're working on. Those are the copies I made of the Hokage's seal notes, right? From when he put the Fox in his kid's body."
"That's right," Hazou said. "Akatsuki took the originals, but we're lucky that Asuma had us make copies to give back to the Tower. I needed to decode them again, but it was faster the second time."
"I thought we gave up on those notes because they were full of face-on-fire gibberish," Kagome said. "Let me guess, now that you can make ninjutsu, you're trying to figure them out again?"
Hazou nodded. "I think… Kagome-sensei, I think I can figure it out."
Kagome's eyes went wide. "Show me," he said.
"I don't know if there's anything to show you," Hazou said, turning the notes around for Kagome-sensei to see. "You already read the decoded versions. You remember when I went over them with Asuma? He said that the technique hacking stuff was gibberish too – just weird exercises and ways of stretching your chakra that didn't actually achieve anything."
"Then what is it?"
"I think it's a manual," Hazou said carefully. "Look, you know how you have a chakra system, and by pushing and twisting chakra in just the right ways, you can cast a ninjutsu? Well, when you're pulling a ninjutsu apart or putting it together, you can't always keep the chakra entirely contained within the regular, easy-to-control parts of your chakra system. Sometimes, you make these weird little channels of pure chakra to redistribute chakra from one part of your system to another directly, when you normally wouldn't be able to transfer it because it would cause a counterflow or make the technique trigger prematurely or something.
"Well, those weird little channels of pure chakra? I think what the Fourth Hokage did is use those channels of chakra… to make seals."
Kagome-sensei frowned. "I don't get it."
"I don't think I fully get it either. But the channels basically let you move your chakra around with direction in a constrained flow. It's the same as chakra ink, and it's the same as the cave crystal used for runes. Well, pretty different given that it's maintained only by your willpower instead of any physical medium, but it's at least theoretically something that you could make seals out of."
"Sounds stupid. Like, really, monumentally, damnbeasts-eat-your-face-off stupid. You said you need to be focusing the whole time on maintaining the seal's structure? How hard is it to manage each of the chakra channels?"
"Well…" Hazou said. "I can make one channel and keep it stable. I can imagine a couple of reasons why I would need to manage two at the same time, but that would be really tricky. Maybe if I were a bit more skilled, I could try, but I'd probably fracture my chakra system. I bet a good technique hacker could handle it though."
"But each channel is like the stroke of a paper seal, right?"
"Right…" Hazou said.
"And there are thirty-six strokes in just the first seal that the stinking Hokage made!" Kagome said. "You can't do this Hazou. You'll just die. And then you need to keep it all stable while you're infusing it? Bioseals are deadly because the patterns change over time after you infuse it, but even biosealers are smart compared to the kind of dummy it would take to try to infuse a seal whose patterns can change while you're infusing it. How would you even infuse a seal if it's made of your own chakra? You can't touch it like a normal seal, and you can't push your chakra through it if it's already made of your chakra. And what happens after you infuse it? You just need to keep focusing on it forever until you eventually need to sleep and then the seal fails and your chakra all gets sucked into a rift and one of the whispering schemers starts piloting around your body since you're gone and then it starts secretly killing us all one by one until-"
"It's not that bad, Kagome-sensei," Hazou said quickly. "That's what I meant when I said there's a manual. Those weird exercises that Asuma talked about? They're exercises for improving your ability to maintain those chakra channels. And the seals are apparently kinda stable once they're infused. You can't just ignore them, but if you can apply a little bit of… 'pressure', they'll just keep their shape and stay anchored to your chakra system. There's exercises for that too, to teach you how to maintain the 'pressure' to keep the seal stable even when you sleep. As to how you infuse it… I don't know. I tried to read that part, but I don't think I really got it. There's more complicated stuff in here, but I don't think it's completely unachievable."
"Yeah, probably," Hazou said. "Honestly, I have no clue how the Fourth Hokage figured this out. The exercises aren't written like a pedagogical tool – like 'you need to be able to do this skill, so practice this until you hit this benchmark.' It's all first person. 'I tried this, and it didn't work out,' or 'After three days of this exercise, I was able to stabilize two more channels than before.' I don't know how he had the idea, chased it, and mastered it without killing himself in a chakra fracture or a sealing failure or some unholy combination of the two."
"The Sage cheats, Hazou," Kagome said. "You can't trust him. You should put those down for now, Hazou. You said you can't waste time? From the sound of it, that stuff is a giant stinking time-wasting mudslide with a fully-armed killbox at the bottom."
"I suppose so," Hazou said, setting the pile of notes down. "What are you working on today, Kagome-sensei?"
As Kagome-sensei started to talk about his latest adjustment of the trap arrays to account for the Scenery Clone and Silence Shell seals, even the growing brightness of dawn couldn't keep Hazou's tired mind from wandering. He'd been working day and night on seals and runes of every type to try to find one that could credibly oppose Akatsuki, to little avail. But if it did work out, his work would look like the Fourth Hokage's. The Fourth's notes were the path that did work. Hazou would never know how many dead-end research pathways the man had explored. If Hazou found something, would anyone but him remember the hundreds of ideas that had died on the pyre to make the one critical rune work out?
Or maybe Hazou's work wouldn't end up like the Fourth's. The Fourth had made these seals over the course of years of research in peacetime. Hazou, on the other hand, had weeks or months at most. What would happen if Hazou's hands were still empty when Naruto finally gave word that Akatsuki had opened the rift?
o-o-o
Kei looked over the village of Chūkū. Doing so required no great feat of athleticism – the Pangolin settlement boasted barely ten dozen pangolins of various ages and subspecies, though only two of them stood above her shoulder. The corresponding earthen domes of the village's denizens, arranged in neat, honeycomb rows, were barely taller, and two minutes at a civilian's walking pace up the village's eastern acclivity sufficed to observe the miniscule colony in its entirety.
At the surface, it was an ordinary Pangolin settlement. Hardworking laborers heaped wet grasses and wood chips into the termite mounds, artisans huddled around the community board to read the local authority's latest decrees, and even a few pangopups were rolling through carefully-chosen streets far from the watchful eyes of those who might report them for their lack of discipline.
Still, any dullard would be able to tell that the village was not ordinary. Even a Hagoromo would have seen that in the sky, barely a half-dozen miles away, the Pangolin brown faded to a Hyena yellow: a sign of the land's recent conquest. Hyena had halted the Pangolin advance in the mountains, but the fertile fields had been claimed.
And claimed they had been. The treeline had receded perhaps thirty meters from logging, and deep troughs in the ground marked where they had been dragged to sit in the stream so that their wood might be softened to more easily appeal to the termites' palate. The scythed grasses and bare roots of the forest beyond revealed additional fodder fed to the termite piles – inadequately, Snowflake had noted yesterday, as the piles were approximately thirty percent larger than optimal. The typical comestible termites from the Pangolin heartlands were not thriving with their new food source, and the settlers of Chūkū were attempting to resolve a problem of quality with additional quantity.
Even the village looked bare. The painted earthen domes only bore colored splashes on their bottom two rows at most, indicating particular honors or service to the community performed by the occupying family. Compared to the multifarious colors she had seen in larger settlements, it was clear that Chūkū had no storied history in Pangolin's annals.
Yet, the pangolins believed they owned it all the same. She would certainly never second-guess the Ministry of Doctrine's claims of the supposed alliance between Hyena and Condor (excepting of course the extent to which the story justifying Hyena's persecution had led Conjura and the Wings of Liberty to fight on Hyena's behalf for years), but unlike the Condor lands supposedly owed to the Pangolins, the Ministry made no ancestral claim on Hyena lands. The land had been claimed and settled purely as restitution for Hyena treachery.
And now she was required to fight to defend it. From her vantage point, she could easily mark the three burly pangolin warriors she had been assigned to command. Two were aiding with tasks around the village, but Panga, on lookout, noted her gaze and swiftly crossed his claws together for his Ypolochagos. Kei quickly returned the salute so the pangolin warrior would redirect his attention.
Would she defend the village? She knew she needed to, if she wished to keep the Pangolin Scroll, but perhaps the moral compromises required by the contract outweighed the potentially-diminishing utility of a clan finally coming to terms with her lack of loyalty to the regime they all unquestioningly obeyed.
Word had come through the chain of command that Hyena had finally broken the truce, attacking a seemingly under-defended battlegroup camping in disadvantageous terrain. Those hyenas had discovered that they'd pounced directly into a claws-out ambush by a fully armed subterranean platoon. Distantly, the fighting had resumed in earnest, with hyenas killing pangolins and pangolins killing hyenas. The conflict would soon spread parasitically, even to this nearly-idyllic corner.
She would defend the village. In the short week that she had watched over it, she had come to know its inhabitants. They wholeheartedly endorsed Pangolin's colonial expansion, of course, but they were no part of it. They had left to the newly-conquered lands because they knew they would find easier work, better resources, and more readily-assigned breeding licenses. They were not at fault for the war that she and Pantsaa had instigated any more than Condor was.
She looked down at the kunai she held, checking once again that the various tags were appropriately affixed. If she was going to fight for the pangolins, she would be fighting against hyenas.
Kei's hands were stained as red as anyone's could be (bar a few extravagantly evil exceptions such as Hidan or Orochimaru), and she did not deny the extent of the harm, suffering, and death she had caused. Yet, foolish as it was, she had still found comfort occasionally in a shallow, irrational moral observation: for all that she had done, she had yet to end the life of a sentient creature by her own hand.
