Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

[Left-Hand Mutant]

I don't think a single person in this thread has agreed to any future where we don't save Akane.

The question is how to do so effectively.

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Right, this was somewhat in rebuttal to the general sentiment of "no way will we set foot in the rift, especially if it means giving up DoB".

My response is "we can/should look for better options, but if that's what it takes, we'll do it".

Seems like we're on the same page here.

 

[Sir Stompy]

Also, Cannai could have sniffed around those shielded labs, which wouldn't have had their scent traces obliterated by the bombardment. Errors would certainly be possible through such a channel, but that's at least nonzero information about which akatsuki members were present recently. Freefall Archive Binge Speedreader

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Cannai doesn't think it's practical to try to find scents in the ruins of the fortress in the time available. The explosions generated an enormous amount of dust and would have obliterated or dispersed the tiny traces on which scent tracking relies

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Seems like Cannai himself disagrees. Which is why I cut it. 🤷‍♂️

There's still all the dust everywhere getting in the way of a decent scent trail.

 

[MarsIronPI]

Asuma: ... I'm not the Hokage anymore so I can't order you not to do that, but don't you fucking dare.

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To be fair, they may well have lost the procedural memory of how to cast EM, so…

 

[ContextBot]

in the Pure Lands

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I find it weird that people keep calling the Post-Portal world Pure Lands

The IRL connection can obviously be researched on Wikipedia, but it basically boils down to a Buddha (they are many) creating Realms of their own to help practitioners to be reborn OUTSIDE the "Circle of Reincarnation" to peacefully find enlightenment.

Pure Lands are basically "Enlightenment Acedemy Realms", not afterlives in any kind of Christian sense.

Of course, MfD could simply call the first Realm people enter Pure Lands....but why?

They are a bunch of references to Buddhist terms that somewhat match their origin,

KAMEHAMEHA talking about a Cycle of Reincarnation,

"IT WASHES THE SOULS OF THE DEAD AND GUIDES THEM BACK ALONG THE PATH OF REINCARNATION. A MOST DUTIFUL BEING FROM ALL THAT I HAVE HEARD, DEDICATED TO ITS TASK AND EAGER TO PERFORM IT. WHY IT TAKES ON THIS DUTY OR HOW IT DOES IT, I HAVE NO IDEA. I AM REPORTING ONLY WHAT VARIOUS SUMMONERS HAVE TOLD ME OR BROUGHT TO ME IN BOOKS AND SCROLLS, AND WHAT THE MASTERS OF MY OWN WORLD HAVE LEARNED OVER THE CENTURIES."

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"INDEED! THAT ONE, I AM RELATIVELY CONFIDENT OF. IT HAS MADE ENOUGH IMPRESSIONS ON YOUR WORLD THAT MANY OF THEM HAVE TRICKLED BACK TO ME OVER THE CENTURIES AND THEY PAINT A CONSISTENT PICTURE. FOR ITS BRETHREN, THINGS ARE FAR LESS CERTAIN.

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He is quite confident that there is some form of actual "Cycle of Reincarnation". And Kei has made some references herself but she and Snowflake also used Pure Lands, so I just consider it as a mixture of ignorance and Lore they never shared.

Then there is Yuno's Story about the "King of Hell",

"The doctor looked around and saw inside the King of Hell's mouth, where there was a forest of trees of every colour. He asked the King of Hell what they were. 'Every tree is a soul awaiting transmigration,' the King of Hell said. 'The white will be reborn on the Deva Path, to enjoy beauty and bliss for the lifetime of a deva. The red, on the Asura Path, to drown in violence and bloodlust for the lifetime of an asura. The black, on the Naraka Path, to be tortured for the long, long lifetime of a fallen soul. 'Please,' the doctor said, 'will you not give me the colour of the Human Path, so that I may return to my beloved princess?' 'Very well,' the King of Hell said, and turned him into a tree at once.

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And the Shikamaru/Kei wedding,

Kei, who had naturally memorised the relevant texts in advance, tuned out the voice in the favour of watching the priest's hands as he drew forth seven gems: blue for the Human Path, white for the Deva Path, red for the Asura Path, green for the Beast Path, grey for the Preta Path, and black for the Naraka Path. Then he added another, iridescent, gem, and many in the crowd gasped. They must have gone their entire lives without seeing the Seventh Path gem, the privilege granted to summoners alone.

