I'm back in the voting cycle whilst the Pangolin stuff is around, as per
my previous comment, and I'll spend a little effort on plans which include my big 3.
Here's the first. This isn't a thorough analysis, but hopefully it helps.
[X] Action Plan: That Very Same Day
General impressions: seems alright, but a little unfocused and the verbosity is in the wrong place. Some things seem missed, some things seem like unfortunate over-specification.
Hazou spends a few minutes beforehand to frame everything in a considerate manner.
I don't get the point of this line. "Try to be considerate" would do just as well, but TBH it also seems unnecessary.
- Keiko is also right: we need to stop digging. We are in a better position now and don't have to rely on bloodmoney.
- Keiko is right to be concerned with the Pangolins' expansionism and is correct that it is at odds with our philosophy. Her description was worse than we imagined.
- It was Hazou's idea to trade for Skytowers afterall, so the blame rests largely with him.
- Offer emotional support to Keiko as needed and sincerely thank her for bringing this to our attention
I don't like these points; I think the first line says everything, and the last couple seem to be playing a blame/evasion game that won't work with her: if it's wrong she'll see right through it, and if it's right she'll excuse it away regardless. I would prefer trying to validate her here:
- Thank her for bringing the issue forward; she has raised an important issue, and we are in a better position than ever to do something about it. Her description was worse than we imagined,and we don't have to rely on blood money.
- We want to bring the issue of the Pangolins up to Jiraiya at dinner(See below: Pangolins)
- Remember: last time we had an issue with them his insight was sufficient to solve it quickly and to our satisfaction.
This seems to miss Keiko's primary ability to contribute here: how to get Jiraiya to help. Jiraiya has explicitly said he only cares about Leaf, so we need to address this directly if we want him on board.
Afternoon:
- Training from Hell: Day 1
- We spar with each other.
- Ask Mari to cast (subtle) Genjutsu on us randomly while we are sparring.
- We try to spot the subtle inconsistencies and are quizzed on them later.
- Kagome randomly tossess training explosives at us that we need to dodge as well.
- Hard Mode: Do again in a lightly wooded/forested area
- Touching a shadow (temporary or otherwise) means you die!
- Kagome traps the area beforehand.
This seems... pointless? None of this is particularly inventive, so it seems like we should just delegate the question to Jiraiya.
- Training: Ask Jiraiya for advice on how to train. Do that.
Evening/Dinner:
- Talk with Jiraiya
- Pangolins
- Talk to Jiraiya about the Pangolin's expansionist tendencies and how this might present a problem for us
- Obvious morality issues with supporting them in this.
- Practical issues:
- Some anti-Pangolin alliance of summoners coming for Keiko.
- Breaks any remaining OPSEC on Skytowers.
- Destabilizing the seventh path.
- Analyze the situation
- How much of this is likely one or two zealots in Pangolin High Command?
- How much of this is Pantsaa?
- Is this normal for summon clans?
- What do the Toads think? (Especially about the Condor situation).
- Do the Toads have any leverage here?
- Solutions:
- Ideally:We want to try to stop the Pangolins from committing any more acts of genocide and slavery
- Maybe: We can slow them down for the time being.
- Leverage: Maybe we can cut off the skytower supply?
- Keiko is a prominent figure in their society now.
- Pressure from the Toads?
First thing's first: get Jiraiya on board. He's going to make excuses, because he wants us to exploit the Seventh Path. We need to make some kind of stance here. You have two practical points for this (OPSEC and "destabilizing the seventh path"); I don't think they get us where we need to be.
The "Analyze" section seems fairly solid. The solutions section seems... wishy-washy? It doesn't really present many solutions. But it's mostly OK.
- Training
- We were promised "some tricks", we'd like to discuss possibilities within the next day.
- Ask if Jiraiya himself could spend an hour or so a day training us.
- Otherwise can he help us design some Training from Hell
- Shadow Clones
- We suspect the Shadow Clones transfer memories (Itachi vs Naruto).
- Can we learn this, and use it for better training over the break?
- Noburi's bloodline gives effectively massive chakra reserves.
This seems too busy; I suggest prioritizing and merging.
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- Finances (Talk to Mari too)
- Hazou has a thousand ideas for improving Leaf as a whole and the clan's position specifically.
- Check in on seal licenses: did the Merchant council approve Hazou and Kagome?
- How do we approach tournament betting with Mist Yakuza?
- Should we do a handful of missions (clearing chakra beasts, etc) to get more seed money for this?
- We need to become independent of the monthly Pangolin gold, ASAP.
- Can we get a quick summary of our monthly expenditures and how much debt we currently owe?
I would cut this down as well. Remove the first bullet, it doesn't do anything. The third bullet (tournament betting) feels irrelevant right now; we're in no rush. I'd write:
- Finances
- Include Mari in conversation
- Get a summary of our financial situation
- Check in on seal licenses: did the Merchant council approve Hazou and Kagome?
Misc.(Off Screen)
- Hazou and Kagome research Casino seals
- Hazou gives Jiraiya an organized packet of seal blanks for every seal he's ever seen (with any supporting background info).
- Hazou makes a decent amount of storage seals (replace damaged ones) and explosive tags.
First one seems like a fair time investment I'm unsure about. The other two seem like good ideas.