She had certainly tried to do so, so this false freedom was one granted solely by her own incompetence as a shinobi, but it was still the case that she had not killed human or summon. When the unending torrents of blood spilling forth from the Pangolin war machine kept her from sleep, she had at least been able to lie to herself. It was not I who did this, she would tell herself. The foot-soldiers and warriors, who know nothing but following orders, who are nothing more than gears in a machine, are the ones to blame. I, who set everything in motion, never held the knife.
How would she sleep without such lies? Similarly poorly, she suspected. In Kago, she had traded the life of five condor slaves for her reputation, and then at the Conclave, she had traded the life of another for her freedom. How many hyenas would she kill as the price of her conceited conception of justice?
The wind shifted.
"Hyenas!" Panga called out, nose going up in the air and sniffing rapidly. "Coming in from the south."
Her training overrode any moral inclinations and Kei substituted into the town. An additional substitution brought her into the south-facing blind. She could see movement in the grass, but she couldn't see how many hyenas there were. A dozen or less.
Kei started to make handseals to prepare the Ghost Scales technique, only to freeze as the first of the hyenas broke out of the tall grass onto the dirt strip surrounding the town. Another followed, then another, until six stood on the town's outskirts. They gazed atop a dome where Snowflake stood.
Snowflake threw a kunai. The hyenas tensed, but the weapon flew short by a dozen meters and landed in the dirt. A single tag fluttered in the gentle breeze.
The hyenas watched the tag as the trio of bulky pangolin warriors stepped forward from the domes, spreading into the dirt-covered no man's land between the grasses and the village.
One by one, the hyenas slinked back into the tall grass.
"No," Snowflake's voice called out sternly, and Kei turned to see one of the pangolin warriors preparing a ninjutsu to strike at the fleeing hyenas. "They're too far, and striking now would prematurely reveal tactical information about our ninjutsu."
"We should hunt them down," Kei heard Panga tell Snowflake, and knew already that Snowflake would refuse. "They will be back."
And when they returned, they would be prepared for a summoner.
Perhaps Kei would require additional explosive tags.
While this update lasted 10 days subjectively to Hazou, it only lasted 9 days on the calendar. In future long/research plans, please list the intended subjective and objective duration. You may list this at the top with the wordcounter, so that it doesn't penalize your overall word count.
Naruto has a response for your questions. He says the ideal attack scenario is against the rift site as you suggested – take out whichever subset of them are guarding the rift and clean up whatever Jashinists and Rain ninja are present, then close the rift to trap and kill any rift explorers via the afterlife's chakra drain before moving the rift to a more secure location. Consequently, the expected scenario is against a static target where you're unlikely to get on-site prep time.
He expects Leaf's surveillance/tracking capabilities to be minimal, as Itachi will be aware of many of Leaf's tricks. He thinks that they will try to avoid being predictable if possible – for instance, they likely won't sleep on-site at the rift, but might instead pick a location a few miles out in a random direction. Still, they probably will need to visit the rift site at some point, which may be observable (e.g. by tunneling Hyuuga).
He does not think finding a pair at random is a particularly viable path, much less finding two pairs in quick succession, except perhaps when they cluster up at the rift site to pull Pain out. He doesn't expect them to have any noteworthy long-distance communication abilities, so if you manage to kill a pair, then the others probably won't be alerted for at least a couple weeks (except Itachi/Kisame, who will probably quickly notice the other's absence on the Seventh Path).
Finally, he has cajoled certain limited information about the abilities of the Sharingan out of Sasuke: As far as Sasuke is aware, the Sharingan is doing "true" precognition, instead of making predictions based on what Sasuke knows. In practice, its useful predictions are usually within three seconds or less. It can theoretically see farther – perhaps half a minute – but predictions beyond a few seconds quickly become so hazy as to be mostly useless. It can be sustained for a long time – minutes easily, but hours will start substantially digging into one's chakra reserves, and it can be activated and deactivated near instantaneously.
Hazou writes a letter to Sasha congratulating her on her graduation. It is set to be delivered on the 25th of August (5 days from the end of this update) when she graduates. Mari has been pulling the strings of sensei assignment on her behalf for months. A party has been ordered.
Day 1
Prep TR75. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Prep Runic HOWS.
Prep Draconic Decay Explosive. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Prep Air Leadening Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Day 2
Prep Force Blades.
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Prep Runic HOWS.
Prep Telescope Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Prep Hotbang Seal. Difficulty Result: Jiraiya.
Perhaps if he'd been using SSA, Hazou would have finished this. Instead, he thinks he's nearly done.
Prep Hotbang Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks he could maybe do this rune.
Prep TR50. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Day 4
SSA recovery.
Day 5
SSA recovery.
Day 6
Prep Force Blades
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Prep Runic HOWS.
Prep Jinchuuriki Chain Seal #9. Hazou gains access to a new stunt, details forthcoming.
Prep Icarus Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is well within his capabilities.
Day 7
Prep Force Blades
Prep Runic Air Dome.
Prep Runic HOWS.
Prep Atmospheric Collapse Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Prep Anti-Reverse Summoning Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities
Hazou completes the Runic Air Dome! Over the course of ~30 seconds, the rune forms a dome of solidified air fixed in place relative to the surface of the earth with the rune at the center of the dome. At infusion (not activation) time, the diameter of the dome can be varied between ~60 meters (the rune's Zone and every surrounding Zone) and 1 kilometer. Lasts ~1 week.
Can displace or destroy some matter to form the dome (e.g. trees will be bent or broken) sufficiently sturdy material (e.g. solid stone buildings) will disrupt the dome's formation.
The dome has Durability 10 (TN100 to damage, 10 stress boxes) and reduces its stress by 1 every 30 seconds. If the dome's stress track is exceeded, the entire dome is destroyed for 1d4 hours, after which it reforms.
Hazou thinks it may be possible to research a rune with even greater range and durability, perhaps by using pure force instead of compressed air.
Hazou completes the Runic HOWS! Within the rune's Zone, everyone is effectively blinded by intense omnidirectional light. The light is white by default but can be tuned at infusion time just like seal-based HOWS. Outside the Zone, the rune's Zone is perceived as a white sphere, providing bright illumination for around 5 zones in every direction. The rune lasts indefinitely.
Prep Chakra Drain Rune. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Prep Lesser Runic Prison. Difficulty Result: Hazou thinks this rune is beyond his capabilities.
Day 9
SSA recovery.
Day 10
SSA recovery.
Hazou is not entirely confident in his ability to prepare a scroll of Furrowed Brow of the Earth Mother, given that he's only just created it and the technique hasn't fully stabilized. It will be hard to accurately describe the technique in a scroll such that anyone can learn it when he has only 1 level in the technique.
Hazou offers Tenten Rocket Boots in exchange for her help on the Rocket-boosted kunai project. Kei thinks the odds of Rocket Boots being stolen and reverse-engineered in the next couple months before she is able to return to Leaf and resolve the ambiguity in the Concubine Laws in her favor to be minimal, especially given that Tenten is generally quite discreet. Tenten accepts, with the caveat that she won't interrupt her regular mission schedule.
Cannai says that border skirmishes with Leopard are increasing in frequency, but the most impactful combat available to the Dog Summoner would be in Hyena.
Kagome reports within a couple of days that a number of Arachnid jutsu exist to manipulate silk, though the silk isn't suitable for runecrafting on account of not being chakra conductive. He didn't find any such jutsu adapted to human use, though he says that the relevant Arachnids are willing (or would be, on Kumokougou's orders) to work with a human technique hacker to adapt the techniques.
Kagome has finished the Silence Shell Seal Array and will start using them in his defense formations. By default, he'll go back to working on the rift seals. He's willing to do so from within the time acceleration rune.
For this update, I'll award brevity XP based on subjective rather than objective time, but we don't have a policy one way or another.
"Yes. I have a military mission that would be perfect for you. I had in fact been thinking about requiring you to go, but since you are, quote, feeling antsy and wanting to be useful so is there anything I can do on the military side, end quote, I believe I shall indeed send you on this mission."
"Cool," Hazō said with a smile. "What's the mission?"
"A punitive raid against the Leopards. Cross the border, murder twelve of them, urinate on the corpses, and leave them to rot in the sun. Do not kill cubs. Leave one parent alive if you can do so without losing your own people."
The smile fell away. "Oh."
Cannai's jaw dropped slightly open and he panted very slightly in amusement. "You were expecting that I would send you on a lovely trot along the border, looking across rolling vistas in hopes of spotting a stroppy young kitty that you could chase back home with their fuzzy little tail between their legs?"
"I...don't know? I guess I hadn't thought Dog was going across the border."
"This will be the first time. Until now, we have held our borders while the leopards have raided us. We have intercepted many raiders, killed those we could catch and chased the rest off."
"...And? What changed?"
"What changed is that they refuse to take the hint, and they have been stepping up their raids. The leopards have two advantages over dogs: first, they are more powerful fighters on an individual basis. Second, they are vastly better at stealth. They do not come across the border in a massed charge, battle howls leading the way. They began by slinking across in ones or sometimes in twos, hiding in the grass until they find a vulnerable group. They have recently escalated to larger groups, but their tactics remain the same. They kill, they mark, and they leave. They do not respond to diplomatic outreach. I am tired of this."
