Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
@eaglejarl @Velorien would this setup allow 5SB to function?

Cariyaga said:
Can Nobby make Water Whip longer now that he's better at it than he could at the beginning of the quest? Or is the length built into the technique?

@eaglejarl @Velorien ping. Will add to Current Questions in a sec, when I go remove the ones that have been answered.

Cariyaga said:
how precisely can he do so?

In well-controlled non-combat conditions? I think he can do pretty much anything he could pull out of an equivalently sized lump of ground. He doesn't think it would be feasible to do in combat without a decent amount of training, given the difficulties in timing associated with substituting to be close enough to the flying log for long enough to activate MEW.

MadScientist said:
Can Pandaa not henge?

Adding to the Pangolin Cultural Exchange Program

More fleshed out plan, in case anyone is feeling lazy and doesn't want to scroll up. @Twofold, unless someone came by and killed off all the wasps, it sounded like something that village had been dealing with for a long time, so they're probably still there.

OliWhail said:
[X] Action Plan Hopefully Not Cthulu
Goals

Get through the rest of the meeting unscathed and in good standing with J

Make our way to the town the target is expected to appear near and perform initial recon/contingency preparation

Methods

Before getting scanned:

Mari gets over her brain fart and brings up the following (or Hazou does, if she forgets):

Hydra foundation and its possible connection to Orochi-tan (J probably already knows, but it's still good to make sure)

Info we have on on employer + Mr. Spy

Address the following concerns:

Why the scan?

It sounds like Agent Black already knows we're telling the truth

J is already confident we're loyal operatives given that we showed up, we were honest, and he's giving us a mission

This makes it seem like the scan is just to obtain information not relevant to the current situation

Can he guarantee that Agent Black will only be certifying our honesty, and not digging up clan secrets/military intel/the Pangolin Clan jutsu Akane swore to keep secret?

If not, we need to start negotiating for those things, and he should be aware that we know at least one highly classified multi-village secret (Agent Black is probably cleared to know it given her presence, but just in case)

Similarly, is this going to reveal the information about the pangolin scroll guardian, and if so does he just want us to tell it to him?

Ask if there are weird interactions between the Yamanaka jutsu bloodlines, especially ones that affect the mind or nervous system.

Get scanned, hopefully don't cause a war with Mist and/or accidentally break the Yamanaka's fragile little mortal brain

If we get to pick order, Kagome is free to go last so he can verify the rest of us haven't been affected.

Order of who should be exempted, if that's an option: Kagome (paranoia, Black already knows he wasn't lying), Keiko (summoner/clan secrets and bloodline), Akane (secret jutsu), Hazou (clan secrets and bloodline), Noburi (clan secrets), Mari (military secrets and jutsu)

Obtain further mission details

How small is "small town" and who's in charge of it? Does the place have ninjas, and if so what intel can we get on them?

Are there organized ninja forces in Rice as a whole we should know about?

What support is available to us for this mission?

Reversible paralytics especially. (J doesn't happen to have paralysis seals handy?)

Any contacts in the area

Can we resupply on basic supplies?

Sealing paper and ink

Kunai, ninja wire etc.

Trapmaking materials for Akane, esp. nets that won't disintegrate immediately with ninja strength

Any known personality traits of Arakida? Personality quirks, phobias, vices?

Run to Iron

(If J doesn't provide an alternative) Collect samples of paralytic wasp powder, test on animals to see if it's permanent, test macerator delivery by Keiko

Check whether the party, Kagome in particular, objects to what we assume is putting this lady into sealing slavery strongly enough to turn down an open-ended favor from J.