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The obvious part is that both Hagoromo and Yuno's story agree on most colours and names for the Paths. That could imply a number of things, but at least both versions being similar shows that something stayed consistent for whatever hundreds of years.

But I do want to highlight that in Yuno's "King of Hell" story and the general accepted Buddhist version of the "King of Hell" as the ultimate judge of where your Soul is supposed to go is the same.

Then ther are some 7th Path names that might relate to Buddism:

First, the Mara Clan being described as Clan of emptation, subversion and misdirection:

Masters of temptation, subversion, misdirection.

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While also having a name (besides the animal) possible referencing a Buddhist demon named Mara who embodies similar properties: (A bit of a stretch I guess, but the Three Daughters have some semblance of this)

Second, Yamaraja the Porcupine Boss, is a name for the King of Naraka, (just google the Name)

Minami gave a small smile. "Rambunctious. Their leader, Yamaraja

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Third, Enma is another name for the "King of Hell" in Buddhism.


I am not trying to say that the afterlive looks like a Buddhist textbook example, but after all those references, ignoring a possible "Cycle of Reincarnation" when 6 out of 7 known Paths fit the standard Buddhistic cycle is kind of weird. And then sticking with the Pure Lands as the default "Afterlife Portal Name" when it doesn't really match seems wrong.

This doesn't mean that the world behind the portal doesn't turn out to be "THE" Pure Lands or "A" Pure Land. Maybe even from the Sage of Six Paths, maybe the place got corrupted. But it's mostly Lore from wherever, including canon that is extremely underdeveloped.

 

[Inferno Vulpix]

One thing I'd like to toss into the ring here is that Hazou, in character, most likely wants to be part of the rift exploration. Not just because his particular circumstances might trigger a fast path to Akane, not even necessarily because it's more efficient, just... I can't imagine him being content standing still here when he could be moving.

The obvious alternate option for him is to stay in Leaf and research, doing shenanigans to hop outside of the Force Dome for infusions or something and ultimately working to upgrade Leaf's defenses while others delve the Pure Lands instead. That's a very sensible way to arrange Leaf's manpower, and it's what I expect Naruto to be angling for. Outside of some basic preliminary exploration of the local area we'll have to fight to justify why we're running around in the no-chakra land instead of making more runes to fend off the Akatsuki.

But crucially, none of that means that Hazou won't want to be on the delving team. That he won't yearn to be on the front lines actively making it happen instead of waiting and hoping a dimension away. Whether it's practical is another consideration, and indeed if nothing unexpected happens I very well might concede the point and support Hazou doing runecrafting instead, but if we're making the argument to go in there ourselves and do our best to rescue Jiraiya and Akane with our own two hands then Hazoupilot will be right there with us.

 

[DanZapman]

Of course, MfD could simply call the first Realm people enter Pure Lands....but why?

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Naruto did* and the influence of being a Naruto fanfic is inescapable.

*more specificlaly- Naraka was the first realm and it served as a purgatory everyone had to go through before the Pure Lands

 

[Inferno Vulpix]

I find it weird that people keep calling the Post-Portal world Pure Lands

The IRL connection can obviously be researched on Wikipedia, but it basically boils down to a Buddha (they are many) creating Realms of their own to help practitioners to be reborn OUTSIDE the "Circle of Reincarnation" to peacefully find enlightenment.

Pure Lands are basically "Enlightenment Acedemy Realms", not afterlives in any kind of Christian sense.

Of course, MfD could simply call the first Realm people enter Pure Lands....but why?

They are a bunch of references to Buddhist terms that somewhat match their origin,

KAMEHAMEHA talking about a Cycle of Reincarnation,



He is quite confident that there is some form of actual "Cycle of Reincarnation". And Kei has made some references herself but she and Snowflake also used Pure Lands, so I just consider it as a mixture of ignorance and Lore they never shared.

