I think it's fair to say that the last canon update was somewhat barebones which made planning for the next vote or just enjoying world building a bit hard. Since the QMs were so so short on spoons, I think it's only right if we tried to help out. Unfortunately, I am no writer so this is going to be more akin to an info dump of things I would have liked to see/how I modeled the people to act. And who knows, if
@OliWhail (or whoever writes next update,
@eaglejarl/
@Velorien?) thinks these fit their vision, please feel free to consider them with the next update in mind (I will do my best to adjust for my inherent bias of Team Uplift and co being super awesome cool guys). I hope I am not being presumptous here but I just had an itch to write something like this.
- Sakura swapped some stories with Noburi regarding the last Chunin Exam she was on and how similar the Swamp is to the Forest of Death; she is quite intrigued how the diplomatic approach will work out (and you are pretty sure you hear her mumble about the Hokage's godson under her breath) because a Rock team in her exam tried something similar by forming a big group and making sure everyone in their alliance got scrolls; though unfortunately that didn't work out due to lack of trust between parties and the limited amount of scrolls around.
- Akane offered to lay mechanical traps around and inside the fort, an offer you gratefully accepted since she was kind enough to not mock the very obvious explosive seal traps you put up due to low stealth; her team mate, Haru, turned out to be pretty good at stealth and helped lay some more hidden explosive seal traps as well. With that in mind, you still kept the original, very obvious traps as a deterrent and obvious show of "We have so many seals to go around, enemies take notice and don't be stupid".
- At some point, Noburi, a combat pangolin, Akane and Sakura went out to recharge Noburi's barrel due to Keiko needing a recharge every so often for her summons. While Noburi did sense an enemy team it turned out to be moving away rapidgly from you so nothing much happened.
- Neji, Tenten and Lee - led by Panashe the cutest and most cultured pangolin ever - arrive at your base. Considering that the Byakugan is hard to fake, checking their recognition signals is just a formality.
- Noburi gives all three a fill up while you exchange information; Team Gai tells you about the teams they spotted on the way here and that at least the two teams Neji saw from afar had already started collecting night light seals in their earnest though they did not witness any hostilities between groups yet (neither team had a Wakahisa in their group which is the only one Neji can immediately assign to Mist teams due to their characteristic barrel and the chakra water within).
- Inbetween making Party Trick seals, one of which is being shown to Team Gai to explain how to turn them in for points, Hazo makes sure they know that the Mist teams are likely to start collecting night light seals close to the end of the exam and fueled by their Wakahisas. Additionally, he gives a brief overview on how their respective counterparts can fight so they know what to expect (he is aware that most of that is probably redundant information but he has not much else to do while his hands are busy with making seals).
- Best girlfriend Akane shows some initiative by enlisting Neji to point out any glaring mistakes in their trap networks - all without mentioning Youth even once.
- You also see Keiko and Tenten talk between themselves though you cannot make up the words; you did see Tenten hand Keiko a bunch of (blunted?) kunai though.
- In the meanwhile, you have a full team of Rock ninja arrive in the fort to exchange their lit seals for Party Trick ones after you establish that yours can turned on and off at will; you fail to convince them not to collect more night light seals though since you cannot prove they only last a limited duration. You also notice them looking around in what they think is a inconspicous way (silly combat spec teams).
- Team Asuma arrives on their own shortly before nightfall and though you fail to spot Panashe, she miraculously turns up at the side of Keiko shortly after with a self satisfied smirk.
- Noburi once again makes sure they are topped off on chakra while Ino explains that it is very unlikely that any of the other senior Leaf teams will join us; the team they met on their way to our fort was definitely not inclined to be part of "such a big target". None of them have seen Team Kurenai but they assure you that they should be fine and able to evade any threats with all of their tracking ability.
- Hazo offers Shikamaru a bunch of Party Tricks to help him direct shadows in more deliberate ways which he gratefully accepts (even though Keiko is pretty sure that Shikamaru has a way of doing something similar and assuming any different would be stupid - but she supposes having alternatives won't hurt; still, she is going to talk to Hazo about not embarrassing her with her future clan later when the time is right)
- Another team arrives to exchange seals, this time a lone Grass ninja. You fail to convince him to not activate more seals - in fact, he seems surprisingly unsurprised when you mention the time limit? He is pretty eager to walk around the fort though and only stops after being threatened. Neji mentions that he was a Mist ninja under Henge though he cannot tell you why the ninja bothered considering he could see five more Mist ninja within his Byakugan range. Either through chance or because you somehow got overheard, you don't spot anyone else within Neji's range until the time you get attacked.
- After awhile Shikamaru reluctantly approaches Keiko to ask why we haven't bothered to randomize the trap locations yet even after it was pretty obvious that each team that came to trade has memorized at least some of the spots; after some back and forth you decide to do just that even if it is going to cost you the manpower you could have used to send out some scouts.
- Everyone is aware that the chances of getting attacked increases the closer they get to the 48h deadline though not everyone is equally skilled in showing a relaxed attitude.
The 10+ enemy ninjas arrive:
- It has been 2 hours since they last time you swapped trap positions.
- All Leaf ninjas have been offered Banshee seals (and a short explanation of what they do) and A-level explosives though only Tenten, Sakura, Ino and Shikamaru outside of your team took you up on the offer (Lee was saying something about prefering to stick with a style he knows will work than learn how to reliably fight with explosives in such a short time and it seems a few others agree).
- You have made a case about avoiding any maiming attacks if at all possible; everyone knows that deliberate killing is outright out but the feeling you got is that the same wasn't true for maiming or other disproportionate punishment should anyone of your side get injured. Still, they will make an effort to comply as long as long as it doesn't pose significant risks to your allies.
- After discussing with Shikamaru, Sakura and Neji you decided to come up with a basic defensive combat plan: Long ranged abilities like explosives, ranged weapons etc. first while CQC specialists like Neji, Chouji and Hazo will make sure to guard your ranged/support members (Tenten, Keiko, Nobby etc) until the enemy is within range of your melee fighters. Try to make use of the pre-laid traps where it makes sense to do so. After that, it's FFA according to their best judgment as neither Team Gai nor Team Asuma were sanguine about changing their practiced team combat manoveurs on short notice. (Everyone knows how a Hozuki or Wakahisa looks due to the barrel but that's about it for identifying marks.)
- You are generally aware of what the other genins can do though there is a tacit understanding that not everything was shared (or in case of Haru, nothing, because he is Orochimaru's illegitimate son).
