As for swamp of death training, that might be a little too dangerous. Even if the team can handle it, we wouldn't want any tutors getting killed because they're unfamiliar with the dangers. Also, we're already familiar with the dangers so its value as training might be minimized. We probably don't need to get better at surviving hostile environments anyway, we need to focus on anti-ninja fighting skills for the tournament.

Those are good concerns, but I think we can address them.

First, the only reason this is safe for us is that Noburi can just sense the chakra of anything in the water. We can also deploy misterators, which won't block our line of sight, but will allow Noburi to sense anything in the trees. But this can also protect any instructors who come with us. They should be just as safe as we are.

Second, the skill we will be training is alertness, the god stat. That will help in the tournament. If you want a non crunch reason why the skills carry over, we are essentially training our reaction times to obscene levels by constantly having to react to a danger that suddenly appeared.

Third, all the creatures we fight are giving us chakra. The team ran into 2 or 3 chakra beasts on one 5-6 hour expedition when they were trying to avoid trouble as fresh out of the academy Genin. They were the low end threats in the swamp, and they probably had 40 CP between them. I think that now, with chakra sensing, with pangolin scouts, with actually looking for trouble, we could easily get 2000-4000 CP a day. That is about 5-6 times what we would normally be able to spend on jutsu training a day. And we use the Jutsu in actual combat situations.

I would not be shocked if this alone gave us an extra 5 xp a day to spend on Jutsu, on top of 3 XP a day that we normally get.
 
On the topic of getting more summoning scrolls, we got really lucky with Pangolins and Frogs being allies. Any other scrolls we get might make our lives really complicated politically if we wanted to make use of them. Or maybe we'd have to engineer some sort of grand summon path alliance.
The Capybara's seem neutral at least WRT the Toads and Pangolins.

Depending on how we can handle the Condor boss summon thing and the Condor summoner, we could grab the condors.
 
The Capybara's seem neutral at least WRT the Toads and Pangolins.

Depending on how we can handle the Condor boss summon thing and the Condor summoner, we could grab the condors.
I can't imagine how we could convince the Condors to work with the Pangolin summoner after what the Pangolins did.
 
We could agree to work with the Condors to try to try to fix the whole slavery situation from our position of influence over the Pangolins, I suppose. Not sure how that would practically work, though.
 
We could agree to work with the Condors to try to try to fix the whole slavery situation from our position of influence over the Pangolins, I suppose. Not sure how that would practically work, though.
Their species was semi genocided so I dont think thats viable.
 
Is that more or less what everyone else was thinking?
I know most of you are all "but the tournament is sooo important" right now, but I think telepathy seals are significantly higher cost-benefit than most of that list. Telecommunications is a pivotal technology. Pitch shifters get you close-range multichannel communications and have all sorts of cool abuses ("Boo!" says the talking shuriken), plus stepping down this path gets us closer to proper audio tech like village-wide "radio". The first steps (pitch shifters, amplifiers) are close to our narrow domains of expertise in sound-based seals, and the extensions don't seem all that difficult relative to a lot of the fancy stuff people dream up. Even the tournament would benefit, since it lets teammates communicate during fights.

We'd also benefit from 25 kHz Banshees.
 
Most of the (surviving) Condors ought to be sufficiently enslaved and would thus be willing to serve (us).

So long as the boss Condor is at large and in rebellion against the rightful ruling Pangolins, taking the Condor contract would be suicide - if the Pangolins have a means of forcibly reverse summoning Keiko if she doesn't meet her deals with them as they have implied, the Condor boss summon could presumably do the same. But if you really want to see if the space-time jutsu using giant condor who hates our allies won't use that to kill us, I suppose we can try.
 
So long as the boss Condor is at large and in rebellion against the rightful ruling Pangolins, taking the Condor contract would be suicide - if the Pangolins have a means of forcibly reverse summoning Keiko if she doesn't meet her deals with them as they have implied, the Condor boss summon could presumably do the same. But if you really want to see if the space-time jutsu using giant condor who hates our allies won't use that to kill us, I suppose we can try.
fiiiine we can wait until Conjura dies first.