He looked across the wide grass between where they stood and the border where the nearest leopard might stand. "I am so tired of this," he murmured.
He turned back to Hazō and his voice was firm once more. "I have committed Dog to the defense of Hyena against Pangolin. I cannot afford to have Leopard, in alliance with Pangolin, flanking me on the southeast. More importantly, I am not willing to continue having my people killed.
"A certain amount of raiding can be accepted. It could even be argued to be a good thing—it keeps our skills sharp, and military weakness is a thing that no clan can afford. Unfortunately, they have gone well beyond the acceptable amount of raiding. It is happening along the entire border, multiple times per day in multiple locations, and they are doing more than harassing a few warriors."
"And so we're taking the fight to them," Hazō said.
"No. We are driving Hyōhakken to meet with me so that we may find a way to make peace."
"And if he doesn't want to...?"
"Then Dog will devastate Leopard."
"...Excuse me?"
"They have been raiding across our mutual border and also through the southwestern edge of Hyena. Yesterday, they murdered the Winding River pack to our west—whether by intent or as collateral damage, I neither know nor care. They also killed one hundred and thirteen other dogs across several hundred miles. This is not raiding, this is war. At least, it is about to be unless Hyōhakken is able to see reason."
"And war means...what, extermination?" Long experience with the Pangolin clan made Hazō jump straight to the worst option.
"Not literally. We will not kill cubs and we will try to leave one parent alive from any pairing. Aside from that, we will kill or drive off all potential combatants and claim at least a third of their territory." Canine jaws dropped open, teeth showing. "For a Clan Lord, it is extremely painful to have territory taken. Rather like having part of your body torn away."
"I see." He licked his lips, trying to decide if he should continue. "Okay. Where am I going?"
"You have an objection."
"No sir."
"Hazō."
"I..." He fell silent. "Call it what you want, but what you're talking about is the next best thing to exterminating the Leopard Clan. Leaving aside the moral implications, which I am not, is that even a thing we could do?"
Cannai laughed. "Oh yes. Yes, we could. Hazō, Dog is one of the largest Clans in the world. Leopard is a fraction of a Clan, and they broke off from Feline quite recently. Yes, the average leopard is equally matched to two or perhaps three dogs. I have two or three dogs for every leopard. I have ten dogs for every leopard. If I wanted to empty Leopard and claim every pawspan of it as my own, I could do it. It would cost far more lives than I would wish to sacrifice, but if this raiding were to continue then it would eventually cost even more."
"Wouldn't the other Clans have a major problem with you—with us exterminating the majority of a Clan and claiming their land?"
"Most likely."
"So...would it be a good idea?"
"It is debatable. Is it better to be seen as weak, unable to protect my own against a constant niggling drain, or to be seen as potentially aggressive towards neighbors who have not yet harmed me?" He cocked his head in the canine version of a shrug. "I would like to believe that clear communication with my new neighbors, plus their awareness of their own strength as compared to that of Leopard, would prevent the spread of hostilities. Still, this is why I wish to speak with Hyōhakken. He risks his people being devastated by Dog. I risk my people being warred upon by multiple enemy clans at once."
He snorted in amusement. "Plus, were I to conquer all of Leopard I would suddenly share a border with Pangolin. I have no desire for close connection to imperialist warmongers who apparently justify their ambitions through religious fervor."
"You could hand off some of the land to Hyena, or Rat," Hazō said.
"True, although I doubt either polity would wish to extend their borders with Pangolin. Regardless, the preferred option is for Hyōhakken to pull back his people. The first step in that is to convince him to speak with me. The second step is to convince him that he should either accept the alliance I previously offered, or at the least close the border between us to raids, as doing otherwise risks the death of most of his clan's military force."
"Would it have to involve killing such a large fraction of them? If having land taken from you is so painful, wouldn't it be sufficient to simply do that?"
"Perhaps, but I am not willing to bet my clan's safety on 'perhaps'. With the threat of the Pangolin on the horizon I cannot afford a second front, which means I need Hyōhakken to stand down. Unfortunately, leopards tend to share a few traits, arrogance among them. It is difficult to convince them to back down and, if we are being completely honest, I do not expect this negotiation to work. I fully expect that Hyōhakken will either increase his raids in response to this push or will come to the meeting only to curse and insult me.
"I will give him ten days to meet with me," Cannai said. "If he will meet and suspend hostilities then I will spend as long as necessary negotiating a peace between us. If he refuses to meet within ten days then Dog will begin the destruction of Leopard. If that campaign begins, it will not stop even if the Leopards attempt to yield. Aside from cubs and some parents, they will either flee the portion of their homeland that I claim or they will die."
"That's...extreme."
"Indeed. It is also practical. I am sending a message, and only incidentally does it go to Hyōhakken. The message is primarily for Pantsā and the rest of the clans east of the mountains; Dog is a peaceful neighbor with no interest in conflict. We are slow to rouse and we will negotiate in good faith if given any opportunity, but if you push us too far then the response will be catastrophic. We make far better allies than rivals, and far better rivals than enemies. It is my hope that if I make this demonstration once then I shall never need to make it again."
"And so I kill twelve of them?"
"You and a troop of dogs, yes. Yesterday they killed six dogs in this area, so we shall kill twelve in response. Repeating what I said before: do not kill cubs. If you encounter a mated pair with cubs then, if at all possible, leave one parent alive." He considered Hazō for a moment before continuing. "I am not perfectly clear on human morality and approaches to warfare, so I shall spell this out and hope you will grant pardon if it is obvious: the highest priority is to preserve your own lives while completing the mission. I expect you to fight intelligently, keeping yourself and your troops alive and able. Ambush your enemies, use deceit, stack the odds in your favor. Do not charge in like an idiot. There is no concept of 'fair' when teeth are reddened, and you should put such notions aside if you hold them. If a fight is too difficult, pull back and find an easier one.
"If for some bizarre reason it is completely impossible to avoid killing a cub, or if you do it by accident, I will understand. I will understand, but I will be ashamed. It will be a stain on the honor of Dog, one that will never wash away, but I do not expect you to prioritize the life of a leopard over that of yourself and your troops."
"Understood."
"Excellent. Mount and I shall take you to your troop. Along the way I shall brief you on Leopard."
o-o-o-o
"So, what should I expect?" Hazō asked as the team crossed the border, the eight dogs running in a loose cluster with Hazō at the center. "From the leopards, I mean."
"All leopards are cowards!" Cansaku shouted from the left edge of the cluster. The junior dog on the mission, the brown-and-tan Cansaku came up to Hazō's knee but moved with energy and seemed to vibrate even when standing still. Add a green outfit, sprinkle in some homoerotic innuendo, and he would have been a perfect canine model of Rock Lee.
"Shut up, brat!" hissed Cancurunchu, the leader of the troop. "Ignore him," he said to Hazō. "I have no idea how the kid has stayed this naive this long, but somehow he has. The leopards aren't cowards, they just fight differently than us. They tend to be solitary, although it seems like their Boss has been trying to change that lately, forcing them to live in larger groups. More relevantly, he's been forcing them to fight in larger groups. Used to be that they would come across the border alone, or maybe with a mate. Find a dog who was off on their own, kill 'em, retreat. Now we're getting groups of three and four on the regular."
"Get to the important part, boss," Canzappu said. The short-haired ninjutsu specialist was tiny, perhaps six inches at the shoulder and only a few pounds. He had giant ears that seemed too large for his snub-nosed face.
Hazō had been fighting hard not to show how cute he found Canzappu. He had a feeling it would not be appreciated. He had this feeling because upon their first meeting the dog had greeted him with, "I'm Canzappu, long-range ninjutsu specialist, and if you don't take me seriously I'll burn your guts out. Only warning." Hazō had nodded solemnly but had needed to make an extra effort when he was putting Canzappu's combat harness on and it turned out the little dog was ticklish. Watching him dance around, back leg thumping involuntarily at the ground, had nearly broken even the Iron Nerve's ability to keep a straight face.
"What's the important part?" Hazō asked, forcing his face to say sober as he jogged along, rather than grinning at the adorable little piping squeak that was Canzappu's voice.
"They put a heavy emphasis on stealth," Canzappu squeaked. "In combat, at least. They're usually too arrogant to bother when they're just going from A to B. As soon as the fighting starts, they'll disappear and come at you from your blind spot. It's a total pain in the ass." He puffed up his chest. "Fortunately, you've got me along."
"Pttthbt!" Cansaku said, blowing a remarkably good raspberry considering that canine jaws weren't terribly well suited. "You're such a braggart."
"I swear on the soul of the Alpha," Cancurunchu said tiredly, "if you don't keep your voice down, I will end you. How are we supposed to get to grips with the kitties if they know we're coming from six miles away?"
"Oh please," Cansaku said. "Like they won't see us coming with this giant wheatstalk running alongside." He nosed towards Hazō, whose upright build was in fact visible from farther away than the comparatively low-slung dogs.
"...We'll manage," Cancurunchu said, his voice failing to conceal the fact that he clearly felt Cansaku had made a valid point.
"By the same token, I'll see them from farther away too," Hazō said. "Speaking of which. I've got my skywalker seals with me. If you'd like, I can go up a few hundred feet and use a telescope to spot the kitties."
