I believe he was referring to this:
-
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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
- Start date
-
- Tags
- naruto rationalist romance armageddon is looking better and better damn you kishimoto explosions everywhere explosives solve everyone if in doubt surrender to the mercy of zabuza it seemed like a good idea at the time looks like a really bad case of being a jōnin my god. where does the lore end? precommitting is the winning plan screaming in kagome screw the rules i have explosives something bad might still happen sometimes you gotta sociopath stabby zabby subsection c of paragraph 9 should include we can weaponize this so hard
- Location
- ✳
The QMs will be totally OK with you doing what makes most sense, regardless of what type of quest they're pining for. We all have our different little dream-scenarios about what this quest could look like, but, ultimately, we'll do our best to avoid railroading you into anything.
- Location
- USA
Just a heads up, I've created a second version of the character sheet that is more compact and contains the same great taste of Charleston Chew.
EDIT: this shouldn't be threadmarked anymore, it's apparently obsolete.
EDIT: this shouldn't be threadmarked anymore, it's apparently obsolete.
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chaonaut
Totally Not a Spy for Orochimort
- Location
- United States
Regarding Plan "Seduce Sasuke": Remind me. How many points did we put into Seduction/Fast-Talk?
We're a "stealth assassin" by which we mean we're talented at sneaking up on people and beating the tar out of them, and we have notable chakra capacity and Regeneration. We, the hive mind, might (and that's a big might) know what needs to be done to seduce Sasuke, but that doesn't mean we have the ranks to put it in action, or enough to meet whatever ranks Sasuke has in Resist Seduction/Fast Talk. In canon, he was under daily siege by kunoichi-in-training trying to seduce him (and some of them must have some Seduction/Fast Talk ranks) and was not moved.
We have some very useful advantages: We are good at mimicry(and earth chakra? was that locked in?) and have lightning affinity (thanks, @transfuturist and @faflec) because of our blood. We have excellent Chakra Capacity and Regeneration, and tend to not die immediately to massive damage. We are exceptional at hand-to-hand combat and stealth. We have the basics of being a ninja, and basic skill at ignoring attempts to entice us.
We have a lot of limitations: Our focus on hand-to-hand combat and stealth means that we sacrificed nearly all other training to get there. We have no skill in seduction, fast-talk or intimidation. We have no skill in resisting intimidation. We have no techniques or styles beyond the Basic Three and no skill in technique modification and development. We know nothing of healing, mechanisms or seals. We have the usual amount of awareness and no tactical movement or skill in moving on unusual terrain (vertical surfaces, water, etc.).
We need someone who can watch our back, someone who can patch us up when we are bleeding out and someone who can teach us how to ninjutsu, at least until the point at which we can do that for ourselves.
We're currently in a Ninja Deathworld, where assassination is a noble occupation, paranoia is a survival skill, and disloyalty is punishable by death. In canon, chakra is bits of our body and spirit/soul/mind that we've mixed together and fling at each other and apparently allows for telepathy/soulspeak/something when people bump fists/commingle chakra. Trust is not something easily come by in the world we live in, and we have a group that we are already trusted within by virtue of being sentenced to death and committing treason together.
Trying to convince someone who we don't know, who may have been betrayed by the person he was closest to, and may be the subject of daily attempts to be wooed, that we are trustworthy and deserve to be part of his clan is not really the skillset we have. Especially when that person lives in one of the most dangerous places for us to be: someone else's hidden village.
Right now, we're in a precarious position where our support system is very vulnerable, and we have very little power and worth of our own. Before we try wading into the absolute shitstorm that is Team 7's life and trying to one-punch Kaguya, let's dial it back a bit and try to survive the season.
We're a "stealth assassin" by which we mean we're talented at sneaking up on people and beating the tar out of them, and we have notable chakra capacity and Regeneration. We, the hive mind, might (and that's a big might) know what needs to be done to seduce Sasuke, but that doesn't mean we have the ranks to put it in action, or enough to meet whatever ranks Sasuke has in Resist Seduction/Fast Talk. In canon, he was under daily siege by kunoichi-in-training trying to seduce him (and some of them must have some Seduction/Fast Talk ranks) and was not moved.
We have some very useful advantages: We are good at mimicry
We have a lot of limitations: Our focus on hand-to-hand combat and stealth means that we sacrificed nearly all other training to get there. We have no skill in seduction, fast-talk or intimidation. We have no skill in resisting intimidation. We have no techniques or styles beyond the Basic Three and no skill in technique modification and development. We know nothing of healing, mechanisms or seals. We have the usual amount of awareness and no tactical movement or skill in moving on unusual terrain (vertical surfaces, water, etc.).
We need someone who can watch our back, someone who can patch us up when we are bleeding out and someone who can teach us how to ninjutsu, at least until the point at which we can do that for ourselves.
We're currently in a Ninja Deathworld, where assassination is a noble occupation, paranoia is a survival skill, and disloyalty is punishable by death. In canon, chakra is bits of our body and spirit/soul/mind that we've mixed together and fling at each other and apparently allows for telepathy/soulspeak/something when people bump fists/commingle chakra. Trust is not something easily come by in the world we live in, and we have a group that we are already trusted within by virtue of being sentenced to death and committing treason together.