Wonder how new Boss Summons are chosen once the old ones die.
 
I wonder if it'd be possible to explain to the Pangolins that we have strange human moral compunctions about slavery, some day. Then again, maybe there isn't much point. It's not like they'd change for us.
 
Chapter 203.1: The Insufferable Jiraiya
Chapter 203.1: The Insufferable Jiraiya

Flashback: Sunset, End of Round 2 of the Fifth Event of the Chūnin Exams

The smugness that had been coiled in Jiraiya's belly rose up as the kids made their extra-showy entrance. The nine of them arrived on pangolinback, three kids on each of the three giant pangolins. Clan Gōketsu rode the lead (and largest) one, the others in wedge formation behind them.

They snapped to a halt a decent twenty feet from the proctors' tables. Hazō, Noburi, and Keiko moved as one body, catapulting forward and turning neat flips; they stuck the landing and braced to attention. The other six genin, lacking the experience at riding on extradimensional steeds and also at working together, scrambled down and took up position on either side.

"Blue Team One, reporting mission success!" Hazō parade-grounded.

Keiko rolled her eyes.

Noburi made zero effort to hide his shit-eating grin.

Jiraiya allowed the smug to rise up and pour forth from his body in an aura so powerful it could be felt all the way back in Leaf.

The head proctor sighed. "Yes, I know. Junko reported in on you lot twenty minutes ago."

"Eighteen prisoners, eh? Not bad, huh?" Jiraiya said, nudging the Mizukage with his elbow. "No one even dared attack them."

"That simply means that they did not show any particular skill of their own," the Kazekage grumbled. "That other Leaf team did all the work."

"Oh, so you're saying that two of the Leaf teams were able to kick your kids' asses?" Jiraiya asked, his grin threatening to split his face.

Rasa glowered. "Just because you gave them a bunch of seals—"

"Oh, you mean the seals that they stopped using partway through the round, because they thought it would be more impressive if they punched your brats out manually?"

"Do not be smug, Jiraiya," the Mizukage said, stepping slightly away from Jiraiya's overly-enthusiastic elbow. "It is unbecoming in a Kage."

"Don't care. My kids rolled your kids like bread dough. Soft and squishy bread dough."

The Kazekage, Raikage, and Tsuchikage all glared murderously at Jiraiya. The Mizukage unbent enough to roll her eyes.

"Stop being a brat, Jiraiya."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," Jiraiya said, chastened. "You're right, I should act like a grownup now that I'm Hokage." He paused and tipped his head in thought before turning back to the genin. "In fact...kids, I know that you're better fighters than anyone here at the Exams and that you wanted to show that off, but you went too far. I mean, sure, it's nice that more than half of the slots in the tournament will belong to Leaf, but you made my life harder when you ensured that not one single Mist-nin will be fighting. That was rude and may have political consequences. You should have been gracious and permitted one of them to get in, just for good manners."

"Sir, yes sir!"

"And don't even try to protest that it wasn't in your control, either. No one made it in to the tournament except you and people smart enough to ally with you. The politically savvy thing to have done would be to make sure that at least one person from each of the major villages got in, instead of completely locking out Mist, Cloud, and Rock in favor of one Sand team and a couple minor villages. If you're going to be chūnin then you need to learn to think about the big picture, okay?"

"Sir, yes sir!"

Ren's Iron Nerve was probably the only thing that kept her from exploding Jiraiya with her brain.

"Okay, that's dealt with," Jiraiya said, nodding in satisfaction before turning to the glowering Kazekage. "Oh, hey, Rasa, you can manage to get your trade goods together in two weeks, right? Because I can have the first lumber shipment at your doorstep in that time, and I'm sure that you remember the terms of our new trade deal—you know, the part that says my people won't have to wait more than forty-eight hours to collect their payment and depart. Ōnoki, same for you."

"Yes, I can make that happen," the Kazekage said, through gritted teeth. The Tsuchikage echoed him a moment later, the words grinding against each other on the way between his teeth.

"Awesome, thanks." Jiraiya turned back to the genin. "So, kids, who wants to party with the Toad Sage?"
 
