- Location
- Snakesden
Brothers and sisters of the provletariat, unite! You have nothing to lose but your blockchains!
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
- Start date
-
- Tags
- naruto rationalist romance armageddon is looking better and better damn you kishimoto explosions everywhere explosives solve everyone if in doubt surrender to the mercy of zabuza it seemed like a good idea at the time looks like a really bad case of being a jōnin my god. where does the lore end? precommitting is the winning plan screaming in kagome screw the rules i have explosives something bad might still happen sometimes you gotta sociopath stabby zabby subsection c of paragraph 9 should include we can weaponize this so hard
- Location
- Potato land
I'll write a more detailed response to @Radvic's post later, but for now I just wanted to say that I never understood the desire to make Leaf into even more of a military superpower. I can't see that end in anything but a destructive war in the near future - if not in a year, then in five; if not in five, then in twenty. If you unironically just want world domination, then I suppose it's the best path we've got. But if, instead, we want to leave the world at least a bit better off than we found it, then we should do our best to maintain and solidify the unsteady peace between the major villages.
Honestly, I'm not under any illusion that we can extend said peace indefinitely. Our world needed two incredibly destructive wars in rapid succession, and a long tradition of pacifism and peaceful cooperation to pick up the pieces, before we've effectively made war between major nations an unthinkable taboo. I doubt we can do that for the Elemental Nations, people simply don't change that quickly. Maybe we can only lay the foundations for real change in the far future. Nonetheless, I'd like to improve the current situation, rather than worsen it. That is, in essence, my minimum viable outcome, here.
Honestly, I'm not under any illusion that we can extend said peace indefinitely. Our world needed two incredibly destructive wars in rapid succession, and a long tradition of pacifism and peaceful cooperation to pick up the pieces, before we've effectively made war between major nations an unthinkable taboo. I doubt we can do that for the Elemental Nations, people simply don't change that quickly. Maybe we can only lay the foundations for real change in the far future. Nonetheless, I'd like to improve the current situation, rather than worsen it. That is, in essence, my minimum viable outcome, here.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
I voted 'like' because my top priority is Pax Leaf, that is, utter Leaf supremacy bringing peace to the Elemental Nations by whatever means, so I vote for 'better Leaf military' but I want to convey that my goals don't solely live in military tech.
To be fair, no matter how strong we are we'll want to stick our noses in the business of people more powerful than us, and will have little interest sticking our nose in the business of people less powerful than us.
Maybe eventually people will start seeking us out like we seek out people like Jiraiya, and then we'll get to be the super strong Chuunin stronger than the little Genin in every way, but eh, we'll still be the little Chuunin carefully treating with the super strong Jounins and above.
Vecht
Self-Requested Ban
- Location
- Snarksville, Snarkland
You lost me there.
- Location
- The Deep Blue Sea
DAMMIT that's so much BETTER than mine
Chapter 223: Polite Conversations
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Hazō knocked and waited for Noburi's "Come in" before opening the door.
"Got a minute?" Hazō asked.
"Sure," Noburi said, putting away the journal he'd be writing in. "What's on your brain, pipsqueak?"
Hazō leaned against the doorjamb, arms folded, and eyed his brother consideringly. The other boy was sitting on the bed, back against the wall and fleecy slippers on his feet. There was a splotch of ink on his fingers from where he'd been writing. "Pipsqueak? I'm older than you and I can punt you through a wall."
Noburi grinned. "Fight me!" He raised his fists in jest, miming a few punches and blocks. His form was terrible.
Hazō snorted and pushed himself upright with one shoulder, stepping forward and sitting on the foot of the bed with a sigh.
"Hey, you okay?" Noburi asked, all joking aside. "You seem down."
"It's just...everything," Hazō said, gesturing in ill-defined frustration. "Mari-sensei's depression. Momma being mad at her. Jiraiya working himself to exhaustion to keep the hat. Akatsuki kidnapping Uzumaki and doing...whatever they're doing. The tournament looming. Kagome-sensei's birthday, for which I am not ready. Keiko sorta-kinda trying to kill me and generally being herself. Akane dumping me. Yamanaka being a frozen bitch. Ebisu-sensei and his crazy training methods. Just...everything." He snorted. "Seems like you're the only sane and drama-free one around."