Ask about Mari's minutes-lasting genjutsu - how does it work, what are its limits

Relatedly, work on developing better protect-the-mage tactics for when she's zoned out

Kagome - how good is his transformation, given that he got a (sarcastic?) compliment on it? Can he take on animal shapes yet? (Certainly knows about the possibility, given the ferret he made Hazou blow up back in like ch 26)

Keiko should try and make at least one new contract over the course of the week. Hazou recommends either a sensory specialist (to make sure we catch Arakida) or a combat specialist (to make sure we beat her)

Get to Sarubetsu at least a couple days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected appearance

Begin surveillance of roads or areas to the west, where we expect her to come from

Set up multiple escape and meetup contingencies in the area - Kagome and Akane's jobs

Mari and Team Talky start investigating the town

Mari look for people Arakida may be meeting - this person is probably really sneaky, sic the jounin infiltrator on them

Noburi and Hazou identify locals in positions of power, try and figure out leverage points to make sure they don't interfere with us

Identify Arakida when or ideally before she gets to town and take her down or convince her to come with us

Everyone coming in, and eventually everyone going out, is a suspect

We need ways to take care of her guards if any are present and to defeat her and her sealing contingencies

We need some solid ideas how to eliminate most people from our suspects list, or increase the likelihood of catching Arakida before she gets to town

Specific mission parameters already known

Arikada Sugako - mercenary sealmistress of non-legendary but Kiraiya-respectable skill, particularly with traps and alarms, physical combat emphasizes seal-tagged, ninja-wired kunai. Mid fifties, black hair with plenty of gray, about 172cm (5'8"), a little pudgy

Alive is best, the less harm the better, specifically avoid damaging the spine or skull

Contingencies

Make sure Arakida is either properly subdued or willing when we leave, take measures against tracking

Keep the collateral damage to minimum - ninja fight inside the town will lead to dead civilians, prefer doing so outside the town limits

Buy any supplies Jiraiya doesn't provide us with while in Iron

Prepare what we think are sufficient quantities of exploding tags, directional explosives, PMYF tags, and macerator seals loaded with sawdust, mist, and toxin, then make like 10% more

If it will make a difference, spend some time getting accelerated healing in Yuni. If possible, Noburi should take this opportunity to brush up on his skills, possibly offering payment or assistance in exchange. Still arrive at least two full days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected arrival in Sarubetsu.

Cariyaga · Sep 17, 2016

This is, of course, assuming that Jiraiya doesn't volunteer us some paralytic.

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Can he guarantee that Agent Black will only be certifying our honesty, and not digging up clan secrets/military intel/the Pangolin Clan jutsu Akane swore to keep secret?

Don't say "the Pangolin Clan jutsu", say "Pangolin Clan secrets"

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

Cariyaga said:
This is, of course, assuming that Jiraiya doesn't volunteer us some paralytic.

Yes, that's included in the plan

faflec said:
Don't say "the Pangolin Clan jutsu", say "Pangolin Clan secrets"

Good call. Yay infosec!

Cariyaga · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
In well-controlled non-combat conditions? I think he can do pretty much anything he could pull out of an equivalently sized lump of ground. He doesn't think it would be feasible to do in combat without a decent amount of training, given the difficulties in timing associated with substituting to be close enough to the flying log for long enough to activate MEW.

I was more thinking with him already close enough to do so. For instance, if Kei tossed a PMYF overhead in the fight, would he be able to target it to perform Heaven and Earth Cage Technique (falling prison of stone cast precisely enough to not crush someone but closely enough interspersed to prevent kawarimi should it land).

e: Actually, could he use PMYF to grow earth down from both the log and up from the ground to increase the speed at which the cage formed?

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

Cariyaga said:
Heaven and Earth Cage Technique

We need to build up a whole library of these to go along with @Rotekian's Heaven and Earth Funeral Machine

That sounds like something I'll have to hand off to one of the actual QMs, though. My guess would be that the timing would be quite difficult at his current level given the speed of the falling log and the rate of granite growth, not to mention dealing with any rotation the log picked up as it fell.

Cariyaga · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
We need to build up a whole library of these to go along with @Rotekian's Heaven and Earth Funeral Machine

That sounds like something I'll have to hand off to one of the actual QMs, though. My guess would be that the timing would be quite difficult at his current level given the speed of the falling log and the rate of granite growth, not to mention dealing with any rotation the log picked up as it fell.

Ugh, why can't we have a moment's freaking peace to do research on our techniques?