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Chapter 207: Wrap Up

Flashback: Immediately after the end of the Fifth Event of the Chūnin Exams

"Sir," Hazō murmured as soon as they were into the city and surrounded by the hustle and bustle of nighttime shoppers, drinkers, and partiers. "I've had an idea. It probably won't work but if it does then it would be extremely important. It relates to that meeting the night the clan was formed."

Jiraiya looked down at his adoptive son, one eyebrow upraised. "Seriously?" he said, his voice pitched low so as not to carry. Keiko and Noburi had, by sheerest happenstance, bracketed around their clan brother and clan head. The other six genin were limping along beside them, quietly fenced off so that they hopefully couldn't overhear too easily.

"Yes, sir. Again, probably won't work, but if it does it would be extremely helpful."

"Right. Wait two minutes, then meet in that alley." He smiled and looked around before drawing to a halt. "Okay, kids, listen up!" He waited until he had nine attentive genin facing him like children at story hour, then waved around at the night market they were passing through. "The club's about five minutes that way, but I need me some dango and funnel cake! Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to take this money and use it to buy yourselves any delicious, fattening, bad-for-you foods and drinks that you want, then meet back here in fifteen minutes. Who's in?" He held out a heaping double-handful of ryō that he'd conjured from somewhere.

The genin were trained soldiers and, under the right circumstances, brutal killers. They were also teenagers with the sweet teeth to prove it. The money vanished from Jiraiya's hands and the children scattered like pigeons, descending on the purveyors of treats and beverages like the heralds of the apocalypse. Keiko and Noburi paused, waiting for a discreet head-tilt from Jiraiya before following the others. Hazō was last off the mark, taking his share of the money and heading for a stall that sold candied nuts, a favorite childhood treat. He bargained with the vendor for the sake of appearances, but his heart wasn't in it and he ended up paying half again what he could have gotten the man down to. The nuts were just as good as he remembered, though.

Jiraia was waiting for him in the alley, two Tunneler's Friend seals in hand. Wordlessly, he passed Hazō one of the seals, then flicked out a Hiding Like a Mole jutsu and vanished into the earth.

Hazō hurriedly made the signs for the jutsu himself, pressed the air-giving seal to his face, and went after the older ninja. He was barely below the surface when a hand gripped the fabric of his uniform's shoulder and tugged him along.

They went down to what Hazō considered a secure depth and then continued going down, Jiraiya's hand on his shoulder guiding him along. There were occasional pauses, presumably to allow Jiraiya to breathe from his seal, but the Toad Sage was clearly taking no chances, because they continued descending through the blackness of earth and stone until Hazō could feel the weight of a mountain pressing down on him. He knew that the temperature wasn't actually rising but he couldn't help but imagine that it was.

Finally, Jiraiya let go and Hazō came to a halt. A moment later the earth pulled back, leaving a spherical hollow around them. Light blossomed from a seal in Jiraiya's hand.

"Hold onto the roof."

Hazō reached up and chakra-adhered himself to the top of the hollow so that his feet were hanging free. He took mental notes as Jiraiya suspended a pair of upside-down Air Dome seals from wires sticking into the walls, then activated them to line the bottom half of the hollow with a bowl of frozen (and, more importantly, soundproof) air. He gestured Hazō down into the bowl, then set up another Air Dome on top of the first, enclosing them in a completely spherical soundproof barrier.

"Not yet," Jiraiya said, cutting off what Hazō had been about to say. He set up another series of seals around the inside perimeter of the Air Domes; these were familiar, being the anti-Hyūga seals that Jiraiya had installed in the Gōketsu clan compound. This was followed by more seals and a trio of jutsu—one Earth, one Air, and one Lightning, all said quietly enough that Hazō didn't catch the names. By the end of it, Hazō was caught somewhere between bemusement and appreciation for the lengths to which OPSEC could be taken.

"Talk to me," Jiraiya said at last.

"I was thinking about summoning contracts," Hazō said. "When Keiko signed the Pangolin contract, Pandā appeared without her explicitly summoning him, and he was able to boost her back to the Seventh Path. Does it work that way with all summons?"

