Hmm it's not terribly exciting but would it be worth bringing up Noburi's CR at some point soon? It's 5 times more valuable than raising anyone else's, in terms of "save up and mass deploy a shit load of chakra."
9 levels of CR would be 450 more CP to work with in a given day. That's most of the cost for Cannai right there. (This is mainly for a big attack/rush, it doesn't give us more to research/FOOM with day to day)
I do want him to get at least an AB or two into SC and to raise his basic skills as well, but this is something we should also be considering.
Hmm it's not terribly exciting but would it be worth bringing up Noburi's CR at some point soon? It's 5 times more valuable than raising anyone else's, in terms of "save up and mass deploy a shit load of chakra."
9 levels of CR would be 450 more CP to work with in a given day. That's most of the cost for Cannai right there. (This is mainly for a big attack/rush, it doesn't give us more to research/FOOM with day to day)
I do want him to get at least an AB or two into SC and to raise his basic skills as well, but this is something we should also be considering.
I think it would be better to take another look at chakra storage runes, before considering this? Chakra Font was beyond our capabilities, but we had eff. PS 36 when we tested that and we've improved by 30 points since; it might be doable now, and even if it's not a simpler version might be (e.g. instead of requiring an effort of will from the ninja, the rune just drains the chakra of anyone who touches it until [condition]). Chakra drain veterancy would be useful anyway.
Chakra Font was beyond our capabilities, but we had eff. PS 36 when we tested that and we've improved by 30 points since; it might be doable now, and even if it's not a simpler version might be (e.g. instead of requiring an effort of will from the ninja, the rune just drains the chakra of anyone who touches it until [condition]). Chakra drain veterancy would be useful anyway.
A chakra storage rune which drains the chakra of anyone who touches it, excluding vital chakra, and stores that chakra such that it can later be withdrawn. Precise specifications up to Hazōpilot, but example specifications might be:
Touching any of several protrusions at the top of the rune will cause the user's chakra to drain into the rune. Touching the point at the bottom of the rune will push chakra into the target.
The above, but only fills users until their reserves are full.
The above, but only drains/donates to willing users (e.g. requires an effort of will to accomplish chakra transfer).
The above, but retrieving chakra from the rune requires the use of the Vampiric Dew.
When activated, the rune enters a charging phase, during which it drains the chakra of anyone who touches it. Upon a specified condition (e.g. after [time], when the rune is full, some other trigger) the rune stops draining and donates its chakra to the next person to touch it.
The above, but the donation is not all-at-once.
The above, but the rune can switch modes multiple times.
A priority list of requirements is below:
Fulfills the rune's core functions (can receive chakra, store it, and then donate it) and meets minimum standards for safe use (does not injure users if used properly).
Can receive chakra repeatedly over an extended time period (minimum: days).
Can be drained partially and repeatedly.
Is reusable (i.e. can be refilled after being partially or fully drained).
Does not require the Vampiric Dew to fill or drain.
Only drains/donates to willing users.
I propose we prep, and if Medium or less research, this rune next update. Thoughts/comments/suggestions? (I'll note that for optimal utility we would have to be able to place at least one of these runes on the Seventh Path; I think we can convince the Toad Sages to allow that even with our currently strained relationship, since fixing the Great Seal is likely to require infusing multiple runes and it would be good to have a test case for what happens before we do it there in case the answer is "something damaging to the local environment", but it's a hurdle. We should also maybe ask Pilot whether he thinks runic drag implies that runes are inherently spatial effects that erode the Great Seal, and in general whether he thinks the Great Seal would be injured by runes - maybe do another prep day on it and see what we get.)
Edit: I should note, I'm proposing this on condition that what we get back from Mari's intel is basically "nothing interesting seems to be happening". Obviously if we find out that Leaf is on fire or Akatsuki have all mysteriously dropped off the map, our plans will change!
I think it's about time we checked if Hazou can figure out Runic Arrays now; if they allow the use of higher-power runic effects within limited confines as seal arrays do, getting, say, TR at a 3x multiplier would open up a lot more options to us in the near future.
"So, Kumokōgō's a no-go and you want me to send a toad on a long journey so that Orochimaru can send you the snake-signal – and only the snake-signal, absolutely nothing else – on a moment's notice?"
"That sums it up," Hazō said. "I'm honestly a little surprised Kumokōgō's betraying me like this, after all I've done for her clan…"
"Hey, don't vent to me," Noburi said, raising his hands. "I don't need to hear you bad-mouthing your spider-wife. Actually, you should talk to her. You know the first step of any successful relationship is communication."
