Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

[faflec]

Shame we lost team Kurenai, but oh well.

Wait. Why would we even need Panashe to avoid attackers? We've got Neji. He should do a far better job of scouting and without even leaving the group.

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Because if Neji could see the ambushers from inside the base he would have said so. Therefore they are acting outside of his Byakugan range. Also the Byakugan isn't...that overpowered anymore. It just gives +1/2 Alertness per level, which is the same as the Pangolin's Snout jutsu they offered us.

Of course I am speaking under the assumption that Neji is on our side and would give that information, which may not necessarily be true.

 

[Traiden]

I see no reason not to go with the classics.

Create a large cloud of mist and a lot of clones. Everyone henges to disguise themselves. Everyone (clones and real nin alike) uses a PMYF to clear the trap field instantly. The real nin and clones flee in different directions, forcing ambushes to split their forces. Neji and Noburi using their respective sensory capabilities help guide away from attackers. If we have to fight, we fight.

Leave after an hour and a half, leaving 90 minutes to report to the proctors.

Other suggestions:
1. Set off a practice explosion immediately, so whoever sent us a trap hears the explosion and isn't sure if we have injured or not. Leaves them uncertain.

2. We've already exposed Pangolin tunneling capability, so have our tunneler Pangolin move out ahead to set off some explosives and distract the enemy,

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I would suggest we not enter into any body of water vapour or otherwise. Mist is the home to Noburi's old clan and would happily drain us all should we follow this suggestion.

 

[Cariyaga]

We're not too far from the border of the exams according to the plan, but if I were the enemy, I would have an ambush set between us and the exit, so I suggest going at a lateral angle to get out of the swamp.

 

[MadScientist]

Because if Neji could see the ambushers from inside the base he would have said so. Therefore they are acting outside of his Byakugan range. Also the Byakugan isn't...that overpowered anymore. It just gives +1/2 Alertness per level, which is the same as the Pangolin's Snout jutsu they offered us.

Of course I am speaking under the assumption that Neji is on our side and would give that information, which may not necessarily be true.

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No, I mean, as we tunnel out, he'll easily be able to spot anyone coming close to digging into our tunnel. and then we set up an ambush with seal defenses the moment he gives the warning.

 

[Traiden]

Question for the QMs, do we know.the rough number of teams sent be each village for this test? I would like to know this so that we can more effectively plan our strategy.

 

[faflec]

Seeing that our target location is outside of the swamp and probably a no-fight zone....we could just continue making the seal there and leave early, I mean we are already bending the rules? Or are we only able to leave after the 48 hours? Kinda unclear on the details here.

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That's a...yeah that reminds me.

@eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail If we arrive at the designated meeting point before the 48hr is up, are we DQ'd? Are we forced to re-enter the Swamp of Mild Inconvenience? Are we considered "safe" and allowed to wait there without fear of consequence or attack from other teams/proctors?

No, I mean, as we tunnel out, he'll easily be able to spot anyone coming close to digging into our tunnel. and then we set up an ambush with seal defenses the moment he gives the warning.

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Oh that's what you mean. I thought you were talking about Neji scouting before we made the tunnel.

 

[Briefvoice]

[] Proto-Plan Flee as Planned

Immediate actions
-Tell everyone "it's a practice explosive" and then set one off immediately.
- Explain that we want any listeners to be unsure if their plan failed and hope the timing was uncertain enough they might mistake that practice explosive boom for their trap.

Plans for Consideration
-Argue that essentially, nothing has changed. We always knew there was a potential for ambush and were always going to have to use stealth and speed when leaving the fort.
-If they had actually injured some team members then we would be forced to move more slowly or change our exist strategy, but they didn't so we don't.
-Basic exit plan is that we each create a clone with enough extra chakra to carry out the Substitution technique. Two groups, one real and one clones.
-Then we use Poor Man's Yellow Flash seals and Substitution to clear the ring of death our own field of traps and start running in opposite directions.
-Move as a group, deploying Banshee seals to disorient and disrupt attackers and training explosions to put them down.
-Make our move about 1 1/2 hours from now, giving Hazou time to make 16 more seals. That's leaves an hour and a half to make it to the spot where we need to report in for the exam.