Trying to convince someone who we don't know, who may have been betrayed by the person he was closest to, and may be the subject of daily attempts to be wooed, that we are trustworthy and deserve to be part of his clan is not really the skillset we have. Especially when that person lives in one of the most dangerous places for us to be: someone else's hidden village.
Right now, we're in a precarious position where our support system is very vulnerable, and we have very little power and worth of our own. Before we try wading into the absolute shitstorm that is Team 7's life and trying to one-punch Kaguya, let's dial it back a bit and try to survive the season.
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- Location
- USA
I'm not sure this was ever a real plan. I think the plan was "hold still and hope Konoha doesn't find us."
- Location
- Yes.
@dwibby: the final lock in gave us a Lightning affinity, and no jutsu besides the academy ninjutsu; we don't even have wall/water walking.
Edit: transfuturist gave a table of our stats which should be accurate. Can't say much for the level up but that's because I didn't understand it when I read it.
Edit: transfuturist gave a table of our stats which should be accurate. Can't say much for the level up but that's because I didn't understand it when I read it.
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- Location
- USA
@AugSphere gave me an explanation of what he would accept for the bloodline, and I took it to the hilt. Um, no entendres intended. But basically, instead of one-shot applications of a skill that give +1d to the top two physical skills, it's pretty much an extra effective level in all physical skills all the time, up to skill caps.
...He said we would need it.
- Location
- Canada
We should probably think on what "we" know to help with the decision making process. Let me know if this should wait or if I'm asking for too much detail here. I'm not sure what the policy is on handing out information that our character would "know".
Questions on what we know of the world:
What do we know about the animals that we might encounter? Can they use charka? How dangerous are they exactly? How often do they kill random civillians? If we kidnap the odd civilian here and there, are the other villagers likely to chalk that up to "oh, he got eaten by monsters", or are they going to report it to someone who will come after us and try to kill us? By the same token, how often do whole villages get eaten?
What do we know about the scouting abilities of Mist? Do the jonin of our group think we broke contact with them, or are they likely to still be on our trail? How far away do they need to be to detect us? Does eg. Fighting monsters increase this range? How many hunters are there likely to be?
What do we know about the scouting abilities of Konoha? To what degree will Mist's efforts to hunt us down be hindered by having to hide from Konoha? Is Konoha likely to cooperate with Mist in hunting us down?
What do we know about the general political situation? Are there any wars going on right now? How much money do we need to support ourselves? Is just hiding and living off the land a viable option?
What do we know about the black market? How hard will it be for us to find basic tools without potentially leading people to us?
Do we think we could successfully disguise ourselves as civilians for short/long periods of time? (From civilians, and from other ninja)
Questions on mechanics:
Do we get XP from being taught or is it all from combat? Would it be possible to hide in the cave for a while and get some of the higher level ninja to fill in some of the basic skills we are missing? How long would it take us to learn. eg. basic water walking? Would Iron Nerve help with getting basic skills to level 1? (You can replicate any early physical success you have after the very first time and try it again to get a feel for it)
You said that lots of members of our group would be away on missions, where will we be getting missions from?
If possible, we should try to keep our head down as much as possible and build our strength.
Questions on what we know of the world:
What do we know about the animals that we might encounter? Can they use charka? How dangerous are they exactly? How often do they kill random civillians? If we kidnap the odd civilian here and there, are the other villagers likely to chalk that up to "oh, he got eaten by monsters", or are they going to report it to someone who will come after us and try to kill us? By the same token, how often do whole villages get eaten?
What do we know about the scouting abilities of Mist? Do the jonin of our group think we broke contact with them, or are they likely to still be on our trail? How far away do they need to be to detect us? Does eg. Fighting monsters increase this range? How many hunters are there likely to be?
What do we know about the scouting abilities of Konoha? To what degree will Mist's efforts to hunt us down be hindered by having to hide from Konoha? Is Konoha likely to cooperate with Mist in hunting us down?
What do we know about the general political situation? Are there any wars going on right now? How much money do we need to support ourselves? Is just hiding and living off the land a viable option?
What do we know about the black market? How hard will it be for us to find basic tools without potentially leading people to us?
Do we think we could successfully disguise ourselves as civilians for short/long periods of time? (From civilians, and from other ninja)
Questions on mechanics:
Do we get XP from being taught or is it all from combat? Would it be possible to hide in the cave for a while and get some of the higher level ninja to fill in some of the basic skills we are missing? How long would it take us to learn. eg. basic water walking? Would Iron Nerve help with getting basic skills to level 1? (You can replicate any early physical success you have after the very first time and try it again to get a feel for it)
You said that lots of members of our group would be away on missions, where will we be getting missions from?
If possible, we should try to keep our head down as much as possible and build our strength.