Hazō groaned. "She's only my 'wife' on a technicality, so I don't need your relationship advice. Anyway, yes, you got it. You might not need to go to Snake if Orochimaru left any summons in Toad to communicate with Jiraiya."
"I doubt it," Noburi said. "No way they set up an embassy in the two days where Orochimaru was both a Leaf ninja in good standing and Jiraiya was alive. Any embassies they had would have gone up in flames when snakey-murder-man went missing."
"Yeah, that's fair," Hazō said. "That means that you'll need to get Gamabunta's permission to take a toad across an ocean of uncertain size, which means gracefully dodging any oaths binding his actions."
"Which is to say, none," Noburi said. "Gamabunta didn't actually take any oaths for me. Not all of us are blessed with Seventh Path bosses as pliant as Cannai, you know. The tricky part won't be getting him to approve of me airlifting a toad into Snake. That's not going to be easy mind you, if you remember the difficulty we had getting him to approve sending an ambassador to Dog, though maybe easier since Snake is closer and he's probably sent people back and forth when Jiraiya and Orochimaru were buddy-buddy.
"No, the hard part is going to be convincing Gamabunta without letting him tell me anything if it turns out that, oh, Akatsuki had sent a message for me saying they've kidnapped some of my friends in Leaf and are going to torture them all unless I respond. I've been asking my contractees to spread the word that I'm not going to talk with anyone but them, and that they're all sworn not to tell me anything about the Human Path, but if that wasn't enough to deter Akatsuki… well, I don't want to know. In fact, it's not even that hard to imagine Akatsuki somehow applying pressure to make Gamabunta want to reach me, so I've been staying off the Seventh Path as much as I can."
"Right," Hazō said. "Sounds tricky. Can you work through some intermediary toad? Promise them riches or whatever to make the request of Gamabunta on your behalf, so long as they don't carry back any coercion?"
"And risk giving Gamabunta a grievous insult by beseeching him for stuff without even showing my face?" Noburi asked.
"Would he really be insulted by that?" Hazō asked.
"You're spoiled," Noburi said. "But yeah, I'll try to figure it out. Shima and Fukasaku thankfully gave me plenty of practice at working around toads with big heads. Not just figuratively, too. They've dropped a couple tips about how to handle Gamabunta here and there from their centuries working with him."
"Alright," Hazō said. "I don't have the mental energy to play games with S-rank egos, so I'll trust you to figure it out and establish that communication channel with Orochimaru. We need it if we don't want to miss our window to act."
"I'll do my best," Noburi said.
o-o-o
After months of waiting on skytowers for something, anything to happen, Mari was finally on a mission again. The team was great and all, but sometimes a girl wanted to talk to more than just the same six people. It was harder without Akane, too. Tenten wasn't a great conversationalist, Kei was too busy with her Seventh Path duties to spare much energy for anything except keeping Tenten's morale up, and the sealmasters had far, far too much on their plate. Noburi and Yuno were great, but Mari could tell that Yuno didn't fully trust her. Entirely reasonably, of course.
Now, Mari would get to talk to new people! To deceive and exploit them, of course, but hey, she'd take what she could get. It had been so long since she'd been on a mission, her disguise kit practically had cobwebs on it. Still, her body and mind remembered the comfortable rhythm of preparing for an infiltration. Pick a missing-nin from Mist out of the bingo book, dye her hair, bind her chest, add some scars to look like 'Nakano Mie', imagine what Nakano would disguise herself as and add another layer on top. Clothing placed to cover the scars, some stuffing in the chest, tying the hair tightly back to make it look shorter, a heavy slouch…
Mari slipped into the Red Moon Inn, not because slipping in was the best way to avoid notice, but because that's what a ninja with basic training in stealth but no infiltration experience would try to do. She tucked herself away in a corner for a few minutes, discreetly examining the other patrons, then finally went to the poor, overworked woman running the floor to ask for the iron nail stew. The woman looked her over and Mari scowled, lowering her chin so that the innkeeper wouldn't see the fake scar along her neck (she'd let the innkeeper spot it on her way out). Finally, the innkeeper offered to escort her to the back when she got a moment free.
The informant, Syōma, was apparently a mystery. Mari had asked some very careful questions around town and found nothing about him. She'd wanted to probe deeper before meeting him, but didn't dare – if people knew that Jiraiya used to tap the guy, she didn't want anyone to draw connections. Instead, she'd get in and out quickly as a shadow clone while the real Mari waited on a skytower a mile up and a mile out of town, just in case the infiltration went under.