Then there is Yuno's Story about the "King of Hell",


And the Shikamaru/Kei wedding,


The obvious part is that both Hagoromo and Yuno's story agree on most colours and names for the Paths. That could imply a number of things, but at least both versions being similar shows that something stayed consistent for whatever hundreds of years.

But I do want to highlight that in Yuno's "King of Hell" story and the general accepted Buddhist version of the "King of Hell" as the ultimate judge of where your Soul is supposed to go is the same.

Then ther are some 7th Path names that might relate to Buddism:

First, the Mara Clan being described as Clan of emptation, subversion and misdirection:


While also having a name (besides the animal) possible referencing a Buddhist demon named Mara who embodies similar properties: (A bit of a stretch I guess, but the Three Daughters have some semblance of this)

Second, Yamaraja the Porcupine Boss, is a name for the King of Naraka, (just google the Name)


Third, Enma is another name for the "King of Hell" in Buddhism.


I am not trying to say that the afterlive looks like a Buddhist textbook example, but after all those references, ignoring a possible "Cycle of Reincarnation" when 6 out of 7 known Paths fit the standard Buddhistic cycle is kind of weird. And then sticking with the Pure Lands as the default "Afterlife Portal Name" when it doesn't really match seems wrong.

This doesn't mean that the world behind the portal doesn't turn out to be "THE" Pure Lands or "A" Pure Land. Maybe even from the Sage of Six Paths, maybe the place got corrupted. But it's mostly Lore from wherever, including canon that is extremely underdeveloped.

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Well, we were originally calling it Naraka, right? But IIRC eventually Kei and/or Shikamaru came to us and said that it'd be better to call it the Pure Lands, both A) because it'd be bad PR to say that Leaf-nin ended up in Naraka, and B) because apparently the Nara consulted the lore and concluded that the Pure Lands is a better match anyways.

I don't recall if they made specific arguments, and Shikamaru could very well be wrong, but in-universe Hazou has been specifically instructed to call it the Pure Lands and we don't know enough about the place for me to bite the bullet and split it into separate IC/OOC names. If we're gonna pull a "Hazou calls it X but he's wrong, it's actually Y" then I'd like to actually know that it's Y first.

 

[redzonejoe]

Whether it's practical is another consideration, and indeed if nothing unexpected happens I very well might concede the point and support Hazou doing runecrafting instead,

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So here's the thing. Even as a proponent of Hazo staying out of the rift, I'm still imagining that our action plans and the actual content of the chapters being written will be heavily rift-focused. Hazo doing runecrafting will just be a handful of rolls at the end of the chapter, and all the actual content will be Hazo reading reports, interrogating (friendly) the people exploring, figuring out the mechanics of how the paths interact, helping to find solutions to problems that are stumping the chakra-drained Jonin, and so on.

From our perspective in the thread, we'll be right there in the rift, exploring it with everybody else.

Hazo, personally, might be stuck doing research (might), but even then I imagine all his free time and his spare thoughts will be on the rift. And he might desire to go running around personally, but Hazo has done a lot of things he'd rather not do lately in the name of practicality. Incidentally, what are we doing with the moon ninja now that we don't need their chakra for any imminent major battles?

 

[ContextBot]

but in-universe Hazou has been specifically instructed to call it the Pure Lands and we don't know enough about the place for me to bite the bullet and split it into separate IC/OOC names.

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It took me a while to find but,

Do you mean this?

"As I feared," Kei said. "Hazō, while I may be furious with Jiraiya for his betrayal, with a human complexity which I have apparently utterly failed to indicate despite in fact being human, I do not actually believe he belongs in Naraka—the hell reserved for the vilest sinners—as your choice of terminology has implied to Akane. Nor am I convinced by Shikamaru's Will of Fire thesis. Accordingly, I called in a favour from a KEI theologian, who spent some time in discussion with the Hagoromo. According to their allegedly Sage-given lore, the souls of the newly-deceased first travel to the so-called Pure or Purifying Land, a heaven of respite where they are cleansed of the mortal bonds and burdens that cannot follow them on the journey of transmigration. Only once this purification is complete do they move on to their next destination among the Six Paths. If the place beyond the rift is truly the afterlife, and if Jiraiya is truly to be found there with his original appearance and identity—both hypotheses dubious and loosely supported at best—then this Pure Land seems a more plausible candidate."