Jackercracks
In a British accent
- Location
- England
We decided that while some of us might want you to do one thing or another, you should be free to do whatever you want without railroading. Therefore you can go for any strategy you want to, with the only stricture being that the world will react appropriately to your actions. For example you could stay with the group of missing nin, or strike out on your own and just be a tiny team trying to hide and survive, or spend a lot of time training, or work on acquiring food for the group, or be completely on your own, or do anything else really. Either way, we would attempt to accurately portray the effects of each. So basically, you can choose whatever you feel like, all we will do is try to ensure that the world gives realistic consequences to your actions and hopefully turn the result into a compelling story. As in the real world, not all choices will be equal, and some will be objectively better or worse than others.
I'll get back to you on the rest of the questions tomorrow, because I'm hammered. Man do I love dancing.
[canon] Omake 1) Repay in Kind
Rihaku
The Internet
Here're a few snippets of prospective backstory, revolving around one application of the Iron Nerve. As for name, I think we should be named
-[X] Kurosawa Hazou
-[X] Male
Because it has a nice, effortless flow that resembles the character himself in motion. Hazou Kurosawa. It's like a classic japanese action flick, compressed into a name.
---
Repay in Kind
It was the day of the bet, and Hazou intended to collect. He rocked on his toes, back and forth across the precipice, keeping his balance on the stony ledge. It was a movement he'd performed one thousand, four hundred and sixty-four times before. Below sprawled his home, the Village Hidden in the Mist, though much of it lay concealed under endless banks of its namesake. The morning sun was an orb of white fire, wreathed in shawls of fog, and from it broad tendrils of mist crawled across the landscape. It was the same mist that swept in every day, regular as the tides, enveloping and enshrouding, permeating every cranny. A hug, his mother called it, that the sea gives to the land, a shroud for their Hidden Village that sheltered them from the burning heat of the Eastern sun and - deadlier by far - the clear regard of enemy ninja.
Hazou scowled at the thought. It was a childish metaphor, and he was eleven now, basically a ninja grown. His third year at the genin academy was all but over, the springtime of his youth already passed. With this bet, he would con his first mark, earn his first ill-gotten wage as a shinobi. Scents wafted up from below: fresh-caught fish and shaven ice, preserving salt and pickling brine, and above it all the heavenly aroma of Amatetsu's roasted yams, sticky-sweet with their pulpy flesh caramelized, kept always just on the right side of burnt. Rumor had it Amatetsu cooked them so that they'd slightly scald the tongue, a tasteful reminder to any genin-candidate that slacked on his elemental defense. Some jounin liked to eat them by the whole armful, because they were delicious, but also to show that they could.
There was the slap of sandals against stone, and Hazou knew from the gait that Hoshigaki Tonume was here to pay. He turned, putting on his best impression of a confident smirk.
As usual, Tonume's face was distorted by the overlarge lollipop in his mouth. Blue-skinned and tall for his age, Hazou's classmate answered his smirk with a widely gleaming shark-toothed smile.
"When I win," Tonume said, "I'm going to buy fifty candies. If you beg nicely, I won't tell the others how I got 'em."
Crap.
Hazou was no good at this ninja banter thing.
He plucked at the collar of his loose, long shirt, painfully aware that it was many sizes too large.
"Um... Just shut up and watch!" he eventually replied, tone boastful. "You better have the money."
"Got it right here," Tonume revealed a thick roll of 1- and 5-ryou notes, wealth enough to buy ten bowls of ramen, or thirty baked yams. "Nicked it from my brother the other day. And you? Last chance to back out. I don't mind taking your money, but this almost feels too easy."
"B-Back at you," Hazou replied, slightly unsteady. The sight of so much money... he was starting to get anxious. He briefly flashed his own ante, a neatly folded stack of ryou that he had painstakingly counterfeited over the last week.
"Great!" Tonume sat down and leaned back, resting his head on crossed arms as if they were on one of the island's sandy beaches. "Entertain me. And remember, it's foot-to-foot only. If you grab on with your fingers, or even knock a shin, your money is mine."
Hazou blew off Tonume's condescension with a casual wave. "Keep talking tough. Maybe you'll talk yourself out of life's regret, following your loss to me. After all, you'll need something to fill that mouth once you're too poor for candy."
That was okay, Hazou thought, marshaling his confidence. Maybe a little stilted, but respectable for a genin-candidate.
"Hey! I teethe!" Tonume protested, but Hazou was already running, already breaking for the edge, steps clattering against stone with metronomic regularity. He sprang off the final ledge with convulsive power, shocking strength for a body that small, and hung suspended for a brief breathless eternity over all the Hidden Mist, the bustle and din of the market, the shopkeeps and haggling matrons, ricksaws clattering against cobblestone, the muted glow of oven-fires against the churning fog, and beyond that the sea, and the blazing sun, rising now into the sky that Kurosawa Hazou now shared with the seagulls.
Despite the injuries he'd taken, despite everything, it was a feeling that never got old.
And yet, any spectator that looked from below would have known for a certainty that the little boy with outflung arms wouldn't make it, that he was too low by a hair.
But as Hazou neared the apex of his jump, he passed above Amatetsu's shop, directly over the exhaust pipe of Amatetsu's mighty Thousand-Yams Furnace. Its warm, steady updraft was caught by the boy's outflung arms, trapped momentarily by the cloth of his oversized shirt. It carried him just a bit further, just a touch higher at the peak of his leap, and he landed feet-first on top of the Mizukage's Tower, the subject of so many forlorn bets by so many genin-candidates in the past.