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Run to Iron

Yeah, I'm going to agree with @Twofold on this one. What we should do is go to Sarubetsu first and set up a base; then go to Iron once we have the basic intel done, have knowledge and relevant paths to the town.

OliWhail said:
Keiko should try and make at least one new contract over the course of the week. Hazou recommends either a sensory specialist (to make sure we catch Arakida) or a combat specialist (to make sure we beat her)

Have her make 2 new contracts max, with both having the ability to reverse summon. There's a trick I figured out using reverse-summoning that'll allow us to transport goods across great distances near-instantaneously with a bit of setup. Should be useful if we need fast communications/move Keiko from one location to another.

Cariyaga · Sep 17, 2016

Shall we put some points into Deal-Making for Keiko to make things easier with the Pangolin?

Twofold · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Why the scan?

It sounds like Agent Black already knows we're telling the truth

J is already confident we're loyal operatives given that we showed up, we were honest, and he's giving us a mission

This makes it seem like the scan is just to obtain information not relevant to the current situation

Can he guarantee that Agent Black will only be certifying our honesty, and not digging up clan secrets/military intel/the Pangolin Clan jutsu Akane swore to keep secret?

If not, we need to start negotiating for those things, and he should be aware that we know at least one highly classified multi-village secret (Agent Black is probably cleared to know it given her presence, but just in case)

Similarly, is this going to reveal the information about the pangolin scroll guardian, and if so does he just want us to tell it to him?

You are leaving out the part from my argument where we consider the mind scan to be a big deal (we are effectively betraying every secret we have ever promised to keep) and how it will most likely sour our long term relation with J. It's not a really good stick but we don't have much to work with here.

OliWhail said:
Order of who should be exempted, if that's an option: Kagome (paranoia, Black already knows he wasn't lying), Keiko (summoner/clan secrets and bloodline), Akane (secret jutsu), Hazou (clan secrets and bloodline), Noburi (clan secrets), Mari (military secrets and jutsu)

I think the order should be Kagome, Mari, Keiko, Noburi, Hazou, and Akane. Akane has no loved ones he needs to protect and the specifics of the pangolin jutsu are probably harder to pick up than general information.

OliWhail said:
Identify Arakida when or ideally before she gets to town and take her down or convince her to come with us

This thing does nothing without an actual plan on how to identify her, and we should leave that stuff for the next vote.

OliWhail said:
Get to Sarubetsu at least a couple days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected appearance

Begin surveillance of roads or areas to the west, where we expect her to come from

Set up multiple escape and meetup contingencies in the area - Kagome and Akane's jobs

Mari and Team Talky start investigating the town

Mari look for people Arakida may be meeting - this person is probably really sneaky, sic the jounin infiltrator on them

Noburi and Hazou identify locals in positions of power, try and figure out leverage points to make sure they don't interfere with us

This part feels rushed. Instead of vague things like this we should start off by mapping out the village and the surroundings carefully and gathering information about who is in charge, where travelers stop to rest, who is new in town and so forth. Once we have the basic data we can start thinking about how to spot anomalies and prepare for Arikada.

This of course requires cover identities and a lot of legwork.

EDIT: Some stuff to get us started.

Gather basic information about Sarubetsu:

Map out the town and its surroundings carefully
- Any natural obstacles surrounding the town?
- Large bodies of water for a chakra refill?
- Rivers for quick movement?
- Any interesting chakra monsters around?
Track the traffic to, from and inside the town
- How many people come and go and when
- How is the traffic controlled
- Where do people congregate and when
Who are the shakers and movers of the town
What kind of ninja forces are there in the town already
Where do travelers stop inside the town
1. Inns, resorts etc.
2. Who owns them? Where do they get their food and other services?
Any newcomers in town? Other interesting happenings in the area?

Twofoe · Sep 17, 2016

Twofold said:
You are leaving out the part from my argument where we consider the mind scan to be a big deal (we are effectively betraying every secret we have ever promised to keep) and how it will most likely sour our long term relation with J. It's not a really good stick but we don't have much to work with here.