Noburi grinned and spread his arms expansively. "About time you recognized my awesomeness! I mean, seriously, I'm so cool and does anyone ever say anything about it? No they do not!"
"In all seriousness, thank you," Hazō said. "You're joking, but it's true: None of us say it enough, but we're lucky you're here. You keep us all stable and do a good job of smoothing out the drama."
Noburi gaped for a moment. "Wow. Uh...thank you?"
"No worries." Hazō pushed himself to his feet with a tired grunt. "Speaking of smoothing out the drama, I'm going to go tell Jiraiya what happened with Momma and Mari-sensei. I don't think he's been home enough to find out any of this, and I want to make sure he hears it from us first. You want to come along? You don't have to, but I wouldn't mind some backup."
Noburi groaned. "Yeah, I suppose. You're right that he better hear it from us. Let me just get some shoes and socks on."
o-o-o-o
"...and Kagome-sensei said that he wouldn't do anything as long as Momma's actions continued to help Mari-sensei, but that if he felt they weren't then he would tell Momma to stop and if she refused he would kill her."
Jiraiya sat motionless for several seconds, silently considering Hazō's report.
"I see," he said at last.
"Sir," Hazō said nervously, "I know this is really bad, but please don't overreact. It was...'stupid and inappropriate' doesn't even begin to cover it. Momma's actions were insane. I know that. Just, please go easy on her? She was trying to help in her own way. It wasn't the right way to do it but she was trying."
"Hmm," Jiraiya said. He thought for a moment, then nodded unwillingly. "I suppose that's true. Noburi, anything to add?"
Noburi shook his head. "No sir. For what it's worth, it does seem to have helped, at least a little. Mari-sensei is out of bed every morning, eating and exercising. She's obviously not anything like healed, but she's vaguely functional again. Kurosawa accomplished that much."
Jiraiya nodded, the gesture now thoughtful. "That's something, I guess." He opened the drawer on his desk and produced paper and a brush. A dip of the brush in the inkwell, a few quick swirls, and then his blunt fingers flicked through the practiced motions of folding the missive into a neat origami bundle.
He held the paper out. "Take this to Neira over at T&I, then both of you answer whatever questions she has about Mari's situation. Wait for a response, then bring it straight back here. On the bounce, no stops, don't talk to anyone except Neira and the T&I staff."
"Yes sir," the boys responded. Hazō took the envelope and the two were gone in a flicker of ninja speed.
Jiraiya waited until the door closed, then cleaned the ivory-handled brush with exquisite care and tucked it gently back into its velvet-lined resting place. He closed the drawer softly, locked it, tucked the key in his pocket, and left the office.
"Lord Hokage," saluted the ANBU guard on duty outside.
"I'm going for a walk," Jiraiya said. "I won't be needing an escort."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
o-o-o-o
"Lord Hokage, come in," Hana said, allowing her voice to show surprise at the unexpected visitor. "How may I help you?"
Jiraiya stepped inside and stamped the snow off his feet. He brushed off his coat and hung it neatly on the hook by the door before backhanding Hana into the wall with stunning force.
"Ungh," the diplomat grunted, shaking her head and pushing herself to her feet just in time to be seized by the hair and dragged in a tight circle that smashed her headfirst through the lath-and-plaster wall. Jiraiya continued the motion, the wall exploding out of his way as he stepped forward, one hand still tightly anchored in Hana's hair. He pounded her face into the floor, breaking her nose and splattering blood everywhere, then grabbed her by the collar and the belt so that he could hurl her into the ceiling.
She fell back, struggling to shake off the impact and get her limbs working again, but she hadn't yet reached the ground before he punted her across the room with a chakra-boosted snap kick.
She hit the ground hard but turned it into a roll, coming back to her feet and tapping the storage seal scribed on the disk that she wore clipped on the left side of her belt. Her right-hand sword emerged, the feel of its familiar shark-skin hilt helping her push aside the panic. Even as it appeared, her left hand cocked back and hurled the miniature kunai hidden in her sleeve.