It looked an exceptionally haphazard landing, a chaos of twisting limbs to keep his balance, but on a windless day he could stick it every time. Below, Tonume shouted a very dirty word, and raised his palms to his head in despairing disbelief.
"No way... No student makes that jump! One in a hundred times you make that jump, and it had to be this one," Tonume groaned.
One in four hundred, actually, and Hazou had the bruised shins, bruised knees, and bloodied fingers to prove it. But one in four hundred was good enough for a Kurosawa to stick it every time.
Hazou raised an eyebrow. "Pay up, Hoshigaki."
"Yeah, yeah," Tonume grumbled. "Let it not be said that a Hoshigaki failed to keep his word... What'm I gonna teethe with now?" The blue-skinned boy threw his cash on the ground, and Hazou deftly made the much easier gravity-assisted leap back to collect it. Carefully he inspected the bills, rubbing them between his fingers. They were good.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Hazou said, trying out his most professional tone of voice.
"Whatever," Tonume had turned away, and was already absentmindedly gnawing on a kunai. "I'll get you, Kurosawa. Next time!"
Hazou hoped Tonume wouldn't ask for his money back, after he found out that the Kurosawa were a Bloodline Clan. Well, if he ever found out. The Hoshigaki's chakra was almost casually overpowering, but he was extremely inattentive in class.
He waited until the other boy had departed before allowing himself to feel a spark of hope. Hazou clutched the wad of cash protectively against his chest, and began an excited trek home. Maybe with this... with this, maybe their money troubles wouldn't be so bad.
He couldn't wait to see the look on his mother's face!
--- [The Following is Non-Canon / Not Yet Canon]
"...And that's how I came up with the idea," said Kurosawa Hazou, genin, missing-nin, traitor to the Hidden Mist, who was currently standing before a massive chasm next to his temporary teammate for this mission.
Tonume had never gotten his next time. Over the weekend his distant relative betrayed the Mizukage and Hazou had never seen the boy again. Nor had his minor fortune put a dent in his mother's arrears. She'd been a jounin, with a jounin-sized debt, up until the day she died.
But it had given him this fast-traveling method, and bittersweet memories of his mother were still warmer than the ones that presently dominated his mind. The ones that had, as of late, clung to his awareness like a stubborn mist, as if scratching out the symbol on his headband had caused another to emerge in retaliation. Another mist that he wished desperately to discard.
"So it took you about twenty tries to make this jump, but since you made it once, you can do it every time? And this entire route is filled with obstacles like that?" His companion pressed a finger to her lips. "I can see how that would be useful."
"Not obstacles," he said, "shortcuts. There are seven chasms like this that block off the southern region. Even chunin otherwise as accomplished as yourself can't jump them consistently. To continue in a straight line towards the main road, there are two mountains that can only be traversed via goat-path, and in the forest beyond I can take four-tree jumps instead of two for further speed. I've three separate landing points encoded for each jump, alternate branches for the tree jumps, and slightly slower paths in case of heavy wind or storm. There are subroutes that branch off of each of the main routes, for easy delivery to a specific vicinity." This he delivered with calm confidence, encoded synpases firing flawlessly, not a muscle out of place.
He showed her the map he'd drawn, which resembled a single snaking blood vessel flanked by a thicket of capillaries extending into the thick forests of Fire Country. There were two other primary routes as well, cutting east and north-east, each laced with fewer, but still numerous, sub-routes.
"If your client needs it delivered quickly, in the dangerous terrain around here, I'm your man."
His companion propped up the run-through forehead protector covering her eyes. Inimitably blue, they looked upon him with amused interest.
"Huh," she said, "who knew one of our cute genin could be so useful? Maybe you're not all dead weight."
"I never forget a movement," he replied, and returned her smile with his own, an easy smile that seemed to emanate genuine goodwill. It was rare, to see a smile so sincere on a shinobi.
Don't forget, Hazou.
Don't forget me.
Don't forget us, don't forget why we died. Don't- Oh, what am I asking?
I'm being silly. There's no need to ask this of you. The talent is even stronger in you than it is in me. We might almost have succeeded in you, or maybe your daughters and sons.
Listen to your mother, Zou-chan. You're a genin now, so be strong. Obey your sensei's orders, that man can usually be trusted. Try not to eat so many sweets, and remember to dress warmly when it gets cold. Be prepared to kill everyone you meet. One day, when you're strong, find a nice girl and treat her well. Mama won't forgive you if you're mean to her, okay? Take care of yourself. Don't worry if you seem selfish. It's selfish people who get what they want in this world.
Now, place the kunai like this, right above my heart. You know what follows. I want you to do it yourself. That way...
...You'll never forget.
---
Climbing the hill back, she placed the forehead protector down over her eyes. The less pollen that got in from this damnable country, the better. Who said allergies were too trite for medical ninjutsu!?
"Shikigami." If she was surprised by the jounin's presence, her voice didn't betray it.
"So, what'd you think? He's my personal student, so be kind." It was impossible to tell if he was being serious.