"As far as I know," Jiraiya said. "It's how it went with the Toads, anyway."

"Is it possible to sign for someone else? If so, and if we could somehow find a sample of Naruto's blood and chakra, then maybe we could sign the Toad contract with his name, making him temporarily the Toad Summoner? A toad would appear wherever he is and could take him back to the Seventh Path. Keiko could meet up with him, find out where he came from on the Human Path and who was guarding him. Then you sign the Toad contract again, replacing him as summoner, and we go mount a rescue effort while he stays safe on the Seventh Path."

Jiraiya looked thoughtful. "Huh. Interesting idea." He pondered it for a minute. "So far as I know, no one has ever tried that. I can't say for sure what would happen, but I'm reasonably sure it wouldn't work. Summoning contracts are essentially very elaborate, very powerful seals. Intent and identity matter when you're doing sealing, so I'd be very surprised if you could sign for someone else. Aside from that, I don't know where we'd get a sample of his blood and chakra. Still, good thought. And good job on the OPSEC."

Hazō straightened a little, pleased at the praise. He was learning!

Jiraiya took note and snorted in amusement. "Speaking of good jobs, great job with the Exams. You guys crushed it like a bug. The other Kage were sure you couldn't make it, so I bet some trade contracts with Rasa and Ōnoki; you making the tournament means that Leaf gets some very favorable terms on the lumber trade. I'm going to make political hay on this back home." He shook his head, ruefulness offset by the grin that split his face. "Although I really shouldn't have made fun of the other Kage. It's never a good idea to taunt people that you need to get along with." He paused, memory clearly sparked. "Well, almost never. Anyway, I shouldn't have done it, but I just couldn't help myself. They were all being so snotty about how there was no way that you kids would make the tournament."

"Frankly, we weren't sure we would either," Hazō admitted. "They really tanked us in the fourth event, and the crew we were put with in the fifth was no great shakes."

"Eh." Jiraiya waved dismissively. "I never had any doubts, and neither did Mari. For your age, you guys are insanely powerful. We'll get you some tricks during the break so you can absolutely blow out the tournament. If you all make it to the semis then...well, I won't say that my grip on the hat is assured, but it'll be a lot more solid. No pressure, though."

Hazō looked at him in dismay. "But...I mean, we already crushed it in the third and fifth events. And like you said, the tournament brackets are pretty much just us and the people who worked with us."

Jiraiya shrugged. "You know it and I know it. Hyūga is going to argue that you only did so well because of my Goo Bomb seals and because Nara carried you. It's horseshit, but he'll convince some people. On the other hand, if you completely rock the tournament then there won't be any doubt. It'll prove that I showed good judgement by taking you in, and if you add that to the good trade deals, and some other things I've already done, then it'll be obvious that I'm a good choice to lead Leaf." He saw Hazō's appalled face and hurried to add, "Don't worry about it, though. It would be nice if you could pull it off, but it's only one of multiple ways that I can win."

"Yessir." Hazō paused. "Speaking of winning, is there any chance that we could turn some of the basement space into a sealing lab? There's a lot of things I'd like to work on, but it's not the kind of stuff we want anyone else knowing about."

"And doesn't it just fill me with dread that there are things you consider too risky to share," Jiraiya replied, amused. "It's something we can look into when we get home. I'm not thrilled at the idea of working underground—it restricts escape routes and raises the possibility of being trapped or having the roof come down on you—but we can talk about it. For now, we need to get aboveground and rejoin the others before they notice we're gone."

A quick swipe of the hand removed the various seals that were ensuring their privacy; he tucked them into a pocket, recast Hiding Like a Mole, and swam upwards with Hazō following.

o-o-o-o​

Mid-morning the next day, after sleeping off a night of Toad-Sage-led debauchery...

The knocking on his door was probably actually more along the lines of pounding, but that would be necessary until his ears healed. Ryōichi pushed himself up with a sigh and slouched over to the door; all he wanted was a chance to lie down and nap in this absolutely enormous dorm room that he was sharing with no one, instead of his much smaller room at home that he shared with five brothers (four of them older than him and all of them resentful that he was a ninja and they weren't) and three baby sisters who had far too much fun climbing on him while shrieking in joy. He loved the little nibblets, but it was nice to have some space and some quiet for a change.