Pangolin Support
-Pangolins are very chakra-heavy to summon and we don't want to leave Keiko drained, so limit it to one tunneling pangolin with who can scout the surroundings.
-Pangolin to carry some explosive seals and set them off as a distraction as we begin our run?

 

[MadScientist]

We should probably expect an Iwa team to try caving our tunnel in. Neji should see them coming and give us time to avoid them if need be, but they'll still be able to follow us no problem, and probably start bringing the tunnel down on our heads.

 

[eaglejarl]

Actually no plan secret tunnel isn't my favorite. We want to send a message that Leaf is still the biggest badass on the block. That fucking with leaf is committing suicide. So we need to go in and face this ambush head on and crush them to dust.

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Yessss...let the punching flow through you!

+∞ Hugs

Seeing that our target location is outside of the swamp and probably a no-fight zone....we could just continue making the seal there and leave early, I mean we are already bending the rules? Or are we only able to leave after the 48 hours? Kinda unclear on the details here.

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@eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail If we arrive at the designated meeting point before the 48hr is up, are we DQ'd? Are we forced to re-enter the Swamp of Mild Inconvenience? Are we considered "safe" and allowed to wait there without fear of consequence or attack from other teams/proctors?

Click to shrink...

If you leave before the 48 hours then you are DQed.

Create a large cloud of mist and a lot of clones. Everyone henges to disguise themselves. Everyone (clones and real nin alike) uses a PMYF to clear the trap field instantly. The real nin and clones flee in different directions, forcing ambushes to split their forces. Neji and Noburi using their respective sensory capabilities help guide away from attackers. If we have to fight, we fight.

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Note that you cannot PMYF (or substitute at all) unless you can see the target.

Question for the QMs, do we know.the rough number of teams sent be each village for this test? I would like to know this so that we can more effectively plan our strategy.

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IIRC there's a couple hundred candidates.

 

[Cariyaga]

If you leave before the 48 hours then you are DQed.

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How long's the window for exitting, then?

 

[Briefvoice]

Regarding Tunneling

Not everyone in the group knows Hiding Like a Mole. In fact, most of them don't. Now it's possible to dig a regular tunnel and wriggle through that, but I would like you to imagine trying to move through an unstable narrow tunnel, dug quickly and with no supports, and with no jutsu that will let you escape if it collapses onto you. Does that really seem like a great idea? Would you, as Shikamaru or Neji, really trust your life to this unstable, recently dug tunnel with absolutely no magic powers that can save you if it collapses onto you and you're buried under tons of earth? Would you?

Yeah. I think there would be a vast preference for people without magic tunneling powers to not have to try and slowly wriggle through a tunnel for hundreds of meters. I really do. Remember, this isn't some comfortable highway tunnel. Picture something more like an escape tunnel from a world war II prison camp movie.

 

[faflec]

Regarding Tunneling

Not everyone in the group knows Hiding Like a Mole. In fact, most of them don't. Now it's possible to dig a regular tunnel and wriggle through that, but I would like you to imagine trying to move through an unstable narrow tunnel, dug quickly and with no supports, and with no jutsu that will let you escape if it collapses onto you. Does that really seem like a great idea? Would you, as Shikamaru or Neji, really trust your life to this unstable, recently dug tunnel with absolutely no magic powers that can save you if it collapses onto you and you're buried under tons of earth? Would you?

Yeah. I think there would be a vast preference for people without magic tunneling powers to not have to try and slowly wriggle through a tunnel for hundreds of meters. I really do. Remember, this isn't some comfortable highway tunnel. Picture something more like an escape tunnel from a world war II prison camp movie.

Click to shrink...

We have a larger tunneling technique (2m diameter) for multiple people, Pangolins probably have better ones.

 

[Traiden]

I was more asking how many teams from each village, such as a number like 5 from Mist, 2 from Snow, 3 from Noodle, ECT. Something of a rough percentage would be helpful too, something so that we can use to determine how many ninja we might be able to bribe to help break the Mist Blockade of the exit.