She turned to regard the student, far below them, as he packed up his maps. His movements were crisp and efficient, surprisingly quick despite their almost unhurried air. He was fast, for a genin.
"I've heard of the bloodline, but I guess they're rare enough we don't see them," she ventured.
"Should've seen the boy's mother," Shikigami interjected. "No one's ever forgetting her."
She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I guess he's... pretty normal? I don't know, I just kind of thought his movements would be more puppet-like, artificial. With what they can do."
"You still have a lot to learn," the jounin exhaled. "Here's a lesson for you: a perfect copy of human movement, looks like human movement. If it betrayed anything else, it wouldn't be perfect."
-[X] Kurosawa Hazou
-[X] Male
Because it has a nice, effortless flow that resembles the character himself in motion. Hazou Kurosawa. It's like a classic japanese action flick, compressed into a name.
---
Repay in Kind
It was the day of the bet, and Hazou intended to collect. He rocked on his toes, back and forth across the precipice, keeping his balance on the stony ledge. It was a movement he'd performed one thousand, four hundred and sixty-four times before. Below sprawled his home, the Village Hidden in the Mist, though much of it lay concealed under endless banks of its namesake. The morning sun was an orb of white fire, wreathed in shawls of fog, and from it broad tendrils of mist crawled across the landscape. It was the same mist that swept in every day, regular as the tides, enveloping and enshrouding, permeating every cranny. A hug, his mother called it, that the sea gives to the land, a shroud for their Hidden Village that sheltered them from the burning heat of the Eastern sun and - deadlier by far - the clear regard of enemy ninja.
Hazou scowled at the thought. It was a childish metaphor, and he was eleven now, basically a ninja grown. His third year at the genin academy was all but over, the springtime of his youth already passed. With this bet, he would con his first mark, earn his first ill-gotten wage as a shinobi. Scents wafted up from below: fresh-caught fish and shaven ice, preserving salt and pickling brine, and above it all the heavenly aroma of Amatetsu's roasted yams, sticky-sweet with their pulpy flesh caramelized, kept always just on the right side of burnt. Rumor had it Amatetsu cooked them so that they'd slightly scald the tongue, a tasteful reminder to any genin-candidate that slacked on his elemental defense. Some jounin liked to eat them by the whole armful, because they were delicious, but also to show that they could.
There was the slap of sandals against stone, and Hazou knew from the gait that Hoshigaki Tonume was here to pay. He turned, putting on his best impression of a confident smirk.
As usual, Tonume's face was distorted by the overlarge lollipop in his mouth. Blue-skinned and tall for his age, Hazou's classmate answered his smirk with a widely gleaming shark-toothed smile.
"When I win," Tonume said, "I'm going to buy fifty candies. If you beg nicely, I won't tell the others how I got 'em."
Crap.
Hazou was no good at this ninja banter thing.
He plucked at the collar of his loose, long shirt, painfully aware that it was many sizes too large.
"Um... Just shut up and watch!" he eventually replied, tone boastful. "You better have the money."
"Got it right here," Tonume revealed a thick roll of 1- and 5-ryou notes, wealth enough to buy ten bowls of ramen, or thirty baked yams. "Nicked it from my brother the other day. And you? Last chance to back out. I don't mind taking your money, but this almost feels too easy."
"B-Back at you," Hazou replied, slightly unsteady. The sight of so much money... he was starting to get anxious. He briefly flashed his own ante, a neatly folded stack of ryou that he had painstakingly counterfeited over the last week.
"Great!" Tonume sat down and leaned back, resting his head on crossed arms as if they were on one of the island's sandy beaches. "Entertain me. And remember, it's foot-to-foot only. If you grab on with your fingers, or even knock a shin, your money is mine."
Hazou blew off Tonume's condescension with a casual wave. "Keep talking tough. Maybe you'll talk yourself out of life's regret, following your loss to me. After all, you'll need something to fill that mouth once you're too poor for candy."
That was okay, Hazou thought, marshaling his confidence. Maybe a little stilted, but respectable for a genin-candidate.
"Hey! I teethe!" Tonume protested, but Hazou was already running, already breaking for the edge, steps clattering against stone with metronomic regularity. He sprang off the final ledge with convulsive power, shocking strength for a body that small, and hung suspended for a brief breathless eternity over all the Hidden Mist, the bustle and din of the market, the shopkeeps and haggling matrons, ricksaws clattering against cobblestone, the muted glow of oven-fires against the churning fog, and beyond that the sea, and the blazing sun, rising now into the sky that Kurosawa Hazou now shared with the seagulls.
Despite the injuries he'd taken, despite everything, it was a feeling that never got old.
And yet, any spectator that looked from below would have known for a certainty that the little boy with outflung arms wouldn't make it, that he was too low by a hair.
But as Hazou neared the apex of his jump, he passed above Amatetsu's shop, directly over the exhaust pipe of Amatetsu's mighty Thousand-Yams Furnace. Its warm, steady updraft was caught by the boy's outflung arms, trapped momentarily by the cloth of his oversized shirt. It carried him just a bit further, just a touch higher at the peak of his leap, and he landed feet-first on top of the Mizukage's Tower, the subject of so many forlorn bets by so many genin-candidates in the past.