She entered the quiet backroom where Syōma was waiting for visitors. The Red Moon Inn was nice, and this room was somehow even nicer. It was small, but a crackling cherry-red fire warmed the place and filled it with a pleasant cedar smell. An interlocking lattice of wood held a rack of scrolls, a pair of cushions left a comfortable place to converse, and one wall held a half-finished mural of bamboo shoots growing out of some sort of swamp.
The man in question knelt at the base of the mural, adding some delicate detail to the wall. He was bald, and Mari was struck by the tattoos covering his entire head. It was a work of art itself, a million tiny black dots that assembled into a greater picture: a flower unfolding or the rays of the sun emerging from a single point. For a moment, Mari thought she could make out hints of a face within the dots, but it vanished from her perception as soon as she tried to nail it down.
If kneeling facing away from the door hadn't given the man away as a civilian, his reaction time certainly would have. He belatedly glanced at Mari, noticing her presence after seconds, then set down his narrow paintbrush to rise and bow.
"Welcome. I am Syōma. Are you here for knowledge?"
"Yes. I'm Sae. I'm willing to pay," Mari said. Nakano would probably try to indelicately insert a false name, right?
"Welcome, Sae," the man said, his voice warm though his face remained indifferent. "Sit, please."
Mari did so, after a fractional moment of indecision appropriate for a chūnin missing-nin afraid to let her guard down.
"What knowledge do you seek?" the man asked. The tattoos thankfully did not extend onto his face, though Mari could tell that his body was tattooed with the tiny dots as well, by the way the pattern extended down his neck.
"I want a few things," Mari said. "And like I said, I have gold to pay. But most of all, I want nothing about this visit to become a part of your knowledge that you sell to other people. Nobody should hear that I was here or what I asked about. Is that something you can do?"
"You may leave now, and none shall know of your presence. Otherwise, for my silence about the questions you ask and any inferences I make about your identity, I require a quarter pound of gold."
So, tens of thousands of ryō? Pocket change. Hazō had given her a budget comfortably in the millions. Still, Mari had to try and inexpertly argue the number down until the man's firm insistence forced her to capitulate.
"Your presence shall be a secret to everybody," Syōma finally said, once they'd finished the song-and-dance of attempted negotiations and Mari had counted out the gold. "Now, what is the knowledge you want?"
Mari faked hesitation for a second. "I want information on the five major Hidden Villages. Anything you've heard about them recently, or major events in their borders. That's my first request." She needed to hedge the request for plausible deniability – Nakano was looking for information about Mist, but Mari needed Leaf first and foremost.
Syōma considered that for a second. "I do not have much knowledge of this. Information from the Western Continent rarely reaches here, and when it does, it is rarely true. Even when it is true, it is often clearly the sort of thing that does not remain true for long. Still, I shall endeavor to provide an accurate summary of things I believe to be true about the five major Hidden Villages in the last three months. For such knowledge, a suitable price would be…"
Minutes of (ultimately pointless) negotiation later, Syōma began.
"Hidden Sand continues to develop their new capital. With Chiyo's departure from the village, they are investing deeply in the alliance of the western countries. Without that alliance, they believe their enemies will swiftly crush them once and for all.
"Hidden Rock is involved in a great hunt. There is a highly powerful missing-nin known as Gōketsu Hanzō from Hidden Leaf, who has stolen four Summoning Contracts. Many from the Western Continent are looking to retrieve him, but Hidden Rock has a particular grudge against him, after he killed the husband of their leader, and so are investing deeply in the hunt."
"Hidden Lightning is similarly hunting Hanzō. However, they are also seeking a different prize. Their sutras are incomplete, perhaps even intentionally altered, and they are coming to realize this. They send their people here, into Sky and Marsh and Forest, because they believe they will find a more complete version.
"Hidden Leaf is burdened by their missing-nin. In addition to Hanzō, for whom capture would greatly enrich any who find him, they are also chasing Orochimaru of the Sannin. He has committed some crime against the western alliance, and now everyone sends their hunters to search for him, reaching even here. Much like with Hanzō, any hunter that finds him will soon after find the grave.
"Hidden Mist, in contrast, has refrained from the hunt. They seek to build alliances. They send their diplomats and advisors to Hot Springs, to the southern isles and the shrines, and to Honey. A Demon Beast still rules them, though it is a different one than a decade ago, so they still aim for conquest. Honey's eight clans have thus far held Mist's advisors at arm's length, but Mist aims to divide the united front they present to outsiders. They suggest that Mist can offer support to one of the clans to dominate their fellows, if they merely accept Mist's intervention. Mist hopes that the benefits of the offer, and the fear that one of their fellows will take it, will cause one of the clans to break and thus finally divide the Honey alliance that has refused the Mizukage for so long. From Mist, Takashima Nao attempts to influence the Kikuchi clan, Kurosawa Shin of the Iron Nerve attempts to influence the Yagi clan, and Koizumi Syutō attempts to influence the Chisaki clan. Of the other diplomats attempting to influence the other Honey clans, I know nothing."