Agreed we should have that in there. I think adding a contingency argument of "only one of us (Akane) is scanned" would be a good idea, too, since he really only needs one. Try to haggle Jiraiya... Start with "none," he shoots back "all", we shoot back "one," etc... Add another contingency of "if he gets really pissed, then back off hard"

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

faflec said:
<plan suggestions>

Incorporated.

Cariyaga said:
Shall we put some points into Deal-Making for Keiko to make things easier with the Pangolin?

Have we confirmed we can buy it?

Twofold said:
Kagome, Mari, Keiko, Noburi, Hazou, and Akane.

I'm curious why Mari ahead of Keiko, and why Noburi ahead of Hazou?

Twofold said:
This thing does nothing without an actual plan on how to identify her, and we should leave that stuff for the next vote.

Yeah, honestly that seems reasonable.

Twofold said:
Instead of vague things like this we should start off by mapping out the village and the surroundings carefully and gathering information about who is in charge, where travelers stop to rest, who is new in town and so forth. Once we have the basic data we can start thinking about how to spot anomalies and prepare for Arikada.

Incorporated

Twofold said:
You are leaving out the part from my argument where we consider the mind scan to be a big deal (we are effectively betraying every secret we have ever promised to keep) and how it will most likely sour our long term relation with J. It's not a really good stick but we don't have much to work with here.

I'd be happy to include it, but I found it difficult to condense. Does the current version represent it to your satisfaction?

OliWhail said:
[X] Action Plan Hopefully Not Cthulu
Goals

Get through the rest of the meeting unscathed and in good standing with J

Make our way to the town the target is expected to appear near and perform initial recon/contingency preparation

Methods

Before getting scanned:

Mari gets over her brain fart and brings up the following (or Hazou does, if she forgets):

Hydra foundation and its possible connection to Orochi-tan (J probably already knows, but it's still good to make sure)

Info we have on on employer + Mr. Spy

Address the following concerns:

Why the scan?

It sounds like Agent Black already knows we're telling the truth

J is already confident we're loyal operatives given that we showed up, we were honest, and he's giving us a mission

This makes it seem like the scan is just to obtain information not relevant to the current situation

Can he guarantee that Agent Black will only be certifying our honesty, and not digging up clan secrets/military intel/the Pangolin Clan secrets Akane and/or Keiko swore to keep/Pangolin Guardian info?

If not, we need to start negotiating for those things, and he should be aware that we know at least one highly classified multi-village secret (Agent Black is probably cleared to know it given her presence, but just in case).

If so, we're having our deepest level of privacy probed for no real gain on his end, as pointed out above. Is the damage to our working relationship and potentially to our mission performance (he saw how badly Kagome reacted) worth it?

Ask if there are weird interactions between the Yamanaka jutsu bloodlines, especially ones that affect the mind or nervous system.

Get scanned, hopefully don't cause a war with Mist and/or accidentally break the Yamanaka's fragile little mortal brain

If we get to pick order, Kagome is free to go last so he can verify the rest of us haven't been affected.

Order of who should be exempted, if that's an option: Kagome (paranoia, Black already knows he wasn't lying), Keiko (summoner/clan secrets and bloodline), Akane (secret jutsu), Hazou (clan secrets and bloodline), Noburi (clan secrets), Mari (military secrets and jutsu)

Obtain further mission details

How small is "small town" and who's in charge of it? Does the place have ninjas, and if so what intel can we get on them?

Are there organized ninja forces in Rice as a whole we should know about?

What support is available to us for this mission?

Reversible paralytics especially. (J doesn't happen to have paralysis seals handy?)

Any contacts in the area

Can we resupply on basic supplies?

Sealing paper and ink

Kunai, ninja wire etc.

Trapmaking materials for Akane, esp. nets that won't disintegrate immediately with ninja strength

(If we expect accelerated healing will help) Does J object to us getting in touch with his medic contact in Yuni for healing?

Any known personality traits of Arakida? Personality quirks, phobias, vices?