It looked an exceptionally haphazard landing, a chaos of twisting limbs to keep his balance, but on a windless day he could stick it every time. Below, Tonume shouted a very dirty word, and raised his palms to his head in despairing disbelief.
"No way... No student makes that jump! One in a hundred times you make that jump, and it had to be this one," Tonume groaned.
One in four hundred, actually, and Hazou had the bruised shins, bruised knees, and bloodied fingers to prove it. But one in four hundred was good enough for a Kurosawa to stick it every time.
Hazou raised an eyebrow. "Pay up, Hoshigaki."
"Yeah, yeah," Tonume grumbled. "Let it not be said that a Hoshigaki failed to keep his word... What'm I gonna teethe with now?" The blue-skinned boy threw his cash on the ground, and Hazou deftly made the much easier gravity-assisted leap back to collect it. Carefully he inspected the bills, rubbing them between his fingers. They were good.
"Pleasure doing business with you," Hazou said, trying out his most professional tone of voice.
"Whatever," Tonume had turned away, and was already absentmindedly gnawing on a kunai. "I'll get you, Kurosawa. Next time!"
Hazou hoped Tonume wouldn't ask for his money back, after he found out that the Kurosawa were a Bloodline Clan. Well, if he ever found out. The Hoshigaki's chakra was almost casually overpowering, but he was extremely inattentive in class.
He waited until the other boy had departed before allowing himself to feel a spark of hope. Hazou clutched the wad of cash protectively against his chest, and began an excited trek home. Maybe with this... with this, maybe their money troubles wouldn't be so bad.
He couldn't wait to see the look on his mother's face!
--- [The Following is Non-Canon / Not Yet Canon]
"...And that's how I came up with the idea," said Kurosawa Hazou, genin, missing-nin, traitor to the Hidden Mist, who was currently standing before a massive chasm next to his temporary teammate for this mission.
Tonume had never gotten his next time. Over the weekend his distant relative betrayed the Mizukage and Hazou had never seen the boy again. Nor had his minor fortune put a dent in his mother's arrears. She'd been a jounin, with a jounin-sized debt, up until the day she died.
But it had given him this fast-traveling method, and bittersweet memories of his mother were still warmer than the ones that presently dominated his mind. The ones that had, as of late, clung to his awareness like a stubborn mist, as if scratching out the symbol on his headband had caused another to emerge in retaliation. Another mist that he wished desperately to discard.
"So it took you about twenty tries to make this jump, but since you made it once, you can do it every time? And this entire route is filled with obstacles like that?" His companion pressed a finger to her lips. "I can see how that would be useful."
"Not obstacles," he said, "shortcuts. There are seven chasms like this that block off the southern region. Even chunin otherwise as accomplished as yourself can't jump them consistently. To continue in a straight line towards the main road, there are two mountains that can only be traversed via goat-path, and in the forest beyond I can take four-tree jumps instead of two for further speed. I've three separate landing points encoded for each jump, alternate branches for the tree jumps, and slightly slower paths in case of heavy wind or storm. There are subroutes that branch off of each of the main routes, for easy delivery to a specific vicinity." This he delivered with calm confidence, encoded synpases firing flawlessly, not a muscle out of place.
He showed her the map he'd drawn, which resembled a single snaking blood vessel flanked by a thicket of capillaries extending into the thick forests of Fire Country. There were two other primary routes as well, cutting east and north-east, each laced with fewer, but still numerous, sub-routes.
"If your client needs it delivered quickly, in the dangerous terrain around here, I'm your man."
His companion propped up the run-through forehead protector covering her eyes. Inimitably blue, they looked upon him with amused interest.
"Huh," she said, "who knew one of our cute genin could be so useful? Maybe you're not all dead weight."
"I never forget a movement," he replied, and returned her smile with his own, an easy smile that seemed to emanate genuine goodwill. It was rare, to see a smile so sincere on a shinobi.
Don't forget, Hazou.
Don't forget me.
Don't forget us, don't forget why we died. Don't- Oh, what am I asking?
I'm being silly. There's no need to ask this of you. The talent is even stronger in you than it is in me. We might almost have succeeded in you, or maybe your daughters and sons.
Listen to your mother, Zou-chan. You're a genin now, so be strong. Obey your sensei's orders, that man can usually be trusted. Try not to eat so many sweets, and remember to dress warmly when it gets cold. Be prepared to kill everyone you meet. One day, when you're strong, find a nice girl and treat her well. Mama won't forgive you if you're mean to her, okay? Take care of yourself. Don't worry if you seem selfish. It's selfish people who get what they want in this world.
Now, place the kunai like this, right above my heart. You know what follows. I want you to do it yourself. That way...
...You'll never forget.
---
Climbing the hill back, she placed the forehead protector down over her eyes. The less pollen that got in from this damnable country, the better. Who said allergies were too trite for medical ninjutsu!?
"Shikigami." If she was surprised by the jounin's presence, her voice didn't betray it.
"So, what'd you think? He's my personal student, so be kind." It was impossible to tell if he was being serious.