Orochimaru had gone missing from Leaf? Mari would have thought that nothing could pull the man out of his basement… except, that wasn't true, was it? If he was obsessed enough with runes, he didn't need Leaf to supply him with bodies, and whatever equipment he'd built up in the Basement wouldn't be nearly as useful to an unrelated art. If Orochimaru didn't need Leaf, and Leaf was asking him to do onerous things (such as anything other than research), why would he stay around in Leaf?
Except, Mari needed to take Syōma's words with a grain of salt, given his retelling of the team's own escape from Leaf.
"Thank you," Mari said. "It appears that the alliance of countries to the west is quite important. What about Akatsuki? They are the only ones I can imagine that could hunt Orochimaru."
"Ah, I can provide you with additional knowledge on Akatsuki, if you wish," Syōma said. "But for this knowledge, the price will be…"
Mari almost tuned out her own attempts at bargaining the man down. Hopefully that transition to asking about Akatsuki felt inconspicuous, on the off chance the man wasn't good for his word (though if he weren't, she had no clue how he'd survived this long).
"My knowledge of Akatsuki is less recent than that of the Western Continent's countries, given that they are only individuals, and secretive ones. In fact, I have not heard any news of their passage or actions in recent months," Syōma said. "Many of them are highly greedy, and seek power wherever it is to be found. To that end, they will not chase Orochimaru when they could instead hunt Hanzō, for a much easier chance at greater reward. Still, I shall share what I know of them more broadly.
"The High Priest of the Silenced One frequents temples across the continent, where he speaks to the followers of his god of futility. He has taken substantial steps to resurrect his god, and has gained numerous powers as a result. I will provide you with a full list of the temples I know of, but he has more than temples – his followers have many trained warriors, and they hide away in the wilderness to advance their skills, earn the favor of their High Priest, and commit dark acts to hasten the resurrection of their evil god, perhaps earning a shard of divine might in the process. I do not know the locations of any hidden enclaves of warriors. If you truly wish to, there is a cult of that god in this very city, led by a man known as Kōichi. However, I caution you to stay away. That god's bargains may be appealing in the short run, but accepting them leads invariably to ruin.
"Uchiha the Kinslayer has previously aligned with the faithful, though not of the evil god. He formed an alliance with the Keepers of the Vigil of Eternal Midnight. I do not understand the extent of their relationship, which was formed nearly a decade ago. They may have fallen out, as the Kinslayer's alliance with the High Priest of the Silenced One is not something the Keepers would stomach. If they maintain their friendship, he has visited them only in secret.
"Katsumi Deidara visits the Land of Wolf occasionally, typically in the summer months, to make amends for the destruction he wrought at Four Rivers valley. He has done this enough times, to no personal benefit, that I conclude he genuinely seeks atonement.
"Kakuzu frequently went to Demon Country to gather the demons there and bind them to his service. People have claimed that he perished, but these rumors are false. With his abilities, he should be nearly impossible to kill.
"Lastly, Sasori of the Red Sands also visited Demon Country. He ravaged it six years ago while seeking the twin sealmaster clans, the Gōtō and Gondō, in order to take their creations for his own. The Gōtō and Gondō clans survived, though they lost many members and many secrets.
"Of their other members, if they have any, I know nothing with any degree of confidence."
In other words, a bunch of old, outdated, non-actionable information, and nothing on the last few months. That had been expected. Well, at least Mari could keep hope that AMITY was keeping Akatsuki too busy to hunt the team. If Orochimaru had really done something horrible, maybe that would keep the heat off them too.
No matter. She needed to keep muddying the trail before she could report back to the team. She'd ask a couple more questions then head out.
Well, this interaction had actually been pretty fast. Maybe she could afford to wander around the city, ask some questions, and see if anyone else had heard anything about the infamous mass murderers who ruled the West before she headed back into mandatory almost-isolation. Plus, a bit of sightseeing and 'discretionary spending' of the mission budget would do wonders for her sanity…
Mari has reported the above conversation to you in full.
Day 1
Infuse Air-Leadening Rune:
Hazō (Earthshaping): 50 - 6 (timeladder down) + 0 = 44
Hazō (Primordial Sealing): 32 + 22 (crossover bonus from DoB-boosted Sealing) + 12 (Disciple of the Beyond) + 0 = 66
Hazō completes the Air-Leadening Rune! Mechanics: Over the course of thirty seconds, increases the air's "stiffness" in the area-of-effect, with a number of effects:
Scents propagate 1/10th as far as they normally would.