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I only remember this portion by Shikamaru,

"Suppose you succeed, and setting aside the fact that every good ninja will have become one with the Will of Fire, and thus either be beyond extraction or will have to be torn out of that state of eternal bliss and cast back down into the horrors of the mortal realm.

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Naruto did* and the influence of being a Naruto fanfic is inescapable.

*more specificlaly- Naraka was the first realm and it served as a purgatory everyone had to go through before the Pure Lands

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That would be some garbage Pure Lands.

 

[roobee]

Or, well, I could, but that would be a pretty big turning point in his character away from his ideals to a broken shell of a duty-bound utilitarian machine.

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But think of the TYS points!

I don't think a single person in this thread has agreed to any future where we don't save Akane.

The question is how to do so effectively.

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I'd prefer her to be saved over not being saved. But I won't be too bummed if we fail about it

 

[Inferno Vulpix]

It took me a while to find but,

Do you mean this?

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Yeah, that seems likely to be what I was remembering. It's no slam-dunk or anything, but until we actually know more about the place it's probably best to just use whatever term the characters are using.

(Also I think Asuma once told us off for saying Naraka instead of Pure Lands, focusing on the PR reasons, but that's even fuzzier as a memory so don't count on it.)

 

[Veedrac]

Dearest Akatsuki​

Dearest Akatsuki,

I am writing in regret to inform you of some damage to your facilities that occured while reclaiming property that was stolen from us under false pretenses. This property damage occurred as a result of obstruction that was caused by one or more Akatsuki members, who were dealt with at our cost. As we occurred no personnel losses during this mission, we have graciously decided not to charge cleanup costs to Akatsuki.

We welcome you to join us at Hokage tower in two weeks' time to discuss our future friendly partnership. We offer in this an opportunity to have outstanding charges for past damages cleared. You are advised to count the dead in your number before attempting to kill or kidnap another Hokage, or to harm another Leaf ninja of any rank.

I hope this message finds you well,
Leaf

 

[Spector29]

In terms of Asset Management, Naruto has gotta know that ordering us to stay away from the Rift would go down like a lead balloon. I'm sure he could try, and indeed see us being put in charge of something like an 'Afterlife Base Camp' where we reinforce our starting positions on both sides of the RIft, in addition to minding the Runes made in Leaf's defense.

I wonder when Naruto orders us to teach Runecrafting to somebody else so that Leaf's defense for the foreseeable future doesn't hinge on two questionably loyal ninja.

 

[Anqied]

I wonder when Naruto orders us to teach Runecrafting to somebody else so that Leaf's defense for the foreseeable future doesn't hinge on two questionably loyal ninja.

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I imagine that once we get Jiraiya/Minato/(Tobirama???) back and up to their accustomed skill levels, they're absolutely going to want to learn. But also remember the more people Runecrafting (especially lower skill levelled people (... full no offense to Leaf's sealmasters)), the greater chance of a runic failure, which... Well. We could always just EM nuke Leaf instead, that'll probably be safer.

 

[Left-Hand Mutant]

I wonder when Naruto orders us to teach Runecrafting to somebody else so that Leaf's defense for the foreseeable future doesn't hinge on two questionably loyal ninja.

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He can swing by anytime he wants a little treason to spice up his day, 'cuz we ain't doing that, and he can't afford to make us.

As treason goes, it'll be pretty mild; something everyone at the table can enjoy.

---

More realistically: "In my capacity Leaf's senior sealmaster, I advise you that that obeying that order will probably end the world. Are you sure?"

Then bicker over whether or not Hazou is, in fact, Leaf's Senior Sealmaster.

 

[faflec]

More realistically: "In my capacity Leaf's senior sealmaster, I advise you that that obeying that order will probably end the world. Are you sure?"

Then bicker over whether or not Hazou is, in fact, Leaf's Senior Sealmaster.

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HAZOU: Fine, I concede that I'm not Leaf's Senior Sealmaster.