"Needle Jizō."
Jiraiya's hair lengthened with blurring speed, fully encasing him before the kunai and the explosive tag attached to it could reach him. The moment the explosion cleared, the hair swirled away and Jiraiya walked forward calmly.
"What are you doing?" Hana demanded, eyes flicking around desperately. This was not a man she faced, this was a thunderstorm made flesh. She could feel his killing intent pressing her back, an implacable force that could and would wipe her from existence without effort if its master let the leash slip one small notch farther. She unsealed her second sword and brought them both to guard position, decades of training overcoming the knowledge that fighting the Toad Sage was utter futility.
Facts flickered through her mind as she desperately searched for survival: He had brought them from the entryway into the receiving room. He was between her and the door. The north wall was an exterior wall, made of solid brick that she couldn't get through quickly. The south wall was another lath-and-plaster that led to the bedroom where her emergency gear was stored. It probably wouldn't be enough, but—
"Lightning Lash no Jutsu."
A rope of crackling energy appeared in Jiraiya's hand, flicking out at a speed that not even the Iron Nerve could evade. She managed to get one sword in the way but the buzzing scream of the lightning carved through the ancestral steel as though it were butter and wrapped around her throat. Her intact sword and the stub of the other fell from nerveless hands as her whole body spasmed.
Before she could even think of reacting she was yanked forward off her feet, flying across the room into a punch that arrested her momentum instantly, cracked her sternum, and dropped her to the floor on her back. The wind went out of her at the impact but she rolled aside, utter mastery of the Iron Nerve moving her body even though her lungs were empty and nonfunctional and every nerve screamed in agony from the lightning that Jiraiya had blasted her with and then allowed to melt away.
She feinted a kick, pivoted, and ran for the door. If she could make it outside into the darkness and the storm, perhaps she could escape. He was here alone, with no Hyūga or Inuzuka to track her, so—
He kicked her in the back of the knee before she could take a step, dropping her in a sprawling heap to the floor. He was on her before she could move, one knee on her neck and a steely grip on her hands that dragged them behind her with no effort. She cried out in pain as her forearms crossed at the small of her back, nearly dislocating her shoulders in the process.
"Toad Clan Technique: Steel Spit no Jutsu."
A moist and slimy mass struck her, cooling instantly into a bond that glued her forearms together and to her shirt.
"Up."
A calloused hand in her hair pulled her to her feet and dragged her along, stumbling and struggling to keep up. He dragged her out the east door of the receiving room, down the hall into the bathing rooms where the hot tubs waited, steaming lightly in the cool air.
The world became dark and liquid. She had not managed to get her wind back before he pushed her head and shoulders under the surface; there was no air in her lungs and she had to fight to keep herself from panicking, knowing that the panic could overwhelm the Iron Nerve and force her to draw a breath that would do nothing but drown her. Instead she struggled, kicking out as best she could. The attacks were batted aside with the ease that a taijutsu instructor shows an Academy student. She tried to flip forward, hoping that she could tear out the hair he was gripping and then continue the motion to leap out the far side of the tub. A sandaled foot caught the back of her inside knee, slamming it into the side of the tub with brutal force and pinning it there.
The world brightened as he pulled her up. She managed to draw in a desperate, gasping breath before she was pushed back under. Her hands were still trapped in his steel-blob manacles, her knee still pinned in place by his foot, her head firmly controlled by his grip in her hair; there was no struggle to be made, but she tried anyway.
He held her down longer this time, held her until her chest burned and her body revolted, drawing in a gasping breath of useless water that turned her purposeful struggles into thrashing, choking helplessness. Only then was she brought back to the surface and dropped in a heap on the floor. She choked and gasped, coughing up the water and struggling to draw air in its place.
"Hazō asked me not to overreact."
Jiraiya's voice was completely calm, almost disinterested. It would have been far preferable had he been shouting.
"He would be sad if I tore your head off and put it on a pike over the Tower's door. So, for his sake, I won't. I will instead simply send you home in disgrace. You have an hour to pack and then the ANBU will escort you out.