He opened the door to find the Gōketsu kids standing outside.

"We owe you an apology," Hazō said seriously. "Could we talk for a minute?"

Ryōichi sighed internally but opened the door. There went his nap. Still, you didn't say no if a clan kid wanted to talk. Especially when they were the Hokage's clan. Hopefully it wouldn't take them long to make their pro-forma apology and go off feeling good about themselves again so that he could get back to the important business of snoozing.

The other three filed in and settled; Hazō and Noburi sat on the bunk opposite Ryōichi's and Keiko leaned on the wall, arms crossed.

"We hurt you, and we're sorry," Hazō said. "There was a lot of politics going on and you got unfairly caught in the crossfire. I don't know how you're feeling about this—probably not too charitable, I'd imagine—and I don't know if it's something we can make right, but we'd like to try. At the same time, I know that there's a lot of power imbalance and justified resentment between the clans and the clanless, and I don't want to give offense by coming off as...." He hesitated, looking for the word. "Patronizing? Condescending? I'm sorry, I don't know exactly how to say it. How can I approach this so that I don't stick my foot in my mouth?"

Ryōichi blinked. He had literally never once heard a clan kid make a sincere apology to a clanless for anything at all, let alone something as important as the Chūnin Exams. He thought about that for a moment, then focused in on the important part.

"You're saying that the Hokage knows about me?" It was the only reason they would be making the effort.

Noburi nodded. "Of course; you're in the Chūnin Exams. He didn't give us any operational details because we aren't need-to-know, but he said that you've got a very high mission-success rate and excellent reviews from everyone you've worked with."

Ryōichi thought about that.

"Huh."

"You didn't know?" Hazō asked, seeming amused.

Ryōichi shrugged. "I try to get along, but there's always something, right?"

All three of them nodded in complete understanding; it was a little creepy.

"Look, we can't promise you promotion," Hazō said. "That's up to Jiraiya, the jōnin commander, and whoever else they rope in. I think it's likely that you'll get it—anyone who made it to the fifth event certainly earned it—but that's not under our control. If you would like us to put in a good word for you then we'd be happy to, but I don't think you need it. If there's something else you'd like, tell us and we'll see what we can do. Aside from that, I'd like to invite you to the next Gōketsu-family games night."

"...Games night?"

"Yeah," Noburi said. "Board games, role-playing games, that kind of thing. It's usually a lot of fun"—he glared daggers at his brother—"except when someone gets hold of the expansion rules and makes a totally OP character."

This conversation was getting more and more surreal. "Role-playing games?" he asked hesitantly. "Like...sex stuff?" Visions of compelled depravity loomed up behind his eyes. The Hokage had always been known as a pervert, but he wouldn't really force Leaf ninja to do...that. Right?

"No!" Keiko said, voice dripping with appalled revulsion. "Never!"

"It's like shared storytelling," Noburi said. "Everyone imagines themself as a character in the story and we go on adventures as a group. There's dice and a few things, but mostly it all happens in your head. Absolutely no sex stuff."

Ryōichi digested that. "Oh."

"Your attendance is not compulsory, if that is your concern," Keiko said carefully. "Although I believe we would all enjoy it if you came."

"Huh." Ryōichi considered that, and then mentally grabbed himself by the scruff of the neck and gave himself a good shake. He was being offered the chance to rub elbows with the Hokage and his family! How stupid would he have to be to refuse?

"I mean, yes, thank you," he said quickly. "It sounds like a lot of fun. I appreciate the offer. Just tell me when to be there." He hesistated. "Um...is there a dress code? Oh, and what should I bring?" He would need to start saving for the hostess gift. The clans usually grabbed the bulk of the C-ranks and above, but there were always plenty of D-ranks; the clans considered themselves above such things. If he was promoted then he'd probably be the only chūnin doing them, and it would earn him some ribbing, but it would be worth it.