"Nope," Cancurunchu said. "They'd see you too and then we'd either never get close or we'd get jumped by a couple dozen curious kitties all at once. Let's keep it low and take a few at a time, yeah?"
"You're the boss," Hazō said. "Going back to the previous topic for a sec; you said that they tend to attack from stealth. Does that mean melee fights, claws and jaws?"
"Mostly," Cancurunchu said. "Most of them do the shadow thing, then jump out and bite your face off. Some of them use ninjutsu at long range. Mostly to lock you down so they can come in and bite your face off. Still."
Hazō nodded thoughtfully and the conversation petered out.
They had been running for maybe half an hour when they met their first prey.
The meeting was a surprise for both sides. The land had been trending upwards for the last hour, its rocky and sandy nature meaning that there was little undergrowth and most of what was there was low grasses unsuitable for concealment. Hazō and the eight dogs of the raiding troop ("Not a pack," Canfuwumpu had said when Hazō mistakenly used the term. The heavy-jawed bulldog yawned in the middle of the words, then continued, "dogs from two different packs here, we're just working together for this raid because the kitties were"—he yawned again—"raiding on the border between us so we've both got a leg to bite.") had been following a shallow ravine upwards, occasionally ducking up to the skyline to look around before continuing over the next ridge.
Canchō, a six-year-old husky with bright blue eyes, had checked the ridgeline not five minutes ago while the rest of the team waited below. He pronounced it clear and waved the rest of the troop up; no sooner did Hazō crest the ridge then he caught motion below.
"You dimwit!" yorped Canhachi, Canchō's brother. "You said it was clear, so what's that?!" He pointed with his nose.
Dogs are not capable of blushing, but Canchō did the best imitation of which one was capable. "They weren't there, I swear! They must have just come over the ridge!"
"Don't be—" Canhachi started to say, only to cut off with a panicked yorp as the leopards were suddenly on top of them.
They were ridiculously fast, crossing the intervening several dozen yards before Hazō could react. Worse, they had vanished from sight the instant he had noticed them. It was as though shadows rose up from the ground and wrapped around them like cloaks, blending them into their surroundings so well that it was hard to identify even which direction they were in.
The shadows broke for just an instant as a leopard the size of a pony went past Hazō so close he could have reached out and touched it if only his stupid human reflexes could keep up. The cat ignored him in favor of Canrippu, a dog of no particular type who had groused about the harnesses the entire trip until Cancurunchu said what everyone had been thinking: "Shut it!" Canrippu had obeyed...mostly. The griping at least dropped to an ignorable mutter.
"Dog Clan Technique: Strength of the Pack!" Canrippu yelled, panic in the words. A blue aura flickered to life around him and for just an instant Hazō imagined he heard Cannai's voice on the wind, although he could not pick out words. The aura spread outwards with welcoming arms, wrapping itself around the other dogs.
Canrippu dove away from the leopard's attack on chakra-enhanced paws...that weren't fast enough. He managed to twist enough that the teeth missed and he only got hit with a shoulder block, but it was enough to send him skidding across the ground; the road rash from the rocky soil cost him several chunks of fur and left him with seeping scratches.
The cat touched down from its leap and gathered itself to spring, ready to finish its fallen prey—and then it pivoted and vanished into the darkness as Cancurunchu was between them, the strength of the packbond on his lips and its aura blazing brighter around him. The cat's mocking laughter drifted back.
To his left, Hazō caught a brief flicker of motion as another cat appeared at the top of the hill. It allowed its cloak of darkness to fall away just long enough that they could see its gape-jawed mocking smile, and then it was once more shrouded and it had disappeared into the shadows. Presumably to wait for some weakened prey.
"Sun Element: Blinding Aura!" called tiny Canzappu. Light burst forth from the dog, rendering him into a tiny sun come to earth. The effect was to light up the entire area around them, but simultaneously throw the shadows of Hazō and the troop outwards like the long fingers of a giant. The shifting light and darkness caught the cats by surprise, revealing them for just a moment before they shifted into the new areas of darkness, disappearing back into stealth again.
"Dog Clan Technique: Strength of the Pack!" Canzappu cried. More connections sprang forth, binding the dogs together more tightly, their combined power building into something greater than the sum of its parts.
A cat lunged from the darkness to Hazō's left and another from his right. The dogs split, turning to face the threats, but the leopards were only feinting. They vanished back into the darkness before anyone could react.
"Leopard Clan Technique: Fangs from Afar."
The air above them suddenly glowed with yellow mist which collapsed in on itself like a campfire burning out in reverse motion. It condensed into a massive pair of feline jaws, easily the length of Hazō's forearm with fangs the size of his fingers. The massive construct lunged down at Canrippu, snapping at him with sound that Hazō at first feared was the dog's leg breaking.
Amazingly, it was not. Canrippu had seen the construct coming and leaped, chakra empowering canine muscles to let him soar past the attack, low to the ground, muscles rippling as he prepared to leap anew.
He almost made it.
The construct spun in place, faster than anything made of flesh could have done, and lunged forward, teeth slapping together on Canrippu's left rear leg with a bite that should have snipped the limb off. Instead, the blue aura of the packbond solidified, holding the teeth back just enough that Canrippu wriggled free and rolled aside. He was limping and leaving droplets of blood on the ground, but he was still a quadruped so Hazō was calling it a win. Still, Canrippu's chest was heaving as he sucked in great gasps of air, and his aura had diminished to the faintest of flickers, its power expended in the process of protecting him.
"Plant Element: Entangling Vines," came a feline voice.
Chakra boiled up from the earth around Canzappu, solidifying into clutching vines of blasphemous purple and sickly gray-green that squeezed crushingly tight around the tiny dog—
Who casually stepped aside with a dismissve, "Pfft" and continued to scan the darkness for a target.
"Goodbye, foreign meat," came a whisper from the shadows, seeming to come from atop Hazō's shoulder so that he whipped around in surprise and shock. "Soul Element: Crushing Fear."
Ahead, the shadows were pressed back by twin lights that opened, and opened wider. No, not lights. Eyes. Eyes that drank the wan light of the Seventh Path, magnified it, and sent it forth as the yellow of sickness, the promise of rot. The eyes were huge, predator's eyes that whispered of all the things that had kept endless generations of humans awake, huddled around their fires with pointy sticks in hand as they jumped at every tiny noise and waited for death to take them.
Hazō laughed, brushing the effect aside. It was a good try, certainly, but no one who had been trained by the sadistic genjutsu mistress Gōketsu (née Inoue) Mari would be bothered. Leopards were many things, but subtle was not among them.
"Get fucked, cat," he called back as he brushed a finger across the seal on the underside of his left forearm.
The Chakra Adhesion Triggered Enhanced Activation Relay Seal was a masterwork. Most seals would not activate unless the user threaded their chakra into the seal in a specific and delicate pattern, a pattern that took a full second or two to manage, even for the best-trained ninja. Hazō's invention, on the other hand, could detect and respond to the heavy and unfocused pull of chakra adhesion that every ninja used for wallwalking. Chakra adhesion was quick and dirty, something that required no thought whatsoever. You just reached out and pulled, nothing precise or delicate about it. The seal would detect the brush of chakra adhesion and would activate, triggering a second seal that had previously been paired to it.
When Hazō had shown it to her and explained how the seal worked, Kei had been very much of two minds. On the one hand, it was brilliant and incredibly useful and would give the Gōketsu a much-needed combat advantage against the rest of the world. On the other hand, the acronym was CATEARS.
Hazō pushed amusing memories of his sister aside to focus on the current moment. This particular CATEARS seal was paired to the first in a chain of Multiple Activation Relay Seals that activated Banshee Slayer sound protection on Hazō and all the dogs, then trigered a frankly ridiculous number of Hazō's new Force Claw seals, then fired off a Rocket Boot seal.
The Rocket Boot seal was in a pocket at the center of Hazō's back. Also in the pocket, in front of the seal, was a palm-sized steel plate with a second seal on the outside. When the Rocket Boot activated it blasted the plate out and sent it bouncing to the ground several yards away. It tore a massive hole in his shirt in the process, but that was a problem for future Hazō and his sewing kit to deal with. Probably a shadow clone of future Hazō, actually; Shadow Clones had no problem doing tedious and boring stuff when so ordered.
Back on topic: the ejection of the steel plate was important, because the final thing that the MARS chain did was to trigger the seal on that steel plate: a Banshee Fucker.
The Banshee Fucker seal emitted a sound so loud that it was only barely a sound instead of an explosive shockwave. The first time Hazō had tried it he had set it off in contact with his body; fortunately, Tsunade had been in attendance. She had examined him and then been reassuring and gentle. Which was a really bad sign, actually. If you had a problem with your leg it was much better to have Tsunade say, "Walk it off, you slacker!" instead of "That looks a little uncomfortable. Let me get you some willowbark tea." The former meant that your leg was broken but it was a clean break and you probably wouldn't even have a limp as long as you did your physical therapy. The latter meant that your leg was gangrenous and you should start deciding who you wanted to give your eulogy.
The Banshee Fucker went off and even the protection of the Banshee Slayer sound-muffling seals on Hazō's collar were not sufficient to completely block the effects. He could hear it, very vaguely, but more importantly he could feel it in his chest, great slamming waves that made him feel like he was getting punched at half strength, over and over again.