"My initial impulse was to send you home in Gamazō's stomach. You'd survive as long as we left your head sticking out—his stomach acid isn't that strong—but you'd lose most of your skin. Oddly enough, the reason I'm not going to do that is because Kagome spoke up for you. Kagome, of all people. He made the point that your actions, disgusting and reprehensible as they were, made a very slight improvement in Mari's condition. That earns you the right to go home on your feet.
"You were a diplomat and a guest in this village. You were here because I wanted to make Hazō happy by reuniting him with his mother. You were here because the Mizukage desperately needs an alliance with Fire in order for Mist to survive, and because that alliance would be convenient for me. It would not be convenient enough to overlook your actions.
"I'll be sending a letter with you. Tell Ren that if she gives me all the concessions in the letter then you'll be allowed to see your son again and the alliance negotiations can go forward. If she objects or quibbles in any way then the deal is off and Mist can howl for its supper. I'll expect to hear back by a week from today.
"Have a good night."
Footsteps padded away down the hall. He closed the door quietly behind himself.
o-o-o-o
"It's been a while since we were all together for dinner," Noburi noted. "Kagome, thank you for this fish dish. It's amazing."
"Seconded," Hazō grunted around a mouthful of the delectable chowder. The bread bowl in which it was served was fresh-baked, fluffy on the inside and crusty on the outside. The chowder itself was creamy, spicy to a degree that normal humans could enjoy instead of only freaks like Kagome-sensei, and it included mushrooms that had clearly been sautéed in brandy. He wasn't sure what half of the other ingredients were and he honestly didn't care. What he cared about was getting this serving down so that he could get seconds before the pot was cleaned out.
"It's nice to have you home again," Mari-sensei said to Jiraiya. "You've been sleeping at the Tower so much, I almost forgot what you look like."
Jiraiya eyed her over the bowl that he was shoveling down just as quickly as Hazō. Her words were socially appropriate, there was a smile on her face, and no one at the table even remotely believed that they were anything other than a scripted response. Mari-sensei's smile was a thing that had been painted on by a clumsy artist and her voice lacked its customary spark. The person that wore her skin was nothing like their firey teacher and clan matriarch. She made eye contact while speaking, but then promptly stared at the increasingly-soggy bread bowl that she had barely touched.
"I know," Jiraiya said regretfully. "I'm sorry. Maybe if I'd been around more, been more attentive...."
"I don't mind," said the doll that wore Mari-sensei's clothes, as she once again offered something that pretended to be Mari-sensei's smile. "You're really busy, and the search for Naruto is important."
"So are you," Jiraiya said, laying his bowl down so that he could rest a hand on hers.
She drew her hands back, placing them in her lap. "Don't worry about me," she said. "Really. You can't afford to be distracted right now. You'll be out of town for the tournament and Hyūga will take the chance to get up to trouble."
"In order to prevent which, I'm bringing him with me." Jiraiya reluctantly took his hand back and idly plucked at the edge of his bread bowl, hardly seeming to notice he was doing it. "Him and a bunch of the other clan heads. It'll keep him from causing trouble here, and loyalty to Leaf—which he has, even if he's an absolutely amoral shit—should keep him from undermining me while we're there."
"Speaking of the tournament, do we know anything about it?" Hazō asked, jumping into the silence that had fallen as everyone tried to figure out what to say next. "I mean, rules, tactics, anything like that? Also, are we allowed to bet on it? Because I was thinking maybe we could work with the Yakuza, give them fifty percent of the take and fleece all the foreigners. Also, I wanted to sell them some of those chakra-detection seals, if that's okay. And—"
"Hold it," Jiraiya said, raising a hand to cut off the flow of questions. "No, you can't sell them the seals. Those things are too useful to be passing out, especially to enemy nations. Yes, feel free to gut anyone you like at the gambling table and you should definitely work with the yaks on that. Yes, you can bet on the tournament. As to the tournament itself, we won't know the specific rules until we get there."
"Oh," Hazō said, disappointed.