The other three genin exchanged looks. "We don't actually know the protocol around bringing stuff," Hazō admitted. "I'll ask, but I bet that Mari-sensei will say you don't need to bring anything. She's not very formal. As to a dress code...yes, clothes are mandatory." He grinned.

Ryōichi laughed. They really were trying, clearly. It was even possible that they meant it when they said the event was casual, since they certainly didn't dress like clan kids. Their uniforms were standard issue, not tailored, and there was no extra decoration. Keiko's weapon holsters were ordinary and thoroughly broken-in leather, frayed around the edges and with no tooling. Hazō's gauntlets were unusual and obviously expensive, suggesting that he was a little more pretentious than the other two, but the rest of his clothes didn't match that image. The hem of his right pant leg was fraying apart, and the dye on his shirt was the normal slightly blotchy job that a clanless ninja might wear, instead of the perfectly even (and therefore very expensive) version that your average clan kid wore.

Still, there was no way in all the worlds ever dreamed of by the Sage that Ryōichi would show up at the Hokage's house in anything other than a brand new and spotlessly clean outfit. He'd have to see if he could sweet-talk the quartermaster out of giving him a fresh issue. If not, the family would undoubtedly be willing to pool their money so that he could buy some cloth that Mom could tailor up. Getting the attention of the Hokage could easily lead to more and better missions, meaning more and better food and clothes for the family. Sage's grace, maybe even some better medicine for Wakana's damp-lung. The honey tisane that the apothecary had been selling them barely helped at all.

"Thank you," he said, surprised at how easily the sincerity came. "I would enjoy coming to games night."





XP AWARD: 4

FP AWARD: 0


The Exams are now completely over until the tournament a month from now. You have been dispatched back to Leaf with Kakashi, Gai, and a flock of ANBU and jōnin to watch over you. Jiraiya will be following later, and Hana is expected to join you in the not too distant future.

Note: There was discussion in the thread of swinging by Isan on the way home. You can pitch this idea to Jiraiya if you want, although he may or may not go for it. It's a safe bet that Kakashi et al are not going to want to take any side trips, and Jiraiya is not going to want you wandering off into possible harm's way, so you're not going to be able to do random side things on the way home unless you can convince Jiraiya that there is significant value to be had. Isan might qualify, depending on how you pitch it.

Unless you come up with something that convinces Jiraiya to let you go off on a side quest, the next update will start with you in Leaf.

Time for a vote! What do you do next?

Voting ends on Wednesday, September 5, 2018, at 12pm London time.

EDIT:

Point of information: The 'absolutely enormous' dorm rooms in the Mist Academy are about 12' x 12'.

SECOND EDIT:

Some stuff got done offscreen. Specifically:

  • Suggest everyone spend some time with families if they wish to.
    • Don't press if they do not wish to.
      • Hazō treats this with the sensitivity it deserves.
      • They are as sensitive to this as he is to people insulting his mother.
      • Be extra sensitive to Keiko.
  • Hazō spends time with Hana
    • Catch up: Talk about anything!
      • Opsec sanitized.
    • Talks about and asks for honest advice on Akane thing

Keiko had no interest and thus did not.

Noburi considered it and then decided he didn't want to deal with Kiri so he stayed away.

Hazō had breakfast with Hana. They carefully talked about light and fluffy stuff, nothing even slightly OPSEC related. He chickened out on asking about Akane.

  • Start to assemble Kagome's birthday gift
    • A book of all the things he's taught us.
    • Suggest to Jiraiya: Maybe turn some of the basement space into a fancy sealing lab too?
    • Bring back Mist cuisine (as much as we can) + cookbooks?
    • Some nice and exotic wood for carving?

You got the Mist cuisine, the cookbooks, and the wood. The chocolate was too expensive for the money you had on hand.
 
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The pangolins aren't really enslaving The Condors. They are just destroying them as a civilization. Still pretty terrible but less bad than slavery
 
@eaglejarl

Yay! Both were quite enjoyable. I found the Older Leaf Guy part particularly touching. Its nice to have a foil to Haru's overwhelming bitterness.
 
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