She turned to regard the student, far below them, as he packed up his maps. His movements were crisp and efficient, surprisingly quick despite their almost unhurried air. He was fast, for a genin.
"I've heard of the bloodline, but I guess they're rare enough we don't see them," she ventured.
"Should've seen the boy's mother," Shikigami interjected. "No one's ever forgetting her."
She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, I guess he's... pretty normal? I don't know, I just kind of thought his movements would be more puppet-like, artificial. With what they can do."
"You still have a lot to learn," the jounin exhaled. "Here's a lesson for you: a perfect copy of human movement, looks like human movement. If it betrayed anything else, it wouldn't be perfect."
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Rihaku
The Internet
Thanks, it's a lot less work than running one of my own quests, so I guess I'm just used to it. It did go way over expected word count, though. As usual.
- Location
- USA
Frankly, this line struck me as masturbatory.
Unless...
He's using the bloodline to smile...
That does seem to be the implication. I'm not sure which is creepier: Hazou using the same natural and seemingly wholesome smile every single time or standing around in front of a mirror practicing endlessly until he's got a whole selection.
[X] Kurosawa Hazou
[X] Male
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Rihaku
The Internet
Too on the nose?
It's nice to think about these subtle lifestyle implications for passive abilities. Have you ever experienced a moment of genuine joy in your life, perhaps at the thought that your family's money troubles would finally be gone? Would you like to weaponize this moment for perfect reproduction in social encounters designed to mislead and assassinate? Well, have I got a bloodline for you!
Please do vote for the name if you enjoyed the character concept, btw! I really don't want to edit these omakes with a different name, it wouldn't flow as well phonetically.
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- Location
- Somewhere, probably Earth
Oh my god we have the creepiest clan ever. It's like...every time, you type in the command 'Smile' and you get a perfect smile. Every. Single. Time. Muscle memory that works more like a robot's than a human's.
- Location
- Yes.
It'd be pretty good for perfect seals too: just practice them until you can perform each seal individually from the null position and then improve them over time to maximize efficiency. It's a pretty neat cheat to learning a technique since you can combine them to learn a new technique in about 1/2 second, and once we raise our situational awareness to keep up with enemy's handseals when they perform a technique, it's a miniature Sharingan.
- Location
- USA
I am slightly horrified, incredibly creeped out, and wondering if, instead of a boost to (Strength, Dexterity, Stamina) skills, we should have been given a boost to (Dexterity, Composure, Control) skills.
Who's more sociopathic, the assassin that presses facial expressions like buttons, or the hive mind that controls him heedlessly to their own ends?
EDIT: (Dexterity, Composure, Control) covers too many skills, so let's try with just Dexterity and Composure...
Just Dexterity and Composure gives four more and one less skill bonuses. We lose the bonus in Awareness, but we gain a bonus in Intimidation, Diplomacy, and their resists. We keep the bonus in Taijutsu, Weapons, Stealth, Tactical Movement, and Mechanical Aptitude (traps, locks).
Considering the situations in which we would use the skill checks, I'm just not sure if it applies. On the other hand, giving off an impression of sincerity seems like it should result in better Diplomacy checks.
Not sure we're going to be able to use our bloodline quite like in the story.
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- Location
- Somewhere, probably Earth
It lacks the ability to read and therefore copy chakra manipulation, or to anticipate an enemy's movements, but that's more or less what we have yes.
- Location
- Yes.
The OP should threadmark the character creation post so I don't have to scroll back to it over and over again
- Location
- Phoenix, AZ
Ok, so we got a solid build but hard start. It's new information anyways, and we can learn from it. Here's what I deduce and suggest.
1. WE CAN'T TRUST CANNON. Even if it's something's big in cannon, we can't trust it happened or will happen. Maybe if we can justify that every step of the way is rational we can consider it, but that's going to be a lot of work, susceptible to wishful thinking, and very unreliable. All our plans ought to be based primarily from in world knowledge - we can search for things based on cannon, but don't take any action until we find out about it in world. Depending on how far the QMs have taken the rational rewriting, everything might be different (even the base motivations, or existence of major players). We should rely almost entirely on in game knowledge. If we want to make plans from meta-knowledge, we must receive in world verification before taking action on it. This means our speculation is best spent on the in-game universe as much as possible (e.g. not speculating on seducing Sasuke, but instead speculating on potential exploits for our bloodline).
2. Given our current knowledge deficit, we must gather information on everything. Our current best source for most things is our jonin sensei. If at all possible, we should enter into a conversation with them or someone else we reasonably trust in our group and ask them questions (e.g. how likely is Zabuza coming after is, what do we know about Leaf, what's our group's current plan, why haven't we been found, when do they expect we'll be found) ideally, we confirm knowledge from independent sources (given the likelihood for bias and lies), but we work with what we've got. We just need to be careful not to raise suspicion while asking questions.
3. Tactically, it is suddenly viable to pursue sealcraft given our bloodline's new ability. Where before this wasn't something worth considering given our combat focused build, it might be worth it now (probably not before other defense though, let's not die). This in part depends on the exact mechanics of how skill points affect sealcraft, which we should ask about. It is certainly worth talking to a sealing ninja to find out more information about how we could use it, how our skill would affect it, etc. Hopefully somebody knows at least basic seals in our group. If there is, we want to talk to them.