NARUTO: Good. Now then-

HAZOU: I am, however, Leaf's Senior Runemaster.

 

[ContextBot]

HAZOU: Fine, I concede that I'm not Leaf's Senior Sealmaster.

NARUTO: Good. Now then-

HAZOU: I am, however, Leaf's Senior Runemaster.

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All Sealmaster of Leaf: Hisss

 

[_The_Bomb]

I wonder when Naruto orders us to teach Runecrafting to somebody else so that Leaf's defense for the foreseeable future doesn't hinge on two questionably loyal ninja.

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That fucker stole our inheritance of S-Rank shinies. He can take the one we invented over my dead body.

Spoiler: QUOTES ABOUT INHERITANCE

Jiraiya sighed and rubbed his face with both hands. "Look, I get it. You're young, you've got this thing you're super excited about, you thought it would be a good way to get your ideas out there. If you had checked with me in advance, which you did not, I could have either told you not to or helped you turn it into something that didn't utterly fuck me over. As it is, I've got two choices: I can admit that my potential heir just ran straight into the wall and is a naïve idiot, or I can support you, which backs me into a corner in negotiations and makes me look like a naïve idiot. Which brings into question my own wisdom in bringing you in from the cold and adopting you, and shows that I'm too weak to control my own ninja. So, thanks for that."

Hazō blinked. "Your heir?"

Jiraiya rolled his eyes. "Seriously, that's the part you took from that? If—when we get Naruto back then it's him. He's got the training, the drive to succeed, the desire to protect, the raw power to do it, and just insane amounts of empathy and understanding of people. He's not as smart as Keiko but she's not in the running. He's not as creative as you but he's steadier. He's not yet as good with people as Mari is, but he's damn good. With the three of you to advise him, he'll be the greatest Kage since the founding of the Village System.

"On the other hand, a smart ninja has backup plans. I will not allow this clan to die with me, and that means there needs to be an heir. If it's not Naruto then I would have said it's Mari, but she's not functional right now. After her, you're the best choice. Keiko would be horrified at the idea and isn't capable of it anyway. Noburi doesn't have the ambition or the ruthlessness. You're smart—not as smart as Keiko, but you know that and you take her advice. You're more ambitious than is good for either of us. You're ruthless enough to kill people when you have to, or to send people to their deaths. You're not powerful enough for the job and you probably never will be on your own merits, but enough seals cover a multitude of sins and you'll have powerful people backing you up. You're not nearly good enough at politics or dealing with people in general, but you seem to know that and it's probably fixable."

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"No, the three of you are going to go back to Leaf. The other genin will go with you, with the chūnin as bodyguards. Once there, Hazō will take up the position of Acting Clan Head until I return. I'll be sending my will along with you just in case I don't. It basically leaves everything to the clan, minus a few bequests."

The smile that he'd been wearing faded away. "I'm not sure who is coming with the strike force, but it's pretty likely that you won't be the only genin serving as Acting Clan Head. Try not to get into too much trouble. Don't make any long-term contracts, alliances, or marriage arrangements. Listen to Mari if she is stable and ignore her if she's still compromised. Keep Kagome on a leash and don't let Fifi off the property."

"Yes sir," Hazō said, nodding wide-eyed. He paused, licking his lip in thought. He glanced over at his sister. "Keiko, I'm sorry for bringing this up now before talking to you about it. I had planned to get your evaluation once we were back home in a lower-pressure environment, but I need to do it now." He turned back to Jiraiya. "Sir...before today, I had been thinking about going to Isan after we got back. There's something like five hundred ninja there with completely unique sealing and ninjutsu traditions, and they spent centuries guarding and venerating the Pangolin Summoning Scroll. I'm guessing that Keiko is something like their messiah, and she'll have a lot of political weight. Isan will probably be opening up to the world soon, and if we were able to manage that process we could gain a lot."

Jiraiya blew out his cheeks in thought. "That's a good idea," he said at last. "Ballsy, proactive, with high potential reward. You're off to a good start as Acting Clan Head. On the other hand, it also carries some serious risks. Like, potentially clan-ending risks.