 

[Briefvoice]

We have a larger tunneling technique (2m diameter) for multiple people, Pangolins probably have better ones.

Click to shrink...

It's not in the latest player-accessible version of the rules. I would like to see the details on this jutsu and how mcuh chakra it now costs before trying to convince everyone to commit to it.

Chakra cost is something we need to consider carefully, but the way. Have you looked at the chakra costs for summoning? Keiko has what, 200 chakra? A single low-chuunin level pangolin (2k to 3k xp) takes 60 chakra... over a quarter of that! And Noburi's ability to refill isn't as powerful as it once was.

 

[Traiden]

If we give weaker teams from ninja villages who are allied with Leaf or at least neutral to us we can more easily shape the challenges we will face further on in the exam.

 

[Cariyaga]

I was more asking how many teams from each village, such as a number like 5 from Mist, 2 from Snow, 3 from Noodle, ECT. Something of a rough percentage would be helpful too, something so that we can use to determine how many ninja we might be able to bribe to help break the Mist Blockade of the exit.

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There is no blockade. You can exit anywhere, as far as I know.

Am I wrong @eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail?

On another note:



Seems most likely that they'll have a spot ambushing us directly behind the fort. Or, I'd say that if they hadn't already attacked with the explosive seals, thus giving away that they're watching.

I note that we can leverage our experience as missing nin here. This is pretty much exactly the kind of position we were in doing border crossing between nations.

 

[Roomba]

[] Proto-Plan Flee as Planned

Immediate actions
-Tell everyone "it's a practice explosive" and then set one off immediately.
- Explain that we want any listeners to be unsure if their plan failed and hope the timing was uncertain enough they might mistake that practice explosive boom for their trap.

Plans for Consideration
-Argue that essentially, nothing has changed. We always knew there was a potential for ambush and were always going to have to use stealth and speed when leaving the fort.
-If they had actually injured some team members then we would be forced to move more slowly or change our exist strategy, but they didn't so we don't.
-Basic exit plan is that we each create a clone with enough extra chakra to carry out the Substitution technique. Two groups, one real and one clones.
-Then we use Poor Man's Yellow Flash seals and Substitution to clear the ring of death and start running in opposite directions.
-Move as a group, deploying Banshee seals to disorient and disrupt attackers and training explosions to put them down.
-Make our move about 1 1/2 hours from now, giving Hazou time to make 16 more seals. That's leaves an hour and a half to make it to the spot where we need to report in for the exam.

Pangolin Support
-Pangolins are very chakra-heavy to summon and we don't want to leave Keiko drained, so limit it to one tunneling pangolin with who can scout the surroundings.
-Pangolin to carry some explosive seals and set them off as a distraction as we begin our run?

Click to shrink...

As described, the "Ring of Death", the area around the fort in which teams set up ambushes for traders, should be way too big to just clear with a single substitution. I'd expect 500m in radius at minimum. As such, the problem with clone decoys is that we're about equally likely to run into these small ambushes whichever direction we exfiltrate in. So, clones go one way, run into ambush, we go the other way, run into different ambush. On the other hand, our enemies waiting outside the Ring of Death might depend on us running into an ambush as a way of tracking our movements, so the clones might throw them off somewhat.

Sneaking out without tripping on ambushes at all seems difficult. The brute force option is much more straightforward, if more costly as well.

 

[Cariyaga]

TBH, I'm not sure it's worth using clones here. As long as we don't run our faces directly into an ambush, there isn't really enough space in the swamp for them to catch up to us, is there?

 

[ContextBot]

@eaglejarl , @Velorien , @OliWhail How long do we need to get to the exit anyway? How many seals do we have? And do we have an idea what villages/teams came to us to trade? Also has Hazou bothered to look at the Night light seal, even if he didn't research it?

 

[Briefvoice]

As described, the "Ring of Death", the area around the fort in which teams set up ambushes for traders, should be way too big to just clear with a single substitution. I'd expect 500m in radius at minimum. As such, the problem with clone decoys is that we're about equally likely to run into these small ambushes whichever direction we exfiltrate in. So, clones go one way, run into ambush, we go the other way, run into different ambush. On the other hand, our enemies waiting outside the Ring of Death might depend on us running into an ambush as a way of tracking our movements, so the clones might throw them off somewhat.