The cats, lacking hearing protection and possessing a far better sense of hearing to start with, screamed and staggered. Their protective shadows flickered in and out, showing the leopards in freeze-frame images that made them look like a flipbook being turned too slowly, rendering them into disparate images instead of a smooth flow. They staggered drunkenly, screaming and whimpering at the sheer sonic impact.
Cankamu, the heavy-jawed bulldog who somehow managed to keep up with Hazō and the others despite having legs that barely reached the ground, raced forward to where the largest of the leopards stutter-stepped near the top of the ridge it saw him coming and gathered itself, jaws gaping wide in a feline scream of threat and pain mixed together. It raised a paw, claws the size of Hazō's thumbs suddenly appearing as it slashed at—
Cankamu dropped and slid under the paw smash, barely evading the clashing jaws in the process. He got his jaws into the leopard's front leg and chomped. The cat screamed in pain and jumped back but Cankamu lunged to his feet, coming up under the cat and biting into its underbelly.
Cankamu's jaws would have been dangerous enough were he fighting alone. He wasn't. The strength of his pack surged through him, the blue aura strengthening and speeding him to make his blows more dangerous, to let him slide barely past blows that should have clipped him. Perhaps more importantly, however, Cankamu had a sealmaster on his side.
The Force Wall seal used two elements to generate a 4-meter by 4-meter wall of insanely sharp and completely transparent force. The Force Claw seal was Hazō's turn on it; it used only one element and it generated a blade of transparent force four inches long. A blade that was so sharp it could carve sunlight.
Every single one of the dogs had a Force Claw seal attached to a pad on their heads, the blade projecting forward in parallel to their eyeline. They also had a variety of other Force Claw seals at various angles on their backs and sides, but that wasn't relevant at the moment.
The blade sank into the leopard's guts and carved its way back out without slowing down. Blood and bile poured from the wound and the cat gasped as one of its lungs was punctured. It leaped, off-balance and graceless, and vanished into the shadows of a nearby rock. It left a trail of blood behind that would have made it easy to locate had there not been more pressing issues at hand.
"Life Element Technique: Dance of the Butterflies!" Canchō called from behind Hazō.
Chakra swirled forth from the dog, condensing into colorful butterflies that glimmered and gleamed in shades of blue and green and gold. They fluttered and danced, diving into every shadow within a dozen yards of Canchō. Where those shadows contained leopards, the butterflies collected around them, their faint lights outlining the cats and obscuring their vision.
Across the battlefield, every chakra construct began to heat up and throw sparks. The sparks were small to start, painful but not dangerous, but their power increased rapidly. Most importantly, the sparks were bright and 'every chakra construct' included the butterflies that were faintly outlining each of the leopards. The animals were now covered in coruscating sheets of lightning, their chakra-created protective darkness struggling to expand outwards in order to encompass and conceal the betraying pseudo-insects.
Canrippu, eager to get his own back after being slapped around earlier, raced towards the nearest of the now-revealed leopards. The animal was still trying to get its feet under it from the sonic assault of the Banshee Fucker; it was off-balance and foggy, but it was also an experienced warrior. It went to meet Canrippu, jaws wide. It moved with almost all the characteristic speed of its kind, closing the distance faster than Hazō could blink.
At the last instant, Canrippu juked aside. He ran down the length of the animal, so close that their fur almost touched.
Their fur might not have touched, but the five Force Claw seals sticking sideways off of Canrippu's harness sure did.
Canrippu passed the leopard and kept going to a safe distance while his enemy stumbled to its knees, blood leaking from long gashes along its sides. It turned its head, snapping at Canrippu's heels and catching only air.
The Claws are too sharp, Hazō thought. They don't tear the wounds open the way a kunai would.
Dogs were pack animals, accustomed to fighting as a team, and this group knew their business. When Canrippu charged, Canhachi had followed, keeping the larger dog positioned between himself and the leopard so as to remain unseen. When the leopard turned to attack the already-passed Canrippu it left its neck wide open to Canhachi.
Canhachi, a muscular husky with a bright white splotch on his nose and a cheery attitude when he wasn't mocking his brother, bit down on the leopard's neck and ripped its throat out halfway to the spine. The monster flopped to the ground like dropped meat, blood spraying out in a fountain that instantly drenched its killer.
"Life Element: Eye Spy," Canafuwumpu said with a yawn. White light condensed around the dog's head and was sucked into his eyes, causing them to shine faintly. "Hey, kitties, come nap with me! Dog Clan Technique: Baddies Go Fwump."
A ring of chakra pulsed out of Canafuwumpu, spilling across the battlefield in a lightning flash. Canafuwumpu yawned widely and looked around. Hazō followed his gaze, surprised to see that the leopards' darkness was once more flickering, the leopards once more staggering, except this time their eyes were drooping in exhaustion. The view lasted only an instant, the cats stumbling away from where they stood, struggling to pull their protective darkness back around themselves once more.
"Pangolin Earth Armor," Hazō said, twisting his chakra through the patterns of a jutsu that he had obtained years ago, practiced assiduously for weeks, and then never actually used. Chakra boiled out of him and crystallized, encasing his body in protective chakra-construct stone which promptly started to spark and crackle under the effects of Canchō's still-running Chakra's Bite jutsu. The blue-gray construct flowed and bent with his every motion, slowing him only slightly even as it protected and strengthened him. He shifted, allowing his newly increased mass to pull him forward into a run towards the nearest of the cats even as he slipped on his pangolin-gifted metal gauntlets. Time to show them what a Gōketsu could do!
Cancurunchu was faster, flashing past him to slam into the leopard Hazō had been heading for. The dog-team leader's massive jaws bit and tore, the Force Claw on his head gouging out slabs of meat, his weight smashing into the leopard and sending it flying into a nearby rock. It hit with a pained yelp, bounced, and rolled back to its feet.
That was enough for the leopards. As one, they turned and fled for their lives, running like a demon army was nipping at their tails. Their darkness melted away as they ran, either because they were too distracted to maintain it or because they needed the chakra for greater speed.
"Oh no you don't," Canzappu muttered. "Sun Element: Focus Blast."
The world went dark for an instant as all the light in the region collapsed into a beam that lanced through one of the fleeing leopards. It went in just behind the leopard's hip, burned through a rib, came out through the side of the belly, and converted a handspan of short grass and sandy dirt into glass and ash. Fortunately for the victim, the beam somehow managed not to be fatal. The leopard collapsed, pitch-poled helplessly, came back to its feet, and ran on three legs into the distance.
"Let 'em go," Cancurunchu said. "We got two and that lot will notify the rest. Some of them will run but some will come looking for us. Saves us the hunting."
"Didn't you say before that you didn't want dozens of them jumping us?" Hazō asked.
"Ssshh," Canfuwumpu said, yawning yet again. "Don't argue with him or he might change his mind and make us run after them. Wake me up when they get here." He turned in a circle three times, lay down, and put his tail over his eyes. Within moments he was asleep and snoring little doggy snores.
Dogs are social animals, leopards are not. Ordinarily members of Leopard live alone, coming together only to mate and raise cubs. This doesn't work well when you are surrounded by clans of social animals who can't overpower you one-on-one but who travel in groups that can. As a result, Hyōhakken is attempting to shape his people into more social creatures. He is requiring them to live in groups of up to several dozen and work together. There is a problematic degree of infighting and even the occasional intra-Clan murder but it hasn't broken down completely.
Yet.
Hazō has been placed in technical command of a combat troop of eight dogs, although in practice Cancurunchu is still the actual boss. These dogs were drawn from the border they are assaulting across, as they wish to have vengeance for their murdered kin. Being drawn from a local area means that they are drawn from a fairly small pool; this group is competent but not the best that Dog can put forward, and Hazō is expected to make up the missing combat power. (Cannai's original plan had been to hold this particular part of the raid for a day or two until he could get some stronger fighters in.)
They are assaulting an area of hilly prairie, similar to what Hazō faced when he went through Hyena but not as steep or barren.
They have encountered a raider group of leopards consisting of 1d6+1 members, on their way to the border of Dog. How many leopards are there?
*the dice, they are rolled*: There are 6 leopards.
Okey-dokey. Six leopards on eight dogs and Hazō isn't a great match; Hazō is really hoping for an easy win on his first combat so he'll try to let them go past. No one is willing to burn Fate Points on it.
Dogs, worst Stealth - 6 (dice): ouch
Kitty, best Alertness: yeah, never mind.
They have spotted you!
Hazō doesn't know leopards well enough to read their age and experience except in the grossest sense, but we can from our extradimensional viewpoint. In any group, some raiders will be experienced fighters and some will be newbies being trained up. What do we have here? 1 = newbie, 2-4 = experienced young adult, 5-6 = grizzled veteran. Sorting the results:
5: Hyōtsume
4: Hyōsupotto
4: Hyōrōbā
3: Hyōfajī
2: Hyōtsumaranai
1: Hyōkamumono
Not great but could have been a lot worse. Speaking very approximately, it's a leopard jōnin leading two experienced chūnin, one newish chūnin, and two genin.