"A lot depends on what happens on this mission. The people going with me are heavy hitters, but the known members of Akatsuki are in our weight class and I don't even want to guess what their other members are capable of. It's absolutely certain that not all of us are coming back, and no matter what happens it's going to destabilize the Elemental Nations for a few years."

The Sannin paused, thinking, then made eye contact with all three of his children in turn. "You three are everything I could have hoped for as family. You are smart, brave, and phenomenally skilled for your age. I couldn't be prouder if you were my own flesh and blood."

He pushed himself to his feet, his face ceasing to be the vulnerable parent and becoming once again that of the Clan Head and Hokage. "My best advice is this: Don't go to Isan for at least a week. If things turn out well, I'll be back by then and we can gather intel and make a plan. If I'm not...Hazō, you're in charge and you'll have to use your best judgement based on the situation you find yourself in. Listen to Keiko and Noburi. Listen to Mari if she's stable again. Ino-Shika-Chō are allies; treat them as such, but remember the difference between 'ally' and 'friend'. If Shikaku doesn't come with the strike force, or if he does and then survives the mission, be careful. He's smarter than all of us put together, so try not to let him get too many hooks into you. If Naruto makes it back, adopt him into the clan. The two of you can sort out who is going to be Clan Head, but he's the one you should put forward for Hokage when the time comes. He's got the popularity and the power, and he'll listen to you."

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Jiraiya dropped the cookies and clutched his chest. "I am wounded! Stabbed to the depths of my soul by an unloving child!" He dropped the pretence and smiled at all of them. "'Love' is a weird and squishy word that everyone uses differently. I like you three as people. Your company is—usually!—a source of energy for me instead of a drain upon it. I respect your intelligence and your skills and I am confident that you will all end up as S-rank ninja with tales about you that are almost but not quite the equal of those told about me and my team who are, obviously, the best ninja there ever have been or ever will be. I trust you at least as much as I trust anyone else, and I will go pretty damn far to protect you. No, strike that. There are no words outside of the T&I handbook lovingly written by the hand of the very messed-up Morino Ibiki to describe the horrific fate that I would visit upon anyone attempting to harm any of you. I am looking forward to sharing, in the fullness of time and under appropriate OPSEC conditions, the entirety of my knowledge and life experience with you. Perhaps in the form of bedtime stories while you all cuddle adorably into the covers with eyes wide in excitement at my marvelous tales. And I feel all of these things in the precisely equal and appropriate degrees that will soothe away any ruffled feathers, prevent future jealousies, and not make me sound like a total wuss."

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If you are reading this, then either I am dead or you'll soon wish you were. If it's the former, I hope I at least took some of the bastards with me. Was I a hero? Did I die saving Leaf? Or did I just screw up somewhere along the way? Sensei always said my hotheadedness would be the death of me. I told him it would be suffocation beneath a horde of screaming fangirls. Guess now you know which one of us was right.
Naruto, if you're here, then it wasn't all for nothing. Just imagining you reading this message brings tears to my eyes. You were the best part of my life, and I let myself forget that far too often. I told myself nobody else could do my work. I told myself that I could always spend time with you later. I should have been more of a father to you than I ever was, and I hope that one day you'll forgive me for leaving you before I could learn how.

Mari, Hazō, Keiko, Noburi, Kagome. Looks like I brought you in only to leave you high and dry. I wasn't much of a husband to you either. Or a father. Or a research supervisor (Kagome, I can hear you gritting your teeth from beyond the grave). But I don't regret for a second that I tried. I was so proud of the Gōketsu, proud of what we were becoming together, and I know that you'll carry the torch we lit together on into the future.

All of you, look after each other. Family is the greatest gift of all, and I wish I hadn't taken so long to understand something so simple. I love you all and always will, even after I become one with the Will of Fire.

Gōketsu Jiraiya

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Hazō. You were always brilliant. I knew it from the moment I first took you in. You were also one of the greatest troublemakers ever to give me a recurring headache. I knew that from before I first took you in. You have the potential to change the fate of nations—hell, you already have—as long as you don't blow them up first. As Fifth Hokage, which I still am at time of writing, and Hiashi can take his politics and shove them up his ass, I hereby give you official permission to save the world. That thing you're trying to do that I never fully understood to my dying day? Do it. Let nothing hold you back.