Jiraiya shrugged. "If it's like normal then it'll be an arena at least a hundred feet on a side. Might be flat so the audience can see better, might have some terrain in it to make the fight more dramatic. Usually it's one tournament fight at the end of each day, with the rest of the day being spent on big flashy displays for the audience—ninjutsu demonstrations, sparring matches, pageantry, that kind of thing.
"You win by ring out, tap out, or knockout. If one of your attacks affects the audience then you're disqualified. If you kill anyone then our whole village goes home, so don't do that. The idea is to make it impressive for the people in the stands, so there's generally a rule about needing to stay in sight at least occasionally. You're encouraged to drag the fight out, but there's no rule against finishing it quickly."
"Can we have jutsu active when the fight starts?" Noburi asked. "I wouldn't mind having my Mantle up when the bell rings."
Jiraiya shook his head. "Usually not allowed. Again, it's about looking impressive for the audience, and handseals and shouted jutsu names are impressive. Also, it would screw the non-ninjutsu users.
"Peace rules apply. You can't attack anyone outside the ring, interfere with a bout in progress, or disadvantage anyone before their fight." He chuckled. "They'll probably have a rule against handing out seals or something, after the way you guys utterly mauled the fifth event.
"Top three fighters get promoted in a big ceremony on the last day. Everyone else goes home and gets promoted at their Kage's pleasure. Don't worry, you guys are getting promoted no matter what, and I doubt even Hyūga can claim that you didn't earn it. Still, it would be really helpful if you could win, so try your best."
He sighed, puffing out his cheeks as he did so. "Okay, enough of that. I've been putting this off, but it's time. I've got an announcement for everyone: Kurosawa Hana is on her way home as of a few hours ago. Also, before I sent her on her way I thoroughly expressed my displeasure at the way she treated Mari."
Mari-sensei looked up from her bread bowl in honest shock. It was the first genuine expression any of them had seen on her in recent memory. "What did you do, Jiraiya?"
"I threw her through a couple walls—well, one wall and half of a ceiling—and drowned her just a little bit."
"You what?!" Hazō demanded.
"I kicked the crap out of her and gave her just a little drowning," Jiraiya said again, meeting Hazō's eyes directly. "Same as she did to Mari. And don't give me any grief about it. She totally earned it, I was careful not to cause any real damage, and it's going to be hella useful politically. I'll be able to show the opposition here in Leaf that I'm strong and not a lapdog of the Mizukage. It'll give me leverage in the negotiations with Mist—I sent her with a letter demanding concessions if Ren wants her pardoned. Not unreasonable ones, but a foot in the door for us on issues Mist's currently got locked down. Or Ren can refuse, lose the benefits of the Kurosawa blood tie and make the diplomat clan look bad. If that happens, her footing in Mist gets shaky and she no longer has the luxury of making me fight for every inch of ground. Win-win." He turned to Mari-sensei. "And yes, I did realize those things before deciding to have that little talk with her, but I would have done it anyway. No one does shit like that to my beautiful wife. No matter how gloomy and unfair to herself she's being."
"Oh good," Mari-sensei muttered, looking down at the hands that lay limp in her lap. "At least I'm pretty."
"Argh!" Jiraiya bellowed, raising both fists to the sky in frustration. "Sage's blistering boils, you crazy woman! I don't love you because you're pretty, I love you because you're you! Now would you please—"
"You love me?" Mari-sensei asked, looking up with hurt-puppy eyes.
Jiraiya froze, his entire body motionless as a statue. "Uh...well...I mean. Oh, balls." He lowered his hands to the table and took the sort of centering breath one took before going into battle. "Mari, I—"
Whatever he was going to say was cut off as the room shook in response to a rolling wave of explosions from outside. The dust had barely finished drizzling over the remains of dinner before the entire clan was on their feet and racing for the door. Jiraiya led the way, a spitting ball of energy swirling in his hand.
Before they were halfway down the hall, the front door of the house shook in response to a massive threefold attack that bore as much relationship to a knock as a chakra buffalo did to a field mouse. "JIRAIYA!" a woman bellowed from outside. "OPEN THE SAGE-BEDAMNED DOOR! IT'S FUCKING COLD OUT HERE!"