Sneaking out without tripping on ambushes at all seems difficult. The brute force option is much more straightforward, if more costly as well.

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I said Ring of Death, but what I really mean was our own trap field just because it would be embarrassing to hit our own traps while running away at top speed. Now edited to correct.

 

[faflec]

It's not in the latest player-accessible version of the rules. I would like to see the details on this jutsu and how mcuh chakra it now costs before trying to convince everyone to commit to it.

Chakra cost is something we need to consider carefully, but the way. Have you looked at the chakra costs for summoning? Keiko has what, 200 chakra? A single low-chuunin level pangolin (2k to 3k xp) takes 60 chakra... over a quarter of that! And Noburi's ability to refill isn't as powerful as it once was.

Click to shrink...

The user excavates a 2-meter diameter tunnel and is able to move through it unimpeded. They can cross (Effect) zones per round while ignoring any above-surface borders and blocks on Sprint actions. Effect cannot be higher than (½ Aspect bonus). User has 0 Alertness with regard to people and objects above the surface, barring unusual senses, and vice versa. The tunnel is permanent.

Click to shrink...

Chakra cost is 28CP + cost from effect, but Hazou doesn't have the levels to use that. Keep in mind that this is Hazou's version of the technique, and that if we summon an appropriate Pangolin we can have them use their version (and their chakra, for that matter).

 

[Cariyaga]

So, worth noting: Part of the reason (not a lot of it, but some) for ambushing us is to get our seals. This being the case, the opposition cannot split their forces because it will result in either a)A team being split up, reducing their effectiveness or b)The team(s) that do catch us, if they manage to take us out, getting all of our seals and leaving without sharing with the other team.

So I suspect they will have their forces concentrated.

 

[eaglejarl]

Does anyone (@faflec ?) remember how big we said the swamp was? I think it was about 5 miles across, maybe 10, but I can't nail it down.

Note that a 10-mile-diameter swamp has a circumference of ~30 miles and a ninja can run ~20 mph.



I'm talking with the others about the outstanding questions.

 

[faflec]

Does anyone (@faflec ?) remember how big we said the swamp was? I think it was about 5 miles across, maybe 10, but I can't nail it down.

Note that a 10-mile-diameter swamp has a circumference of ~30 miles and a ninja can run ~20 mph.



I'm talking with the others about the outstanding questions.

Click to shrink...

It's big. Probably ten or eleven miles across and very approximately circular with a couple small lobes coming out for half a mile or so, one on the north side and one on the east.

Click to shrink...

Sorry, I was cooking lunch.

 

[Cariyaga]

Hm. Let's look at this from their perspective.

You're some hotshot chuunin-aspirant from Mist that is woefully lacking in exorbitant amounts of explosive seals, so you decide to attack the local provider of seals to get some. He is holed up in a Fortress of Doom, but has to leave within three hours, so you try to hurt his team of assistants with a few explosive seals. You don't hear an explosion go off.

Your assumptions are that his team figured out what was going on, and also now knows that there's someone present that actively wishes him and his harm, and so will be on guard.

---

Alright, that's as far as I am able to fairly-accurately model them. Now, let's look at it a different way:

---

Moments ago, an explosive went off inside/in the direction of their fortress. Minutes later, an angry looking group of ninja charge out, multiple of them bandaged up and looking pretty bloodied up. They seem wily enough to avoid the direct path out, assuming it is a trap, but you have scouts along the sides of their fortress that use a loud whistle to alert you the direction they went out. You have a set of substitution targets pre-prepared in both directions for the strike team to get in position quickly -- it's not ideal, it uses chakra, but they're already in bad condition, so it's not as bad as it could be.

---

Yes, I like the second narrative better. So here's my idea: Noburi bandages a few people (those with highest deception), including Hazou, quite thoroughly, but carefully so as not to impede combat or movement. These people, we use whatever variety of makeup/disguise kits we have available, and Ino's (probable) expertise to make it look bloody enough on first glance while running, then set off a practice explosive inside the base and leave a few minutes later.