Just try and make sure our village is still in one piece at the end.

One last thing. All of you are my family, but Naruto has been my heir for a decade. In his letter, I leave the clan to him.

He will need your help. Trust him. Support him. Respect him as your older brother, because that is what he's been all along. Together, there will be nothing you cannot accomplish.

But if he chooses not to lead the clan, or if I've failed to bring him back…

I, Jiraiya, founder and leader of the Gōketsu Clan, do hereby acknowledge Gōketsu Hazō as my heir. Let this be written into the records of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and may his reign be illuminated by the Will of Fire.

You haven't had fifteen years of preparation for this day. You haven't had fifteen months. Even so, I already know that you'll find the strength to shoulder this responsibility. I know that, with or without Naruto, you'll grow into the leader this clan needs.

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[faflec]

That fucker stole our inheritance of S-Rank shinies. He can take the one we invented over my dead body.

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The final page of Jiraiya's will outlines what he bequeaths to each of you.

The Toad summoning scroll goes to the Gōketsu, to be bestowed upon whomever the clan selects (along with a note that Naruto is still not eligible to be a summoner no matter how much he whines and no it's not fair but that's how summoning works so shut up brat), as do Jiraiya's personal notes on the politics of the Seventh Path, and his sealing notes. He has also left you a set of notes from his spy network that he never found a use for, including black market contacts, smuggling routes, and blackmail material on certain civilian authorities.

His ninjutsu scrolls go to Naruto, as do his personal savings. He also leaves Naruto an unlabelled set of access codes to bring to ANBU.

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[_The_Bomb]

Jiraiya dropped the cookies and clutched his chest. "I am wounded! Stabbed to the depths of my soul by an unloving child!" He dropped the pretence and smiled at all of them. "'Love' is a weird and squishy word that everyone uses differently. I like you three as people. Your company is—usually!—a source of energy for me instead of a drain upon it. I respect your intelligence and your skills and I am confident that you will all end up as S-rank ninja with tales about you that are almost but not quite the equal of those told about me and my team who are, obviously, the best ninja there ever have been or ever will be. I trust you at least as much as I trust anyone else, and I will go pretty damn far to protect you. No, strike that. There are no words outside of the T&I handbook lovingly written by the hand of the very messed-up Morino Ibiki to describe the horrific fate that I would visit upon anyone attempting to harm any of you. I am looking forward to sharing, in the fullness of time and under appropriate OPSEC conditions, the entirety of my knowledge and life experience with you.

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"No, the three of you are going to go back to Leaf. The other genin will go with you, with the chūnin as bodyguards. Once there, Hazō will take up the position of Acting Clan Head until I return. I'll be sending my will along with you just in case I don't. It basically leaves everything to the clan, minus a few bequests."

Click to shrink...

Hazō. You were always brilliant. I knew it from the moment I first took you in. You were also one of the greatest troublemakers ever to give me a recurring headache. I knew that from before I first took you in. You have the potential to change the fate of nations—hell, you already have—as long as you don't blow them up first. As Fifth Hokage, which I still am at time of writing, and Hiashi can take his politics and shove them up his ass, I hereby give you official permission to save the world. That thing you're trying to do that I never fully understood to my dying day? Do it. Let nothing hold you back.

Just try and make sure our village is still in one piece at the end.

One last thing. All of you are my family, but Naruto has been my heir for a decade. In his letter, I leave the clan to him.

He will need your help. Trust him. Support him. Respect him as your older brother, because that is what he's been all along. Together, there will be nothing you cannot accomplish.

But if he chooses not to lead the clan, or if I've failed to bring him back…

I, Jiraiya, founder and leader of the Gōketsu Clan, do hereby acknowledge Gōketsu Hazō as my heir. Let this be written into the records of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, and may his reign be illuminated by the Will of Fire.

You haven't had fifteen years of preparation for this day. You haven't had fifteen months. Even so, I already know that you'll find the strength to shoulder this responsibility. I know that, with or without Naruto, you'll grow into the leader this clan needs.