Sounds attenuate three times as fast.
Wind speed is reduced to 1/10th its normal rate.
People and animals have difficulty breathing, increasing breath and heart rates.
Extended physical exertion is nearly impossible. Ninja can't maintain a 20mph running speed.
In combat, ninja suffer a -AB to Athletics (penalty scales with level as the faster you move, the more air you need to push through) and take -1 shift on all Sprints.
Ninja with active Wind movement ninjutsu negate this downside, as Wind ninjutsu tend to shape the air around the user.
Additional penalties will be applied to extended combats at QM's discretion.
In-universe, this rune is similar to an inverted Icarus Rune: this rune forcibly increases air's "hardness", while the Icarus rune prevents this effect from happening. Hazō is not certain what would happen if an Air-Leadening rune and an Icarus rune overlapped their areas-of-effect. He does not want to find out because he thinks the answer could be… exciting.
Like with explosive runes, this rune can be infused with a variable amount of power, making a larger rune with a larger area-of-effect.
5 points of substrate: AoE = 1 kilometer across.
25 points of substrate: AoE = 5 kilometers across.
125 points of substrate: AoE = 25 kilometers across.
This seal feels quite easy, especially with the miscellaneous pieces of veterancy he's picked up from Banshees/Silence Mines/etc. Still will probably be slow if he switches off of DoB.
Day 2
DoB rest.
We're not posting the rest of the research yet in case you want to adjust the plan in light of the conversation with your sanity checkers or the information you got from Syōma. Voting is re-opened, but you should feel free to vote to continue the previous plan. In my opinion, there's plenty of research there to fill an update.
[X] Action Plan: Mari's Big Day (cont.)
Word Count: <299
Intended Duration: Until Remote Explosive 2.0 or Rift Kicker finishes.
Sanity check all with team
Misc.
Attempt to Summon Cannai at CR 32, if that fails, buy CR 33 and try again.
Test if a refilled Hazou SC can be popped to contribute his chakra mid-Summoning
Test if Noburi can sense a Capacitor as a valid draining target with the VD. Do NOT drain it. Treat it like a Summon. Environmental chakra very likely contains nature chakra.
Move Rifts after the team has burned this location.
Take into account the number of remaining Rifts and the known concentrations of hunter-nin
Discuss, are there other intel brokers it would be worth visiting? Kagome, are any of the other Rift sites a few days travel from known brokers?
[X] Pause research. Arm up. Seals, chakra, clones, Summons. Clear out the local jashin temple. No survivors. Loot everything inside. From bodies, to junk mail, to jutsu scrolls and hidden piggy banks. Kill the blood cultists supporting the authoritarian tyrants.
"The High Priest of the Silenced One frequents temples across the continent, where he speaks to the followers of his god of futility. He has taken substantial steps to resurrect his god
More seriously - it sounds like this guy may have highly relevant Jashin lore. Maybe we could ask Mari to head back there in a different guise and ask him about it. Or even just talk to these "Keepers of the Vigil of Eternal Midnight"; some of what Syōma was saying ("the faithful" etc.) makes it sound like Marsh may have quite a few of these groups, which suggests that they coexist without constantly trying to murder each other, which suggests that they might be willing to talk about their doctrine to an interested potential convert. They wouldn't tell us anything secret, of course, but information they consider not-secret might still be more than we know.
If you truly wish to, there is a cult of that god in this very city, led by a man known as Kōichi. However, I caution you to stay away. That god's bargains may be appealing in the short run, but accepting them leads invariably to ruin.
Really hoping Hazō didn't autonomously accept Jashin's bargain. It's been mentioned quite a bit this update, and I'm worried that this means it's going to become plot-relevant in future.
"Kakuzu frequently went to Demon Country to gather the demons there and bind them to his service. People have claimed that he perished, but these rumors are false. With his abilities, he should be nearly impossible to kill.
Interesting. I wonder what those "demons" refer to? Might just be superstition, especially given the part about Kakuzu being unkillable, but would be good to know. Plus, as with Jashin lore, this might be something that to Syōma is common knowledge and not very valuable.
On Oro: if he's missing (which is consistent with what Kumokogo said about him not having been there in a while) should we cancel Noburi's instructions to send a message to Snake? It'd cost him goodwill (that is, sending the message would) and I don't think we really want to link up with a missing-nin Orochimaru (though it's tempting, since he probably could solve our chakra problems with biosealing).
