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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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faflec said:
Does she know that we know who we killed? NO. The only people who know that are us and Inoue-sensei. She has no reason to believe we asked the question.
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Muer'ci said:
Good thing we were planning to level Deception anyway.
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Beware the tempting Black Swan that has the potential to blow up in your face later. Keeping a bombshell like this from her is a complete betrayal of our friendship, make no mistake about that. After that, we're no longer partners with her, we're just using her.
 
faflec said:
Why don't we...

...just...

not tell her?
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This is an excellent idea.

Assuming we were playing a sit-com quest.

No need to tell her right now since the situation is still on, but we should talk about it afterwards. Killing ninjas that try to kill you is an important part of being a missing-nin and we can't her going soft on us the moment someone with a leaf in their forehead shows up to throw fireballs at us.

A white lie here is not really a big deal but instead of doing that we should take this as a chance to ease Akane into the reality of our situation.
 
Our issues:
  • We are not in Tea yet. We need to get to Tea.
  • We are maybe chased by Rain ninja. We may need to start running as fast as we can.
  • We are not sure that Inoue is really Inoue. We should do something to check, and be ready to attack if she isn't.
  • Inoue just told us she killed some Leaf ninja. Akane's loyalty will take a hit when (if) she finds this out.
  • For that matter, Jiraya will not be happy either.
  • There may be more leaf ninja than just the group Inoue took out. We probably should start moving now, and cover our tracks.
  • We should decide which trade goods we want to bring. Our trade goods should not consist primarily of Iron-specific wares.
I propose we commit mass suicide to prevent unnecessary suffering.
 
Take us now teacher, we need you to train us in your arts of seduction. Tie our hands and let us know what it was you tried to teach us in Iron? Current events and information that we have observed of her before this fight happened.

Also Akane is a big girl and immune to sitcom misunderstanding so long as we provide true and honest information as we can.

@eaglejarl No Spice and Wolf quest on top of Naruto. Understood.
 
When we make camp this evening we need to take Akane aside for a moment and explain what happened, then do what we can to help her cope.

This will completely blow up in our faces if we don't.
 
@Velorien @eaglejarl

Can we get a marked map that has the route we took, from leaving Iron to entering Rain to washing in the river? It's extremely difficult to come up with plans and conclusions when I don't have that information.
 
I'm... just not seeing any concrete example of Inoue specifically killing a Leaf squad in the update. Could someone point it out, preferably in a quote? For reference, I'm only looking at today's update:

Velorien said:
So far, the journey south had been proceeding smoothly. No sudden ninja patrols, no chakra monster attacks, and only a moderate amount of general hostility from Keiko, whose mood had plummeted around the same time as Inoue-sensei had started carrying Akane.

They were on the Rain/Fire border when Murphy's Law finally caught up with them.

First came the worsening weather, as seemingly out of nowhere the light, fluffy cloud cover was replaced with pouring rain. Then Noburi tried to get Inoue-sensei's attention.

"Inoue-sensei," he began, "would you mind if we stopped for a second? Something doesn't feel right."

"What is it?" she asked instantly.

"Well, it's probably my Wakahisa senses misfiring from tiredness or something, but it feels like this rain is saturated with chakra."

Inoue-sensei's expression changed. "Break east. Now. Emergency speed."

"They're coming for us, aren't they? I knew–"

"Not now, Kagome."

There was no explanation, as that would have required interrupting her breathing. Just running, for no clear reason, until they were out from beneath the rainclouds, then far away, then finally slowing down in front of a small river.

Inoue-sensei, however, seemed no calmer. "Strip off and into the water. Quickly. We've got to get as much of that chakra water off us as we can."

She registered the hesitation coming from her mostly-teenage team.

"Tch. Boys, face that way. Girls, face this way. No peeking or I'll kill you myself. This is not the time to get distracted."

As soon as the team started moving, Inoue-sensei resumed rattling off orders.

"Noburi, make some clones. They're going to fish our gear out of the backpacks – thank Heaven those are waterproof – without contaminating it. Have changes of clothes ready for everyone."

Hazō saw Noburi's expression change as a sudden thought seemed to occur to him.

"Yes, that means handling girls' underwear, Noburi. Get over it," Inoue-sensei continued without pausing for breath.

A few seconds later, Hazō nearly turned around on instinct as he heard Akane's voice.

"Wow, Inoue-sensei, your–"

"One limb for every female bathing cliché."

Akane fell silent.

Then, right when everyone was finally naked and in the water, there came a sound that nobody wanted to hear. Someone – or something – was making rustling noises from behind the treeline.

"You've got to be kidding me," Inoue-sensei growled. "I'll handle this. The rest of you, be ready to move with all the gear you can carry."
​
-o-
​
Perhaps a minute of incredible tension later…

"Boys, about face!"

Hazō nearly sagged with relief at Inoue-sensei's voice.

"Inoue-sensei, you're hurt!" Keiko exclaimed, audibly rushing over.

"Not my blood. One of the men must've been gay, because he wasn't taken off guard by the gorgeous wet naked woman coming out of nowhere. I hate it when that happens. Boys, you can look now."

Roughly four seconds after coming back, Inoue-sensei was fully dressed and ready to go. Once again, Hazō reminded himself that she was an infiltration and seduction specialist.
​
-o-
​
"So what was that about, Inoue-sensei?"

"It might've been nothing," Inoue-sensei said. "You know how every legendary ninja is supposed to have an impossible technique or two, like the Second Hokage being able to raise the dead to fight for him, or the Second Tsuchikage reducing his enemies to dust with a wave of his hand? Well, using chakra-infused rain to detect enemy ninja is one of those techniques. It probably doesn't exist, but if this was the time and place where it turned out to have been real all along, that would be just our luck.