Jiraiya slammed to a halt, his jutsu winking out. There was nearly a pileup as everyone scrambled aside to avoid running into their suddenly motionless and wide-eyed clan patriarch.
"Get it together!" Kagome snapped. "Whoever that stinker is, we need to—"
"Relax," Jiraiya mumbled. "Stand down," he said in a louder voice. "It's a friendly. Everyone stand down." With the care of a sealmaster approaching an armed but undetonated explosive tag, he stepped to the door and pulled it slightly open. The gap was barely an inch wide before a blonde woman barged in, the force of her push on the door knocking Jiraiya back.
"Hi, Sunny," said the Toad Sage. His voice was hesitant and uncertain, much like a child who wasn't sure of its mother's mood. "Nice to see you?"
"Don't you 'nice to see' me/her," said Tsunade and Kagome-sensei in nearly the same breath. They both stumbled to a halt and looked at each other in surprise.
"What was with that entrance, you stinker?" Kagome-sensei demanded suspiciously. He wore his blast rings, and his hands were still half-raised.
The medic of the Sannin waved absently back through the door that she had kicked closed behind her. "You had that trap array, and I was hardly going to stand at the gate and shout, now was I?"
"Those were demolition charges," Kagome-sensei said. "What were you doing throwing demolition charges around my house?"
The blonde stared at him as though he were an idiot. "Well, it's not like I had a key, right? Except I did, because explosives solve all problems."
Kagome-sensei stared at her for two whole seconds, his eyes wide in shock. Everyone watched with bated breath, waiting to see how the paranoid former missing-nin would react.
And then he lunged forward, catching her in a massive bearhug that she visibly forced herself not to dodge. "You get me!" he said. "You really get me! I keep telling them and telling them, but do they listen? No! No, they do not!"
"Hey, I'm carrying three hundred tags on me just to have dinner!" Noburi objected.
"Finally remembered to restock, huh?" Hazō said. "Kagome-sensei, did you know that Noburi went on a mission with only a hundred and fifty tags?"
"What?!" Kagome-sensei screeched, releasing Tsunade so that he could round on Noburi, scolding finger upraised. "You stinking idiot! How could you be so stupid? Are you trying to get yourself killed? I mean, there's an entire bowl of tags right there!" He gestured dramatically at the large fruit bowl balanced atop the shoe rack by the door. He had insisted on putting it there after they moved in, just so people could grab a handful on their way out.
"Sorry," Noburi said, ducking his head in embarrassment. "It won't happen again, I promise." He shot Hazō a look that promised death, destruction, and short-sheeted beds.
"Oh, cool," Tsunade said, grabbing two fistfuls of the tags and shoving them into her pockets. "Thanks for this. I spent basically my entire stash out there. That was a serious array and I didn't want to take any chances."
Kagome-sensei was nearly sobbing in joy.
Jiraiya was frowning in confusion. "You okay, Sunny? You don't usually—"
His teammate spun on him, bopping him on the head with a fist that hit hard enough to stagger him. "Shut up!" she snapped. "I have waited patiently for my wedding invitation. I even made sure to leave a forwarding address when I left last time, and you know how much I hate doing that. I've gotten sixteen requests for medical assistance, twelve offers of marriage, five teaching job offers, and two requests for a book deal. You know what I haven't gotten? A wedding invitation!"
"I've been really busy," he said defensively, stepping back with hands upraised. "Look, you would not believe what's been—"
"I don't care about 'busy'! It's not like you need to plan the damn thing. Only thing the groom has to do is show up sober enough that he can say 'I do.' I told you last time—well, I told her to tell you—that if I didn't get an invitation in a month then I was going to do to you what I did to Oro after the Snakes in My Pants incident. It's been more than a month."
The blood drained from Jiraiya's face. "Now, Sunny," he said, backing away quickly. "Let's talk about this."
"C'mere," she growled, stepping forward and reaching for his collar.
Jiraiya turned and ran at full speed. Tsunade went after him, shouting for him to stop and take his punishment.
"That is one way to disarm a sealmaster," Keiko muttered to herself, quietly enough that Hazō barely caught it and Kagome-sensei visibly did not.