The team is currently in a hilly area with low brush and not a lot of ground cover. We'll use a 3x3 grid of zones with:
small copse of trees{td}grassland{td}especially flat grassland
Unless stated otherwise, zones are always assumed to have sufficient terrain features that it's possible to dive for cover from an explosion. (And yes, this refers only to land-based zones, not air or water zones, since that is in fact a question that came up in thread! ) People can reposition freely within the zone on their initiative so it's usually not possible to take cover from a single-target attack if someone wants to get you. This is the default unless stated otherwise.
'Grassland' means essentially flat and little ground cover. Everyone is in sight of everyone in the zone at all times unless they have some specific ninjutsu or etc to change that.
'Especially flat grassland' means that there isn't even enough cover to avoid an explosion.
'Mildly hilly' means that there is sufficient up-and-down to the terrain that it's possible to break LOS to someone in another zone. Someone in your zone can, during their initiative, reposition within the zone to see you if they desire but it's possible to be out of sight of at least some combatants for at least a moment.
'Rocky' means that there are boulders ranging from 'pebble' to 'small hut' lying around, probably deposited here by an earlier ice age, or perhaps . Anyone in this zone is assumed to have concealment from all other combatants unless one of them is explicitly making an effort to locate the other or is choosing to forego concealment. Either of those can be done trivially, simply by running along the tops of the boulders. If someone is explicitly trying to hide then the rocky zone will give them a +AB tag on their Stealth. I don't know enough about explosive propagation to decide exactly how the effects would be reduced or channeled/concentrated, so I'm going to say that it gives a free +AB to dodge but does not reduce the attack strength on a hit.
Initiative!
The Leopard Clan has a racial stunt, "Leopard's Strength". It's completely bullshit, giving the owner +AB to all physical skills, +1/2 Alertness AB to initiative, and 2 shifts for a Supplemental move instead of the usual 1. It's been factored into all the numbers below.
63: Hyōtsume, Leopard raid leader
61: Cancurunchu, Dog troop leader
58: Hyōsupotto
57: Canzappu
51: Hyōkamumono
49: Cankamu
49: Hyōrōbā
49: Cancho
49: Canrippu
48: Hyōfajī
47: Hyōtsumaranai
46: Cansaku
41: Canhachi
40: Canfuwumpu
36: Hazō
The teams are two zones apart when they spot each other.
Round 1:
Hyōtsume:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental (actually Reflexive, but that doesn't matter here) "Shadow Element: Shadow Blend" at Effect:5
Supplemental: move to the zone with the dogs
Standard: Attack! Time for some face-eating!
Who gets attacked? I'm numbering it by initiative order so Cancurunchu is 1 and Hazō is 9.
1d9 says: 5. Canrippu takes the hit.
Unfortunately, the good guys have not had a chance to get themselves up and running. This is where Reflexive actions come into play, and I'm going to take a quick sec to refresh everyone on those because I'm a didactic jerk who wants to keep you from getting to the exciting stuff.
Combat starts on round 1 and every round you get one Standard and two Supplemental actions. Normally actions are taken only on your initiative, but 'Reflexive' actions are an exception. Reflexive actions are taken off-turn, on any initiative, in response to some action. In order to use a Reflexive Supplemental action you must have left one of your Supplementals unused on your previous initiative. (There is a notional 'round 0' which represents the time before combat started; you are generally assumed to have both Supplementals available from round 0.)
Of course, you can't use them willy-nilly. You know how us QMs feel about willy-nilly. (Us QMs? We QMs? Your brilliant and much-admired QMs? Grammar is hard, let's eat Wildberry Skittles.) No, Reflexive actions are only usable in response to a threat against yourself. Usually a single target attack like a leopard trying to eat your face, but it could also be an AOE attack like a mage throwing a Twinned Quickened up-casted Fireball into your zone. (Wait, sorry, wrong system.)
Point is, Canrippu is being attacked so he can Reflexively use his two round-0 Supplemental actions and when his initiative comes up he'll have his full actions. The other dogs can't act Reflexively because they aren't being attacked. Unfortunately, the same thing applies to Hazō; his CATEARS seal will allow him to trigger another seal reflexively, but he can't do that unless he is the one being threatened. This is a tentative interpretation of how to handle chakra-adhesion-activated seals. CA is normally a free action but the idea of activating infinite seals as a free action is problematic, especially since Konan and Sasori would undoubtedly have figured out the trick and neither QMs nor players want those guys activating an unlimited number of legendary-tier seals the instant the fight starts.
Anyway, the 'you must be the one targeted' is basically saying that seeing your friends get their faces nommed doesn't punch the ol' lizard brain quite as hard as seeing yourself about to get your face nommed.
Also, point of information: the Leopard Clan's version of Taijutsu is called 'Face-Nomming'. Don't blame me, they chose it. Dogs use the much nicer 'Jaw and Claw'.
Also also, a reminder: everyone does chakra boost at the top of the round before anyone starts moving. I'm listing it on each person's entry for convenience but for everyone except the first person it actually happened earlier.
On with the show!
Canrippu: Holy shit, dude! There's a leopard about to eat my face and I never voted for him! Gimme some of that go-juice!
Canrippu: chakra boost 6
Canrippu, Reflexive Supplemental #1. Dog Clan Technique: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. Keep 2 tags, give 2 to Cancurunchu, give 1 to Canfuwumpu.
Canrippu, Reflexive Supplemental #2. Dog Clan Technique: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. self:2, Cancurunchu:2, Cansaku:1
Dog Clan Technique: Strength of the Pack
Every dog in the zone gains the Aspect "Packbonded" if they don't already have it. The jutsu lasts for 30 seconds and while it's active you get (Effect) tags on this Aspect each round; the tags can be used for anything that involves physical rolls or resisting negative emotions. ('Protecting the safety and unity of the pack' is the theme.) Upon casting and at the start of each round (i.e. before anyone acts) you may distribute these tags as you like among the dogs in your zone. If you keep X tags for yourself then you must give at least X tags to at least one other dog.
At most 3 of these tags can be used on any given roll.
The jutsu will stack but no one can hold more tags than the number of dogs in the zone.
If a dog leaves the zone or dies after the jutsu is cast, they lose all tags from the jutsu and every dog still in the zone loses one tag.
Hyōtsume, Face-Nomming (76) + 5 (AB of Shadow Blend) + 7 (chakra boost) - 3 (dice): 85
Canrippu, Jaw and Claw (54) + 18 (3 Strength of the Pack tags) + 6 (chakra boost) + 3 (dice) = 81
Canrippu takes 2 stress. He fills the first two boxes on his stress track.
Cancurunchu:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack at Effect: 6. Six tags, distribution is self:1, Canzappu:2, Canhachi:1, Canrippu:1, Cansaku:1. The goal is to protect the weaker members of the troop while keeping a little boost for himself
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack at Effect: 6. Six tags, distribution is Cankamu:2, Canrippu:2, Cansaku:2. Give the taijutsu fighters a boost
Standard: establish a Taijutsu Block "intercept anyone melee-attacking my troop"
Hyōsupotto:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental (actually Reflexive, but that doesn't matter here) "Shadow Element: Shadow Blend" at Effect:5
Supplemental: hold for Bounding Evasion
Standard: move to the top of the ridge
This little kitty figures that why should he put his skin on the line when Hyōtsume is so gung-ho? Best not to get in his way, right?
Canzappu:
Canzappu would very much like to shove a face full of focused solar death ray through the face of the bad kitty that just now tried to kill his friend. Sadly, he can't do that unless he can spot the beasty where it's lurking in the shadows. First he'll throw a little light on the subject, then he'll take his best shot.
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental: Sun Element: Blinding Aura
Free action: try to spot the cats who have entered the zone: FAIL (see below)
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. Five tags, distributed: self:1, Cancurunchu:4. The goal is to let the most powerful dog perform an alpha strike that will eliminate one enemy instantly, while keeping a little protection for himself
Can't target the leopards, so use a Standard in place of a Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. Five tags: self(1), Canchō(4). Same as above but different dog
Canzappu's Blinding Aura makes him glow like the sun. This lights up the zone but also casts shadows everywhere; on balance I'll say that it reduces the benefit of the leopards' Shadow Blend jutsu by 5 if they are lurking in the shadows and completely negates their stealth if they are making a melee attack. It does not negate their stealth when someone else is trying to make a melee attack on them.
Canzappu, notice kitties: Alertness (57) + 3 (dice): 60
Hyōtsume, don't be noticed: Stealth (59) + 23 (Shadow Blend) - 5 (Blazing Aura) + 6 (dice) = 73 Canzappu does not notice the leopard raid leader
Hyōsupotto, don't be noticed: Stealth (59) + 23 (Shadow Blend) - 5 (Blazing Aura) + 6 (dice) = 73 Canzappu does not notice the leopard second in command. Also, what is with the leopards' dice?!
There are no other kitties around to be noticed as they have not yet had their initiative to move to the zone.
Hyōkamumono:
Chakra boost: 0
Supplemental: Shadow Blend, Effect 5
Supplemental: hold for Bounding Evasion
Standard: move to the zone
Little brother of Hyōtsume, Hyōkamumono has basically the same build as his older brother but isn't as good at it. As such, he's going to wait until there's some wounded prey to pick off.