"Well, the good news is that unless we've got a legendary ninja from Hidden Rain out to get us, we're past the most dangerous part of the journey. It should be smooth sailing from–"

Hazō managed to get his hand over her mouth just in time.​
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It would be quite idiotic to tell Akane that a member of our group just killed someone from Leaf if that didn't actually happen. Who knows? It could have been anyone trying to pass through. If we really did do a good job of identifying the best itinerary to cross borders, who's to say someone else couldn't have thought of the same route? Hanlon's Razor and what-not
 
eaglejarl said:
These kids are 13. We could literally get banhammered for writing bathing scenes.
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Well there's that too, but I don't really think anyone is actually expecting to see that kind of fanservice even if the characters reached the age of majority at some point.

@Dictator4Hire Velorien revealed it outside the update:
Velorien said:
She says they were Leaf-nin. You did not confirm that Inoue is actually Inoue.
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Dictator4Hire said:
I'm... just not seeing any concrete example of Inoue specifically killing a Leaf squad in the update. Could someone point it out, preferably in a quote? For reference, I'm only looking at today's update:



It would be quite idiotic to tell Akane that a member of our group just killed someone from Leaf if that didn't actually happen. Who knows? It could have been anyone trying to pass through. If we really did do a good job of identifying the best itinerary to cross borders, who's to say someone else couldn't have thought of the same route? Hanlon's Razor and what-not
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Velorien's told us. Don't have the exact post, but it should be around the Story update.
 
Thanks y'all for finding that so fast. I just don't have the time right now to read through so many posts. This quest has grown in popularity while my free time has shrunk. I wish I could contribute more. :s

If I could make a suggestion, @eaglejarl , @Velorien , @Crackerjacks , it would be to add in any major details like who possibly-not-Inoue killed to the end of the latest chapter, or just thread-mark it. Maybe a thread-mark to designate such posts as clues or things-you-should-know?

The alternative is multiple people asking the same questions over and over, forcing other quest participants to answer, ultimately leading the discussion around in circles.

Or does someone want to compile all of the little WoG's on the player knowledge doc? I'd do it, but I am still too busy to commit to it. :cry:
 
We should probably start brainstorming the solutions to our situation.

The most immediate problem is maybe-impostor Inoue. We should deal with it first, before it's too late.
Ways to check if Inoue is real:
  • Try to kawarimi with her (will fail if she is an impostor. Impostor probably will not expect it)
  • Ask her about things only real Inoue would know (this is the obvious way to check for an impostor; If inoue is an impostor, she will be ready for it)
  • Try to dispel, just in case.
  • Something else?
Ways to deal with an impostor:
  • Explosions. There can never be enough explosions. Kagome will gladly help us.
  • All-out assault with combined forces. Has decent chance to succeed.
  • Poison. We probably won't have time and opportunity to administer it, though.
  • Wakahisa chakra drain. Too slow to be practical?
  • Something else?
Oh, by the way.
Velorien said:
Hazō managed to get his hand over her mouth just in time.
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We should totally use this to administer sedative to her.

If Inoue is an impostor, our immediate priority is defending from ninjas that captured her.
If she isn't, our priorities are:
  • Escape.
  • Cover our tracks.
  • Conceal our identities.
  • Prevent Akane mutiny.
  • Reach Tea.
Oh, and Hazou is 1 XP away from Sealing 11. And Poor Man's Yellow Flash seems doable, but we won't be able to take advantage of it if we don't level our kawarimi.
 
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Velorien said:
I'm not sure what you mean.
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This is the most apt of many acceptable "popcorn.gif"s

I mean that this thread is fun to watch/read/participate in not because of animosity and drama, but because ... umm

Because, everyone is on a boat. They all know that the boat is sinking and everyone is working on delaying their inevitable demise as much as possible.

However, the frantic panic of most passengers becomes amusing when you have made peace with your upcoming doom, and are viewing everything from a somewhat detached perspective.

HyperCatnip said:
Wakahisa chakra drain. To slow to be practical?
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Aren't we all standing in the same body of water right now?
 
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Jello_Raptor said:
I mean that this tread is fun to watch/read/participate in not because of animosity and drama, but because ... umm

Because, everyone is on a boat. They all know that the boat is sinking and everyone is working on delaying their inevitable demise as much as possible.

However, the frantic panic of most passengers becomes amusing when you have made peace with your upcoming doom, and are viewing everything from a somewhat detached perspective.
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You know, I just might sig this.
 
Hmm... Did you notice Inoue called Hazou, Noburi and Kagome "boys" instead of using their names? Twice in a row, in fact.

And one more thing:
Velorien said:
Once again, Hazō reminded himself that she was an infiltration and seduction specialist.
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Does she behave like an infiltration and seduction specialist lately? Especially after returning from offscreen fight?


As an aside, we should prepare to subdue Akane. Just in case. After we imposter-check Inoue.
 
Wonderful. I just had another terrifying thought.

If it turns out that this Inoue is an imposter, and we actually manage to kill the fake...

That means that Kagome is our sensei now.
 
We really should have a standard password for I was away and now I'm back for our team. We have the code masters Kagome and Inoue with us to help brainstorm secure password validation. This obviously should have been done way before we even left the swamp.
 
Traiden said:
We really should have a standard password for I was away and now I'm back for our team. We have the code masters Kagome and Inoue with us to help brainstorm secure password validation. This obviously should have been done way before we even left the swamp.
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Velorien said:
"October 31st!" Inoue-sensei said loudly. "My favourite gifts include chocolate, perfume and easily concealable bladed weapons, and I have a whole list of stuff written down if anyone is struggling for ideas."
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Anyone who knows enough about Inoue will know her birthday, but we can say: "Sensei. What did you say were your favorite birthday gifts, and who were you talking to?"
 
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