XP AWARD: 3
XP Bonus: 1 (plan brevity)
Vote time! What to do now?
Voting ends on Wednesday, November 7, 2018, at 12pm London time.
Last edited:
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
Yeah, I would think that medical ninjutsu would work best. Perhaps they could also make a pill form of the hormones that prevent ovulation, like the Pill in real life. I wonder if seduction specialists like Mari sensei know a small amount of medical ninjutsu in order to control their own ovulation?
I think we have seen that there is a medical ninjutsu for sterilizing hands (Noburi had his hands scrubbed pretty much raw until he learned it), which implies that they actually have some form of Germ Theory here. The fact that his teacher couldn't just use the jutsu on him implies that it only works on the user though, and I don't know if we've seen a ninja treat an actual infection before.
- Location
- NY
Well, that could have gone far worse in all regards.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
War between major nations has always been an unthinkable taboo...until it isn't. Given some of the saber rattling currently happening in Eastern Europe and the cracks in the foundation of NATO, I wouldn't be too confident about the 'unthinkable' part.
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
My face when:
I neither confirm nor deny access to information from the future.
Just as I neither confirm nor deny hacking the QM docs.
- Location
- The Deep Blue Sea
Jiraiya confirmed to be Californian
Couldn't, or wouldn't?
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
It would be a bit incongruous of Hazou to object to "Basically what Hana did to Mari, except I'm the Hokage so she can go back home too."Jiraiya said said:
Vecht
Self-Requested Ban
- Location
- Snarksville, Snarkland
Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
I am glad that the adults in Hazou's life make it a point to not cause problems for him since he is already stressed out and worrying about his family as it is.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Oh good things will be fine. Really intensefight scene curbstomp by the way.
Also glad that Tsunade, in her own way, is getting along with the Goketsu. First Mari earned Tsunade's more or less approval, and now Kagome's proving himself to be a kindred spirit.
Once again, I don't hate Hana like some people seem to these days, but even still I can recognize that she was out of line there and the beatdown from Jiraiya, while brutal, was not undeserved.
Oh good things will be fine. Really intense
Also glad that Tsunade, in her own way, is getting along with the Goketsu. First Mari earned Tsunade's more or less approval, and now Kagome's proving himself to be a kindred spirit.
Once again, I don't hate Hana like some people seem to these days, but even still I can recognize that she was out of line there and the beatdown from Jiraiya, while brutal, was not undeserved.
To be fair, he was pretty heavily distracted by a S-ranker blowing up Kagome's defense array, and Jiraiya did both give a good explanation and a reassurance that nothing permanent was done. Hazou wasn't happy with what Hana did to Mari either so while I'm sure he's not happy with Jiraiya he at least partially agrees with what he did.
Dissonance
Luna's Luna
- Location
- Ginnungagap.
- Pronouns
- S/H/T
This entire fucking chapter was AWESOME!
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
Apparently lath-and-plaster wasn't used until the 1700s, is this an intentional divergence from 'normal' tech? The materials involved have been in use forever, so it's not improbable, just want to make sure.
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
Well, that went well. Really well. We had a nice conversation with Noburi, we got Neira's help for Mari, we told Jiraiya the truth while not getting Hana killed and Leaf acquired massive political advantages over Mist out of this whole mess, Jiraiya blurted out a love confession to Mari, we got the permission to gamble with the Yakuza, then Tsunade finally arrived and turned out to be Kagome's kindred spirit. The whole day went about as well as it could have possibly gone.
(The only thing that could make it better is if it turns out that Hana's replacement diplomat is one Mori Ami.)
Also, @Kiba, congratulations! I'm pretty sure it was your contribution that saved Hana's life, or at least spared her hours of torture in a toad's stomach.
Time to have that conversation with Tsunade.
(The only thing that could make it better is if it turns out that Hana's replacement diplomat is one Mori Ami.)
Also, @Kiba, congratulations! I'm pretty sure it was your contribution that saved Hana's life, or at least spared her hours of torture in a toad's stomach.
Time to have that conversation with Tsunade.
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Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
You know, given how Ami went against her clan head recently, it's entirely possible that they might want to get rid of her for a while...