Run to Sarabetsu for initial recon

Mari + Team Talky

Identify locals in positions of power, try and figure out leverage points to make sure they help us or at least don't interfere with us

Keep an eye out for people who may be contacts of Arakida, e.g. new people in town, people placed highly in organized crime or ninja business

Other team members map out the town and area, identifying routes of approach , places travelers stop to rest, spots for ambushes

Keiko should try and make at least one new contract over the course of the week. Hazou recommends either a sensory specialist (to make sure we catch Arakida) or a combat specialist (to make sure we beat her), preferrably both. And she should come back each night unless there's a particular reason to stay, in which case we trust her judgement.

Tell Pandaa he has to send her back if she thinks we sent her away again.

Team actions

Ask about Mari's minutes-lasting genjutsu - how does it work, what are its limits. Relatedly, work on developing better protect-the-mage tactics for when she's zoned out

Kagome - how good is his transformation, given that he got a (sarcastic?) compliment on it? Can he take on animal shapes yet? (Certainly knows about the possibility, given the ferret he made Hazou blow up back in like ch 26)

Make a trip to Iron, unless we have an alternative paralytic and a couple days of accelerated healing wouldn't help

(If J doesn't provide an alternative) Collect samples of paralytic wasp powder, test on animals to see if it's permanent, test macerator delivery by Keiko

(If it will make a difference to our combat capabilities and J allows it) Spend some time getting accelerated healing in Yuni. If possible, Noburi should take this opportunity to brush up on his skills, possibly offering payment or assistance in exchange. Still arrive at least two full days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected arrival in Sarubetsu.

Keiko should keep working on finding contracts, or help setting up and analyzing tests of the powder if she's already found them.

Get to Sarubetsu at least a couple days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected appearance

On the way, look out for anyone else approaching the town, since we'll be coming from roughly the west and our intel says Arakida will be doing the same

Begin surveillance of roads into the town, as well as of areas to the west

Set up multiple escape and meetup contingencies in the area - Kagome and Akane's jobs

Mari and Team Talky continue investigating the town

Mari continues looking for people Arakida may be meeting - this person is probably really sneaky, sic the jounin infiltrator on them

Noburi and Hazou pull whatever influence levers they found when we were here the first time

Keiko should keep working on finding contracts, or help puzzle out who Arakida may be meeting if she's already found them.

Contingencies

Make sure Arakida is either properly subdued or willing when we leave, take measures against tracking

Keep the collateral damage to minimum - ninja fight inside the town will lead to dead civilians, prefer doing so outside the town limits

Buy any supplies Jiraiya doesn't provide us with while in Iron

Prepare what we think are sufficient quantities of exploding tags, directional explosives, PMYF tags, and macerator seals loaded with sawdust, mist, and toxin, then make like 10% more

Check whether the party, Kagome in particular, objects to what we assume is putting this lady into sealing slavery strongly enough to turn down an open-ended favor from J.

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

Twofold said:
Map out the town and its surroundings carefully

Any natural obstacles surrounding the town?

Large bodies of water for a chakra refill?

Rivers for quick movement?

Any interesting chakra monsters around?

Track the traffic to, from and inside the town

How many people come and go and when

How is the traffic controlled

Where do people congregate and when

Who are the shakers and movers of the town

What kind of ninja forces are there in the town already

Where do travelers stop inside the town

Inns, resorts etc.

Who owns them? Where do they get their food and other services?

Any newcomers in town? Other interesting happenings in the area?

Twofoe said:
Agreed we should have that in there. I think adding a contingency argument of "only one of us (Akane) is scanned" would be a good idea, too, since he really only needs one. Try to haggle Jiraiya... Start with "none," he shoots back "all", we shoot back "one," etc... Add another contingency of "if he gets really pissed, then back off hard"

Incorporated.

Jeez, I feel like the Borg of plan-making. YOU WILL BE INCORPORATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Make a trip to Iron, unless we have an alternative paralytic and a couple days of accelerated healing wouldn't help

Don't you mean "it would help"?

Also, make it clear we're going to get the powder and nothing else; we don't want to spend more than a day in the place unless Yuno's medic-nin would significantly increase our abilities.

