Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
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
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
It's better if we do, of course. Probably expected, given that Keiko's a Summoner. In fact, if the Pangolin Summoner loses in the tournament to someone with only normal clan advantages like Shikamaru, it might make it look like the Goketsu aren't all that after all, and in the process the Nara look even stronger when they've already got a lot of influence over Jiraiya (being his main supporters and all that).
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Has Jiraiya not stressed that we need to kick ass to make him look less crazy for taking us in?
Anyways, Hiashi's heir lost in the quarterfinals. If Keiko wins the tournament then by the power of Shonen Power Scaling Inequalities she is objectively better than Hinata at kicking ass, and J can thumb his nose at Hiashi over it big time.
Last edited:
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
What @Inferno Vulpix said. Keiko is a summoner, a ninja with an overpowered combat tool, only a step below jinchuuriki. Her presence in the tournament is absurd. She is supposed to go through her merely chuunin-level opponents like they're not even there, she is supposed to win. If she instead loses to Shikamaru — a non-combat specialist who loves to show off his laziness — it'll look very bad. It'll simultaneously:
- Make the Gouketsu look weak.
- Make the Nara/ISC look powerful.
- Imply that our impressive pre-tournament Exams performance was due to Nara-optimised plans...
- ... which, some people would claim, reflects our entire clans' dynamic: the Nara are the smart decision-makers without whom the Gouketsu are helpless.
Last edited:
- Location
- Actually pretty lost
There's the question of how we want to play the whole "Wood Release" thing. If we think we've figured out the trick, Keiko revealing that trick would be a massive loss of face for the Nara. Obviously neither side wants that, but neither do we want to take an avoidable loss by playing into it.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
Now, Shikamaru just revealed that he's got Wood Element, and whether or not we believe him it's obvious that he's playing it up, so one could argue that if Keiko loses to Shikamaru she isn't losing to someone with 'normal clan advantages' but rather to the resurgence of one of the most powerful bloodlines the world has ever seen, which, really, isn't so bad after all.
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Doesn't add up. Kiba is still trash.
I edited my typo.
Hey! I am a very intelligent naked mole rat here.
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Apropos of the Wood Release thing...
What?
Seriously, the guy can make trees grow really fast. Why is this impressive? These people over here have superuser access to reality for Ghu's sake. But yeah, sure, making trees grow real fast in order to spear someone...totes impressive. Really.
What?
Seriously, the guy can make trees grow really fast. Why is this impressive? These people over here have superuser access to reality for Ghu's sake. But yeah, sure, making trees grow real fast in order to spear someone...totes impressive. Really.
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I always assumed that it was just a metaphor which grew out of hand...
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Speaking of which.
Do you think we should let Shikamaru know we figured out his secret?
HAZOU: I figured out your secret.
SHIKAMARU: Yes, I imagine you of all people would.
HAZOU: You are also a fan of blondes.
SHIKAMARU: What.
HAZOU: You defeated her with your Wood Release!
SHIKAMARU: Damnit, Ino...
HAZOU: Don't worry, I won't tell Keiko...
- Location
- Yes.
And then there's the Zetsu and the Juubi...ugh.
Giant wooden golem thingy.
Kishimoto. Smh.
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
You're being a little obvious here, given that the last time we gave ISC a hard stare re: use of storage seals you made a similar comment.
- Location
- CA
Oh, the actual release isn't that important. The fact that it apparently shares the Uchiha trait of superuser access to the Tailed Beasts is a bit more... concerning. Unless that historical tidbit's been totally lost (or it just isn't a thing in MfD-verse), the fact the Nara would even pretend to have that power is deeply weird to me. Why put that target on your back?
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
IIRC the things that made Hashirama scary as all hell were:
- He can control Tailed Beasts.
- He has a Wolverine-tier healing factor.
- His Wood Techniques have some of the toughest/nastiest constructs in the franchise.
- He has a Wood Clone (Shadow Clone knockoff except no memory transfer but extremely durable), a Wood Dragon, a Wood Golem and that massive Wood Buddha statue thing.
- He has Sage Mode.
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
On second thoughts... the situation is relatively good. I'm doubtful Shino manages to win against both Ino and Chouji, which means that the remainder of the tournament is just Keiko vs. ISC. And the important thing to remember here is that ISC want Jiraiya to keep the hat. If they think Keiko losing to Shikamaru would make us look too weak, Shikamaru and Ino/Chouji will concede their fights, or perhaps put up only token resistance to make the loss look convincing.
Jiraiya-keeping-the-hat value is already maximized, sans Noburi's loss to Hinata. The conflict is now purely for influence in the Gouketsu-Nara alliance.
Jiraiya-keeping-the-hat value is already maximized, sans Noburi's loss to Hinata. The conflict is now purely for influence in the Gouketsu-Nara alliance.
Last edited:
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
We can roflstomp in the finals. Shikamaru is the only real threat.
We can have Keiko chug some of Noburi's chakra water an hour beforehand. She summons two massive pangolins at once, and they proceed to bat either of the two opponents around like a ping pong ball.
Last edited:
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
Successful use of psychological warfare on Keiko causing her to surrender. AoE attacks (didn't you have a plan to defeat her with one?).
Honestly, indicating that they may have access to wood release seems more likely to increase assaults against them than the opposite. Along with the implication that it is bloodline based, well if they weren't fishing for sexually loose Nara males before I imagine they would be now.
I'm only left to assume that they did it on purpose to increase people targeting them (maybe low key favor to Goketsu to make people forget about Hazo's Armour Jutsu?) or the wood release is just so scary that the mere implication that one possesses it is enough to make enemy nations back off (which is silly given the man who put it on the map was not exempt from trials himself).
I'm only left to assume that they did it on purpose to increase people targeting them (maybe low key favor to Goketsu to make people forget about Hazo's Armour Jutsu?) or the wood release is just so scary that the mere implication that one possesses it is enough to make enemy nations back off (which is silly given the man who put it on the map was not exempt from trials himself).
Well, of course I did, but the thread has been adament that no sane person would dare risk putting a burning fuel source in a storage tag, much less matching it to an explosive tag, because that would be an absolutely unforgivable TECHINT breach.
Wood Release is scary because tailed beasts have a phobia of trees.
HASHIRAMA: Wood Release: Literally Just a Tree no jutsu!
KURAMA: Argh! Jashin Christ! That is the spookiest fucking thing I've ever seen! Get it it away from me!
HASHIRAMA: Sure, just pop inside my wife's jinchurikki seal.
KURAMA: Deal! (shudders)