Hyōrōbā:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental: Shadow Blend, Effect 5
Supplemental: move to the zone
Standard: "Leopard Clan Technique: Fangs From Afar" at Effect:3
Hyōrōbā, Fangs from Afar (61) + 5 (bonus based on Effect) + 3 (dice): 69
Canrippu the unlucky, Athletics 52 + 18 (3 tags on SotP) - 3 (Mild Consequence) - 3: 64
Canrippu takes two stress. It won't fit on his stress track so he soaks it with a Mild Consequence ("Limping"). His third stress box is still available.
The jaws remain and will attack Canrippu again on the next two rounds as long as Hyōrōbā is in the vicinity and alive.
I rolled to see who Hyōrōbā would attack and got Canrippu again. I guess there's something bitable about him.
Hyōfajī:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Shadow Blend, Effect 5
Standard: move to the zone
Supplemental: Plant Element: Entangling Vines
Who does mah dude target? [rolls] Canzappu. Makes sense since he's the smallest.
Ghostly plants manifest and try to grab Canzappu, who casually skips aside without even needing to use his SotP tags.
Hyōtsumaranai:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Shadow Blend, Effect 5
Standard: move to the zone
Supplemental: Crushing Fear on (rolls for it...) Hazō. That's hilarious.
"Soul Element: Crushing Fear" is a nasty Block-type jutsu. It hits the user with debilitating fear which acts as a Block against that person doing anything, with the Block having the same strength as the initial roll. It is defended with Resolve. If it lands then the user needs to roll their Resolve against the Block again every time they want to perform any voluntary action—attack someone, run away, etc. It must be sustained and can be broken by injuring or sufficiently distracting the caster.
Hyōtsumaranai, Crushing Fear (47) - 12 (dice) 1 FP to reroll!
Hyōtsumaranai, Crushing Fear (47) - 3 (dice) : 44
Hazō, Resolve (63) + 0 (dice) = 63
Hazō brushes the jutsu aside almost without noticing it. It's amazing that the dice had Hyōtsumaranai target Hazō for this; the dogs all have Resolve:20 like normal people who don't need to worry about genjutsu and they would have been taken down instantly. Without intending to, the cats done did a dumb.
More importantly, the leopards did a super-duper dumb! Because Hazō was attacked, he gets to use his two round-0 Reflexive Supplemental actions. That means he gets to use his CATEARS seal to activate a MARS chain that includes:
Banshee Slayer sound protection on himself and all the dogs
A stupid number of Force Claws seals. Among other things, the dogs all have a frickin' Force Claw on their heads. Mechanics of the Force Claws seal listed below
A Rocket Boots seal in a pocket on the center of his back with a thin steel plate in the pocket and in front of the Rocket Boots. Attached to said plate is a Banshee Fucker (BF) seal. The Rocket Boots seal triggers, flinging the plate (and the BF) away from Hazō. His shirt gets ripped in the process but eh
Remember that Banshee Fucker seal? It gets triggered and makes a noise so shatteringly loud that it causes damage if set off in contact with your body, hence the trick with the Rocket Boots launcher
Force Claws: These are a 4"-long, one-seal variant of the larger Force Wall seal, intended to be attached to something like a gauntlet or a sword. The fact that the blade is invisible provides an excellent surprise advantage. If a target does not know that you have them, Force Claws add +6 to Taijutsu or equivalent close-combat skill, or +3 if the target is aware of them. They are Weapon:4.
We don't have explicit mechanics set up for Banshee Fuckers yet. I'm going to say that if you are in the zone with the BF or any adjacent zone and you don't have Banshee Slayer protection then:
Your Alertness is cut by 1/3 because you can't hear a damn thing
You gain the Aspect "Deaf", which expires 10 minutes after you leave the AOE. Note that this does not prevent Seventh-Path natives from communicating, since their 'speech' is actually mind-to-mind
You must roll Resolve vs TN 40 or
You lose your balance and stagger. Your Athletics is reduced by 5 until your next initiative. So is any other skill the QM determines to be appropriate
You lose track of what you are currently doing, causing you to drop any jutsu you were sustaining or botch any process that you were working on
On the second round after the BF was triggered (i.e., not the next round but the one after that) and every round thereafter you take 1 shift of sonic damage while you remain in the AOE. The damage is applied immediately after your initiative, giving you the chance to flee before it hits
We might do it differently next time.
Rolls: Not necessary. None of the cats have Resolve high enough to even potentially beat a 40. There isn't much need for it since genjutsu and other mind-affecting jutsu are rare among them and their neighbors.
All cats FAIL their Resolve rolls. They are staggered and take -5 to Athletics, physical combat skills, and Stealth until their next initiative.
Cankamu:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 6. Distribution: self:2, Canzappu:2, Canfuwumpu:2
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 6. Distribution: self:2, Canhachi:2, Canchō:2
Free action: attempt to localize the kitties enough to make a melee attack
Standard: Bite Hyōtsumaranai in half
Can he spot the kitties? Answer: no to everyone except probably Hyōtsumaranai.
Cankamu, Alertness (49) - 9 (dice): 40.
Hyōtsumaranai, Stealth (44 after modifiers) - 9 (dice): 34. Wow. Okay, here we go.
Cankamu, Jaw and Claw (59) + 18 (SotP tags x3) + 6 (bonus from Force Claw when the opponent doesn't know you have it) + 6 (dice) = 89
Hyōtsumaranai, Athletics (57) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 11 (Bounding Evasion) - 3 (dice) = 63
Wow. Poor old 'tsuma is having a bad day. That's 12 shifts of damage (8 from the hit, 4 from the Force Claws). 'Tsuma soaks 9 of it with a Severe ("Gutted"), Medium ("Concussion"), and a Mild ("Cracked Shin"), then fills his stress track with the remaining 3. He's alive, technically.
I'm ruling that his Stealth is now 0.
Canchō
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Dance of the Butterflies
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack at Effect 5. Distribution is Canhachi:3, Canrippu:2. Canhachi is Canchō's brother and Canrippu seems to be drawing aggro a bunch
Standard: Chakra's Bite at Effect 4
Dance of the Butterflies attacks every hostile in the zone, regardless of whether the caster can see them.
Canchō, Life Element: Dance of the Butterflies (56) + 6 (attack advantage innate to the jutsu) + 6 (invoke "Veteran Borderdog") + 6 (invoke "Specialist First Class") + 6 (invoke "Succeed or Die") + 0 (dice) = 80. Canchō is out of Fate Points.
Hyōtsume: Athletics (65) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 0 (dice) = 60.
Hyōsupotto: Athletics (65) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 3 (dice) = 57.
Hyōkamumono: Athletics (54) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 3 (dice) = 46
Hyōrōbā: Athletics (54) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 6 (dice) = 43
Hyōfajī: Athletics (65) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 0 (dice) = 60
Hyōtsumaranai: Athletics (57) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 21 (wounds) + 0 (dice) = 31
Canchō comes in clutch! The leopards are all surrounded in a cloud of glittering butterflies that makes them easier to target, applies the Aspect "Distracted and Partially Blinded", and gives Canchō two tags on the Aspect. (That's two total, not two per target.)
Canchō passes both tags to Canrippu, who is up next.
"Soul Element: Chakra's Bite" causes all chakra constructs in the zone to start heating up and throwing off sparks. They have a Power of (Effect), which increases by Effect every turn. The way it works is:
Construct-based attack jutsu (e.g. Fangs from Afar or Water Whip) have their level increased by Power
Construct-based non-attack jutsu (e.g. a MEW that was created out of something other than the ground) will start throwing off sparks that attack everyone in Melee range with Power vs Athletics or a variety of other options.
The sparks are very bright and therefore stealth-defeating. The cats are all surrounded by the butterfly constructs from Dance of the Butterflies. The sparks from the butterflies reduce their Stealth by Power/2.
Canrippu:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: do nothing and conserve chakra
Supplemental: do nothing and conserve chakra
Free action: can he spot the cats through their stealth?
Standard: bite a kitty
Even with all the debuffs in play, it's very unlikely that Canrippu can beat the stealth on anyone except Hyōtsumaranai (whose stealth is currently 0) but let's check. All normal modifiers are factored in for the stealth numbers. Also, Canrippu has a Mild Consequence right now. I'm not sure whether or not the penalty should apply to a passive Alertness check so for now I'm choosing to say that it does not.
Canrippu, Alertness (49) + 6: 55. Huh, maybe I'm wrong and he can do this.
Hyōtsume, Stealth (58) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 3 (dice) = 50
Hyōsupotto, Stealth (58) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 9 (dice) = 62 Hyōkamumono, Stealth (54) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 0 (dice) = 49 Hyōrōbā, Stealth (69) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 3 (dice) = 67 Hyōfajī, Stealth (67) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 6 (dice) = 56
Ohhhkay then. Canrippu can tell generally where a couple of the cats are, at least well enough that he can move to attack them. He'll pick Hyōtsume as the most dangerous enemy. He runs over to him and makes another Stealth check to localize the cat well enough to actually bite him. This is a much easier roll than the previous one.
Canrippu, Jaw and Claw (54) - 3 (Mild Consequence) + 18 (SotP tags x3) + 6 (surprise Force Wall seal) + 12 (Dance of the Butterflies tags x2) + 0 (dice) = 87
Hyōtsume, Face-Nomming (76) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 6 (dice) = 77
Total of 7 shifts (3 base + 4 from Force Claws). Hyōtsume soaks 2 with a Mild Consequence ("Lacerations"), 3 with a Medium ("Carved Up"), and fills his first two stress boxes.