...

Actually, it might be a good idea to cut the plan up a bit. Make it so eaglejarl only has to write the end of our conversation with Jiraiya + our immediate investigation into Sarubetsu. This way we have more time to change our plans as necessary.

Twofold · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
I'm curious why Mari ahead of Keiko, and why Noburi ahead of Hazou?

Mari has a lot of valuable info in her head, and I don't think it's a good idea to reveal how deep the Truth Lost in the Fog damage goes.

Noburi could go before Hazou, but he has more stuff to protect than Hazou (little sisters + family vs just mom). I also have a feeling that Hazou will be better at dodging the mind probe due to high Intelligence and bloodline shenanigans. (For example, we could have Hazou run through his IN movement index really fast inside his head. Maybe plan out some really complex movement patterns and contingencies.)

OliWhail said:
I'd be happy to include it, but I found it difficult to condense.

That's probably because it was already pretty condense (through the magic of SPOILERS!). You could have just checked for typos and copy-pasted it in.

If you are enamored with your current wording, you should still bring the point about soured relations up the bullet point chain. It's the meaty portion of the argument why J shouldn't just go violating his assets.

About the wasp thing:

We could split the team in two and have the other half go and prep the area while the other one goes bug hunting. I think the split would have to go like this:

Bug Team: Kagome, Nobby, Akane

Town Team: Mari, Hazou, Keiko

Mostly because we need Nobby there to collect the stuff properly, Hazou is shit for bug hunting (punching bugs is bad), and I don't feel good about putting Keiko and Nobby in the same team yet; especially under Kagome's supervision.

Cariyaga · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Have we confirmed we can buy it?

Better to ask forgiveness than permission in this case: We would be doing stuff with looking for pangolin regardless, for which dealmaking would help; if we can't get it, it's no big deal, and we can have her put points into other things otherwise.

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

Twofold said:
We could split the team in two and have the other half go and prep the area while the other one goes bug hunting. I think the split would have to like this:

I would prefer to not split the party, TBH.

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

faflec said:
Don't you mean "it would help"?

No? We should go unless (alternative paralytic == True) && (benefit from healing == False).

Twofold said:
We could split the team in two and have the other half go and prep the area while the other one goes bug hunting. I think the split would have to like this:

Bug Team: Kagome, Nobby, Akane

Town Team: Mari, Hazou, Keiko

Hmm. That is and idea. I'm reluctant to splitting a hurt party though, but I guess at least both groups have an adult.

Twofold said:
Hazou is shit for bug hunting (punching bugs is bad)

Although I just looked up the type interaction chart, and apparently Fighting type is also ineffective against Bug. TMYN.

Twofold said:
you should still bring the point about soured relation up the bullet point chain

You mean this one?

Twofold said:
Messing with a person's mind is pretty much the worst violation of privacy possible, it will absolutely poison our relationship

Jiraya is now on the right side of force and we can't really do anything about it, so this will not be apparent immediately

Does Jiraya really think that fear is a good way to foster loyalty and performance in his assets for long term?

The problem is that this incident is not something that we will forget, and it will affect our long term decision making

Of course, if this mission is just a suicide mission to get rid of us, we can see the point of pumping us empty of useful info now

Honestly, that sounds too much like an implied threat against Jiraiya for me to be comfortable with it.

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
No? We should go unless (alternative paralytic == True) && (benefit from healing == False).

OH I thought you meant Noburi's general healing (which we'd lose from travel), not Yuno's medic-nin's healing (which we'd lose from not traveling).

Twofold · Sep 17, 2016

OliWhail said:
Honestly, that sounds too much like an implied threat against Jiraiya for me to be comfortable with it.

It is an implied threat at some level, the fact that Hazou (who is scared shitless at the moment) is even skirting it should underline how important this is from his perspective*. I'm also not sure if the QMs (or in character J) will pick up the implication if we don't spell it out.

There is a risk of J flipping out, but I don't see us having any chance of getting even partially out of the mind scan unless we take the risk and push.