Click to shrink...

From all of these I can only conclude that Jiraiya intended his ninjutsu to go to the Gōketsu Clan, with either Naruto or Hazō as Clan Head.

He never imagined the very specific scenario where he would die, Naruto would come back alive, and that Naruto wouldn't join the clan at all and maintain full ownership of the ninjutsu, leaving us high and dry.

He literally told Naruto to join us in his goodbye letter, to the point where Naruto called it "Uncle Jiraiya's dying wish."

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said, waving dismissively. "Obviously I don't join the Gōketsu until after the vote. And maybe we can figure some way to keep the Uzumaki alive so we keep the vote." He raised a stern finger. "I'm joining Gōketsu, though! It was Uncle Jiraiya's dying wish that I boss you all ar—erm, that I join the clan that he created and rule it with all of the skill and training that he knew I had."

Click to shrink...

When Jiraiya gets back, he is going to be pissed.

 

[faflec]

From all of these I can only conclude that Jiraiya intended his ninjutsu to go to the Gōketsu Clan, with either Naruto or Hazō as Clan Head.

He never imagined the very specific scenario where he would die, Naruto would come back alive, and that Naruto wouldn't join the clan at all and maintain full ownership of the ninjutsu, leaving us high and dry.

He literally told Naruto to join us in his goodbye letter, to the point where Naruto called it "Uncle Jiraiya's dying wish."

Click to shrink...

Naruto bailed on joining us because we did Treason Dragon things. Why would he want to give us the things Jiraiya gave him specifically after we fucked up that bad?

 

[Spector29]

He literally told Naruto to join us in his goodbye letter, to the point where Naruto called it "Uncle Jiraiya's dying wish."

Click to shrink...

Oh, forgot about that. Why didn't that happen? Was it the treason episode in the Basement?

 

[faflec]

Oh, forgot about that. Why didn't that happen? Was it the treason episode in the Basement?

Click to shrink...

He delayed joining because of the election (to stop Hiashi), and initially afterwards because Hiashi had won the election and we wanted the extra vote to counteract his policies. We agreed with this plan, and still maintained friendly relations with him.

Then we decided to attempt to blackmail Hiashi by supporting Orochimaru, which functionally meant that we were going to coup Hiashi and replace him with the Treason Dragon Sannin. That Naruto didn't decide to report us to Hiashi amazes me.

Matters were further worsened by us also attempting to contact Akatsuki via Seventh Path without the Hokage's (Hiashi's at the time) permission, which landed us in the killbox the second time.

Naruto may not hate us now. He may owe us a lot for our help against Akatuski and/or winning him the election. But he doesn't owe us jack for the stuff Jiraiya left to Naruto in his will, regardless of whether Jiraiya intended for the ninjutsu to be given to the Clan + Naruto together once they merged.

 

[Sir Stompy]

From all of these I can only conclude that Jiraiya intended his ninjutsu to go to the Gōketsu Clan, with either Naruto or Hazō as Clan Head.

He never imagined the very specific scenario where he would die, Naruto would come back alive, and that Naruto wouldn't join the clan at all and maintain full ownership of the ninjutsu, leaving us high and dry.

He literally told Naruto to join us in his goodbye letter, to the point where Naruto called it "Uncle Jiraiya's dying wish."



When Jiraiya gets back, he is going to be pissed.

Click to shrink...

Never let facts get in the way of a half-assed grudge I guess? You are simply wrong here. IDK what else to say.

 

[_The_Bomb]

Naruto bailed on joining us because we did Treason Dragon things. Why would he want to give us the things Jiraiya gave him specifically after we fucked up that bad?

Click to shrink...

I understand why Naruto was upset with Hazō and why he might not want to honor Jiraiya's intentions for his inheritance.

However, that doesn't change the fact that Jiraiya explicitly intended for us to inherit his ninjutsu. He left a will and clear instructions for Naruto and Hazō that would have ensured we received his techniques. Naruto, despite this, chose to go against those instructions—and the plan he had made with Jiraiya—in a way that left the Gōketsu stranded.

In short, Naruto effectively stole our rightful inheritance of S-Rank techniques.