Basically, before we go out on our first mission, we ought to talk with a ton of people and amass information. We could start making lists of who we want to ask what now, that'd probably be useful.
4. Our bloodline is OP. We should start exploring exploits.
5. Strategically, we've got several options, but it's probably best to refrain from speculation or enumeration until after we receive more information to avoid anchoring bias (so I'll hold my speculation until Sunday afternoon/evening).
QMs, given our bloodline, how do skill points in sealing affect our abilities. If sealing is based off proper formation and chakra tunneling, could we put one point in sealing, attempt something until we get lucky, then replicate that process everytime? How bad are sealing mishaps? Is it possible we die or are permanently disabled from them even given our Sheer Nerve ability? Do skill points in sealing unlock new seals?
1. WE CAN'T TRUST CANNON. Even if it's something's big in cannon, we can't trust it happened or will happen. Maybe if we can justify that every step of the way is rational we can consider it, but that's going to be a lot of work, susceptible to wishful thinking, and very unreliable. All our plans ought to be based primarily from in world knowledge - we can search for things based on cannon, but don't take any action until we find out about it in world. Depending on how far the QMs have taken the rational rewriting, everything might be different (even the base motivations, or existence of major players). We should rely almost entirely on in game knowledge. If we want to make plans from meta-knowledge, we must receive in world verification before taking action on it. This means our speculation is best spent on the in-game universe as much as possible (e.g. not speculating on seducing Sasuke, but instead speculating on potential exploits for our bloodline).
2. Given our current knowledge deficit, we must gather information on everything. Our current best source for most things is our jonin sensei. If at all possible, we should enter into a conversation with them or someone else we reasonably trust in our group and ask them questions (e.g. how likely is Zabuza coming after is, what do we know about Leaf, what's our group's current plan, why haven't we been found, when do they expect we'll be found) ideally, we confirm knowledge from independent sources (given the likelihood for bias and lies), but we work with what we've got. We just need to be careful not to raise suspicion while asking questions.
3. Tactically, it is suddenly viable to pursue sealcraft given our bloodline's new ability. Where before this wasn't something worth considering given our combat focused build, it might be worth it now (probably not before other defense though, let's not die). This in part depends on the exact mechanics of how skill points affect sealcraft, which we should ask about. It is certainly worth talking to a sealing ninja to find out more information about how we could use it, how our skill would affect it, etc. Hopefully somebody knows at least basic seals in our group. If there is, we want to talk to them.
Basically, before we go out on our first mission, we ought to talk with a ton of people and amass information. We could start making lists of who we want to ask what now, that'd probably be useful.
4. Our bloodline is OP. We should start exploring exploits.
5. Strategically, we've got several options, but it's probably best to refrain from speculation or enumeration until after we receive more information to avoid anchoring bias (so I'll hold my speculation until Sunday afternoon/evening).
QMs, given our bloodline, how do skill points in sealing affect our abilities. If sealing is based off proper formation and chakra tunneling, could we put one point in sealing, attempt something until we get lucky, then replicate that process everytime? How bad are sealing mishaps? Is it possible we die or are permanently disabled from them even given our Sheer Nerve ability? Do skill points in sealing unlock new seals?
chaonaut
Totally Not a Spy for Orochimort
- Location
- United States
- Location
- USA
We don't have one.
No more than it was before, really. We can just as easily crank blanks out for other sealmasters to charge and get the same benefit.
Interdependence fosters strong social bonds. If we're capable of making our own seals (that is, if our ability becomes known information), we lose an edge. Wherever we can find a sealmaster, we have a half-sell already on a mutually beneficial arrangement, up to and including shelter, from the elements, from poverty, from investigating shinobi. Assuming we can find sealmasters outside of ninja villages, that is.
We only have that capability with physical action, I believe. We only get boosts to physical skill checks.
Rihaku
The Internet
I don't think his social skills are suited to deception even if he has the mannerisms for it - it may be circumstantially nice, but it's almost more an equipment bonus than a skill bonus. In my Stealth Assassin headcanon, he was taught to train to his comparative advantage (physical movements), which is why he has STR / DEX / STA 2, and leave the thinking to others, despite his natural talents.
The line about smiles is a throwaway in the piece, where it's clear that he's devoted much more of his time to learning how to navigate this specific difficult terrain in an uber-efficient manner. Similarly, he tends to say platitudes rather than angle for conversations that actually give him an advantage. He doesn't start seriously thinking about abusing his bloodline for intellectual / social development until we take control.
Fast-Talk / Seduction is what the Skill's called in the system document, and I think diplomacy via reasoned arguments doesn't require a Skill, just argument quality. At least from what we've been told so far.
Rather than leveling sealcraft ourselves (it has a massive cost), which would severely impair our survivability, we should endeavour to team up with someone who can benefit from our mass-production in exchange for use of their seals and custom seals developed to buff us.
The OP notes "Shikigami-sensei," which I would assume is our jounin instructor.
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