*EDIT: Because the only thing that might hold J back here is if he is confronted with how pissed we will be about the whole mind scan thing even if we are not lying to him.

faflec · Sep 17, 2016

Twofold said:
There is a risk of J flipping out, but I don't see us having any chance of getting even partially out of the mind scan unless we take the risk and push.

Question: Why are we trying to get out of the mindscan. Maybe I missed some of the conversation or something, but I honestly cannot understand the threat.

Twofold · Sep 17, 2016

faflec said:
Question: Why are we trying to get out of the mindscan. Maybe I missed some of the conversation or something, but I honestly cannot understand the threat.

It basically leads us to forfeit all the valuable information we have about everything and gives Jiraya insane amount of ammunition to manipulate us as he wishes.*

Not to mention, imagine someone reading your mind. Even if they never used that information for anything (EDIT: J will use everything that he can get away with), would you be okay with that?

*Actually this might be a better way to coax that "soured relations" argument. The power imbalance the mind reading creates makes it almost impossible for us to view any positive action Jiraya takes in the future as even remotely genuine. Meaning if he does the mind scan he is basically forfeiting any chance of future good faith bargaining with us.

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

faflec said:
Question: Why are we trying to get out of the mindscan. Maybe I missed some of the conversation or something, but I honestly cannot understand the threat.

We suspect it involves giving up valuable info for free, might reveal things we've promised to keep secret, violates our privacy, and has a nonzero chance of causing a war between Fire and Water if it reveals that Kurosawas can produce children with the Sharingan.

Updated plan, now with everything neatly hidden in spoilers for @eaglejarl's convenience. @Twofold I tried to include a stronger statement against getting scanned - let me know what you think?

OliWhail said:
[X] Action Plan: Hopefully Not Cthulu
Goals

Get through the rest of the meeting unscathed and in good standing with J

Make our way to the town the target is expected to appear near and perform initial recon/contingency preparation

Methods

Before getting scanned:

Mari gets over her brain fart and brings up the following (or Hazou does, if she forgets):

Hydra foundation and its possible connection to Orochi-tan (J probably already knows, but it's still good to make sure)

Info we have on on employer + Mr. Spy

Address the following concerns:

It sounds like Agent Black already knows we're telling the truth

J is already confident we're loyal operatives given that we showed up, we were honest, and he's giving us a mission

This makes it seem like the scan is just to obtain information not relevant to the current situation

Can he guarantee that Agent Black will only be certifying our honesty, and not digging up clan secrets/military intel/the Pangolin Clan secrets Akane and/or Keiko swore to keep/Pangolin Guardian info?

If not, we need to start negotiating for those things, and he should be aware that we know at least one highly classified multi-village secret (Agent Black is probably cleared to know it given her presence, but just in case).

If so, we're having our deepest level of privacy probed for no real gain on his end, as pointed out above. Is the damage to our working relationship and potentially to our mission performance (he saw how badly Kagome reacted) worth it?

Either way, making us go through this produces resentment and discontent that can't possibly be beneficial for long-term growth in performance and loyalty of us as assets.

Ask if there are weird interactions between the Yamanaka jutsu bloodlines, especially ones that affect the mind or nervous system.

Would one or a couple of us being scanned be sufficient?

Get scanned, hopefully don't cause a war with Mist and/or accidentally break the Yamanaka's fragile little mortal brain

If we get to pick order, Kagome is free to go last so he can verify the rest of us haven't been affected.

Order of who should be exempted, if that's an option: Kagome (paranoia, Black already knows he wasn't lying), Keiko (summoner/clan secrets and concern about bloodline), Mari (military secrets and jutsu), Akane (pangolin secrets), Noburi (clan secrets), Hazou (clan secrets)

How small is "small town" and who's in charge of it? Does the place have ninjas, and if so what intel can we get on them?

Are there organized ninja forces in Rice as a whole we should know about?

What support is available to us for this mission?

Reversible paralytics especially. (J doesn't happen to have paralysis seals handy?)

Any contacts in the area

Can we resupply on basic supplies?