Canrippu gets a tag on each of those Consequences. He passes the both tags to Cansaku who is coming up next.
Cansaku:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. self:2, Cankamu:2, Cancurunchu:1
Supplemental: do nothing
Standard: bite a cat's face off
Alertness to successfully target a cat: 46 + 5 (someone else just now successfully attacked the cat) - 3 (dice) = 48
Hyōtsume, Stealth (51) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 0 (dice) = 46
Hyōsupotto, Stealth (58) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 3 (dice) = 50
Hyōkamumono, Stealth (54) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 3 (dice) = 52
Hyōrōbā, Stealth (69) - 5 (staggered by BF) - 3 (dice) = 61
Hyōfajī, Stealth (67) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 3 (dice) = 65
Hyōtsumaranai, Stealth (0) - 5 (staggered by BF) + 6 (dice) = 1
Got the general location, can he get it exact enough for melee? Answer: yes. No need to roll.
Wow. This cat isn't just dead, he's DRTTT. (Dead Right There and There and There...)
Canhachi:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. Five tags, self:1, Canchō:2, Canrippu:2
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 5. Five tags, self:1, Cansaku:2, Canrippu:1
Standard: Hit a kitty with Effect:6 of bee stings
Can he spot a target?
Canhachi, Alertness (41) + 3 (dice) = 44. Nope, can't see anyone except the guy with Stealth 0.
Hyōtsumaranai, Stealth (0) + dice that I'm not bothering to roll.
Okay, let's finish this one off.
Canhachi, Rage of the Hive (58) + 6 (chakra boost) + 6 (Effect; innate bonus of the jutsu) + 4 ("Chakra's Bite" Power) - 6 = 68
Hyōtsumaranai Athletics (51 after everything) + 11 (Bounding Evasion) + 6 (invoke "Feline Predator") = 68
Hyōtsumaranai takes 1 stress. He dies.
Canfuwumpu:
Chakra boost: 6
Supplemental: Eye Spy, Effect 5
Supplemental: hold for Instant Den
Standard: Baddies Go Fwump
Life Element: Eye Spy gives the caster the Aspect "Omni-Aware", an Alertness bonus of (Effect x 2), and (Effect) tags. It extends a web of invisible chakra that connects the caster to up to (Effect / 2) willing targets in the zone. The tags can be passed to anyone who is connected and used on Alertness rolls. Up to 2 tags may be used on a given roll. Canfuwumpu connects to Cancurunchu, Canzappu, and Cankamu since they are at the top of canine initiative. He keeps two tags for himself and passes 2 to Cancurunchu and 1 to Canzappu.
Dog Clan Technique: Baddies Go Fwump causes all hostiles in the zone that the caster can see to get very tired, along with the caster. Who can Canfuwumpu see?
Factoring in the BF penalty and all other modifiers from now on because I'm tired of writing it over and over.
Baddies Go Fwump (51) targets Resolve and the kitties all have the normal 20 resolve that sensible people buy in order to get their mental stress track to 3 boxes but don't bother increasing because dogs don't really use genjutsu so there's no need for me to roll.
Hyōtsume, Hyōsupotto, Hyōkamumono, and Hyōrōbā all get the Aspect "Sleepy" and an (Effect x 2) penalty to Athletics and physical skills. In this case that means -10.
Canfuwumpu also gets the "Sleepy" Aspect but as the caster the penalty is only half as bad, so just a -5.
Hazō!
Chakra boost: 5
Supplemental: hold for Substitution
Supplemental: hold for Substitution
Standard: Pangolin Earth Armor, Effect 2
Hazō gains the following effects from PEA: Armor:2, non-ablative. Physique + 6, making it 43. Athletics - 3, making it 37.
Round 2
The Power of the Chakra's Bite jutsu increases to 8, giving a stealth penalty of 4.
All tags expire.
Yeah, the kitties ain't having it. They are bailing out as soon as they can. Sadly, Cancurunchu goes before anyone else.
Cancurunchu:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 6
Supplemental: Strength of the Pack, Effect 6
Standard: munch on a kitty
Cancurunchu still has two SotP instances running from last turn, both at Effect:6, meaning he has four sets of 6 tags to distribute. He does so:
self: 3, Cankamu:3
self: 1, Canfuwumpu:5
Canzappu: 2, Canchō: 2, Canrippu: 2
Cansaku: 2, Canhachi: 2, Canzappu: 1, Canchō: 1
Now he wants to spot a kitty to eat. Unfortunately, he can't get the tags for Eye Spy until Canfuwumpu's initiative, which is last except for Hazō's. If he waits that long then the kitties will have run for it. Stealth rolls include the BF staggering penalty which expires on the victim's initiative.
Cancurunchu has his choice of targets. He randomly picks Hyōfajī.
Cancurunchu, Jaws and Claws (64) + 7 (chakra boost) + 21 (SotP tags x3) + 3 (Force Claws now that the bad guys know about them) + 0 (dice) = 95
Hyōfajī, Athletics (54) + 6 (chakra boost) + 14 (Bounding Evasion) + 6 (dice) = 80
Like his fellows before him, Hyōfajī is having a bad day. That's 9 shifts of damage (5 base, 4 from the Weapons Rating of the Force Claws).
Poor 'fajī sinks 2 into a Mild Consequence ("Slashed Paw"), 3 into a Medium ("Gashes in my Sides"), and 4 into a Severe ("Butchered"). His stress track is untouched.
Hyōspotto:
Chakra boost: 7
Supplemental: run! (2 shifts of movement)
Supplemental: run! (2 shifts of movement)
Standard: Sprint! He gets 6 shifts
Spot is now 10 zones away and not an issue.
Canzappu:
Chakra boost: 7
Free actions: try to spot the kitties so he can blast them
Supplemental: hold to save chakra
Supplemental: hold to save chakra
Standard: Burn a kitty's face off with Sun Element: Focus Blast at Effect:4
Yowch. It's a total of 11 shifts of damage—8 from the roll, plus it was cast at Effect 4 so it's got Weapon:3. BadKitty soaks 2 into a Mild ("Scorched"), 3 into a Medium ("Sun Poisoning"), 4 into a Severe ("Burned like Tater Tots You Forgot Were in the Oven"), then marks off his first two stress boxes.
The cats have the next 3 slots in the initiative. They all run for it, scattering in all directions.
I'm very disappointed. Hazō had put harnesses on all the dogs when they set off on the journey, with Force Claw seals affixed to the harnesses in various positions such that anyone attempting to bite the wearer had a chance of carving themselves up on the invisible blades. I never got a chance to show that off! He activated them with his CATEARS+MARS chain but the combat was over before any of the cats landed a melee attack. He also didn't get to use his new Reusable Rocket Boots seals. Oh well.
Just so that it's clear to everyone:
Cannai very much wants to avoid war
The only reason he is considering war is because:
Cannai is allied with Hyena to help defend them against imperialist Pangolin, who have already shown their willingness to commit cultural and/or literal genocide. It is more than reasonable to believe that if Pangolin takes over Hyena then they will continue on to attack Dog.
Leopard is allied with Pangolin and is attacking Dog's flank while Dog is busy in Hyena
Leopard has shown their willingness to wipe out entire packs instead of confining themselves to primary combatants. Neither Cannai nor Hazō know if it was an intentional wipe or collateral damage from a battle, so they don't know if the Leopards are actually going scorched-earth or maintaining some level of decency.
If there is a war, Cannai is hoping that making a statement by devastating Leopard will prevent the need for future bloodshed against Pangolin and/or their allies, much the way (NB: fraught real-world comparison coming) America (supposedly, and yes there is debate) thought that using nuclear bombs on Japan would ultimately save lives by ending the war sooner
If there is a war then Cannai will not kill cubs, will try to leave at least one parent of every litter alive, and will happily let combatant-aged Leopards abandon their homeland instead of being killed, as either outcome will make a sufficient demonstration of his willingness to go hard
He is actively doing everything he can to prevent the need for war
If an option comes along to achieve peace or secure an equivalent degree of safety for his people then he will take it
This is intended to be a morally complicated situation that gives Hazō multiple courses of action. Not even Cannai is claiming that what Cannai is doing is morally right. Author's Note: After Cancurunchu said 'let them go' it turned out that the two leopards with Severe wounds weren't making particularly good time, so the team captured them. You killed two leopards, captured (and will soon execute) two, and two got away. Cancurunchu was angry and battle-jazzed at the end there and there's a good chance that he will change his mind on the 'let them come' position pretty soon.
XP AWARD: 16 This update covered 4 days.
Brevity XP: 4
"GM had fun" XP: 1
Cannai rules, so 1 for that
It was fun to write punching again but holy god that was exhausting. There's so much more to keep track of than there used to be and 15 combatants is a lot
It is now about 4pm.
Vote time! What to do now?
Note: I'm going to be at a games day on Sunday, so my current plan is to post an interlude. I'll leave voting open until next Wednesday. If either @Paperclipped or @Velorien are excited about writing for Sunday then I can edit this to close voting Saturday as usual, but I doubt very much that will happen as both of them are super busy.
) People can reposition freely within the zone on their initiative so it's usually not possible to take cover from a single-target attack if someone wants to get you. This is the default unless stated otherwise.