Sealing paper and ink

Kunai, ninja wire etc.

Trapmaking materials for Akane, esp. nets that won't disintegrate immediately with ninja strength

(If we expect accelerated healing will help) Does J object to us getting in touch with his medic contact in Yuni for healing?

Any known personality traits of Arakida? Personality quirks, phobias, vices?

Run to Sarabetsu for initial recon

Identify locals in positions of power, try and figure out leverage points to make sure they help us or at least don't interfere with us

Keep an eye out for people who may be contacts of Arakida, e.g. new people in town, people placed highly in organized crime or ninja business

Track the traffic to, from and inside the town

How many people come and go and when? How is the traffic controlled?

Where do people congregate and when?

Where do travelers stop inside the town - Inns, resorts etc.

Who owns them? Where do they get their food and other services?

Keep an ear open for notable current events

Map out the town and area, identifying routes of approach, places travelers stop to rest, spots for ambushes

Any natural obstacles surrounding the town?

Large bodies of water for a chakra refill? Rivers for quick movement?

Any interesting chakra monsters around?

Keiko should try and make at least one new contract over the course of the week. Hazou recommends either a sensory specialist (to make sure we catch Arakida) or a combat specialist (to make sure we beat her), preferrably both. She should come back each night unless there's a particular reason to stay, in which case we trust her judgement.

Tell Pandaa he has to send her back if she thinks we sent her away again.

Ask about Mari's minutes-lasting genjutsu - how does it work, what are its limits. Relatedly, work on developing better protect-the-mage tactics for when she's zoned out

Kagome - how good is his transformation, given that he got a (sarcastic?) compliment on it? Can he take on animal shapes yet? (Certainly knows about the possibility, given the ferret he made Hazou blow up back in like ch 26)

Make a trip to Iron, unless we have an alternative paralytic and we would get no benefit from a couple days of accelerated healing in Yuni/we are forbidden from contacting the Yuni medic

(If J doesn't provide an alternative) Collect samples of paralytic wasp powder, test on animals and chakra beasts to see if it's permanent and/or stops breathing, test macerator delivery by Keiko

(If it will make a difference to our combat capabilities and J allows it) Spend some time getting accelerated healing in Yuni. If possible, Noburi should take this opportunity to brush up on his skills, possibly offering payment or assistance in exchange.

Keiko should keep working on finding contracts, or help setting up and analyzing tests of the powder if she's already found them.

Get to Sarubetsu at least two full days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected arrival.

Be theret least a couple days ahead of Arakida's earliest expected appearance

On the way, look out for anyone else approaching the town, since we'll be coming from roughly the west and our intel says Arakida will be doing the same

Begin surveillance of roads into the town, as well as of areas to the west

Set up multiple escape and meetup contingencies in the area - Kagome and Akane's jobs

Mari and Team Talky continue investigating the town

Mari continues looking for people Arakida may be meeting - this person is probably really sneaky, sic the jounin infiltrator on them

Noburi and Hazou pull whatever influence levers they found when we were here the first time

Keiko should keep working on finding contracts, or help puzzle out who Arakida may be meeting if she's already found them.

Make sure Arakida is either properly subdued or willing when we leave, take measures against tracking

Keep the collateral damage to minimum - ninja fight inside the town will lead to dead civilians, prefer doing so outside the town limits

Buy any supplies Jiraiya doesn't provide us with while in Iron

Prepare what we think are sufficient quantities of exploding tags, directional explosives, PMYF tags, and macerator seals loaded with sawdust, mist, and toxin, then make like 10% more

Check whether the party, Kagome in particular, objects to what we assume is putting this lady into sealing slavery strongly enough to turn down an open-ended favor from J.

Travel under long range movement SOP.

Twofoe · Sep 17, 2016

@Twofold you should copy-paste OliWhail's plan and put in a more forceful argument if it's still not to your liking. We can have two versions of the plan to vote between

OliWhail · Sep 17, 2016

Y'all should vote, I'm pretty sure my plan and @faflec's have the same level of support as Armageddon Initiative right now

Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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