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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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eaglejarl said:
"I mean, unless it was a very flimsy wall. Lady Tsunade has not yet taught me her Strength of One Hundred technique, which is necessary for penetrating more solid structures. We have been more focused on taijutsu and general knowledge." She bounced in her seat.
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Huh. I didn't realize this before, but I don't know if Hazou can take any member of the clan in a straight fight. Probably Noburi? Definitely not after he gets the toad scroll.

Also, the count is at 0 bodies and 2 secrets we have to keep. Though the secrets aren't really that serious. Unless, of course, you count the political maneuvering for the snake scroll. That we will have to keep deathly quiet until the time comes.

EDIT: If the snake secret comes out before the vote, we will lose the vote. Make sure it comes out afterward.
 
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Hazou's kind of intense when he's focused and serious like this. It's really clear that he's treating this 100% seriously.

Shame the Snake heist isn't possible, but at least buying the Snakes' favour has promise. It'll take a little longer, but from the looks of it Hiashi's not going to be able to make a play for the Snake Scroll either - both because he's got a long stay in hospital, and because it looks like the laws are too ironclad for even him to pull a fait accompli.

And, sneakily referenced but still in there, I spot that Akane didn't just survive Tsunade, but Tsunade took a shine to our beacon of youth. I hope that goes well for her.
 
Plan Cache out early this time, we're finished with the retroactive planning so go nuts with whatever's most important.
Inferno Vulpix said:
Plan Cache:
  • Hokageship:
    • Inform Naruto about the vote.
    • Discuss swing votes:
      • Hagoromo: Help pay off their loans?
      • Aburame: Can Mari get him on our side again?
      • Inuzuka: Leave to Naruto; he's trustworthy and hasn't soured relations with them.
  • We should push for having Asuma take Naruto as an administrative assistant/apprentice when he's Hokage.
    • Naruto is still rather useful, what with being groomed for the position, deeply loyal to leaf, very well disposed to the Sarutobi.
    • He is still recovering from his ordeal, so some allowances for that would be needed.
    • On the other hand as Leaf's resident Naruto summoner he can take care of paperwork, and other administrivia extremely efficiently. Letting you focus on the actual job.
  • Maybe consider inter-village adoption (Doigama, Kato...)?
  • Noburi: Schedule an appointment with Kabuto to check bloodline interactions with SC/Summoning.
    • Consider investigating him on adoption.
    • Yes, the Toad Scroll is Noburi's.
  • Gather information on Akatsuki:
    • Noburi: When visiting the Tower, grab their profiles.
    • Kagome: Summarize their book.
  • Snakes:
    • Hazou: Learn their culture/predispositions from Summons and Jiraiya's notes.
    • Keiko: Message them via Pangolins.
      • Send Jiraiya's letter to Orochimaru along (in case he's alive).
      • Did Orochimaru leave them his will? Jiraiya wrote him a pardon, we'd want to carry out his wishes.
  • (If Keiko agreed to invite Ami) Hazou:
    • Meet with Shikamaru (urgent).
      • Be sympathetic, but skip condolences.
      • (Concerned) Did he ensure Ami can attend Keiko's wedding? Ami'll be displeased otherwise.
      • Suggest postponing just the ceremony to give her time.
      • We'll take care of the rest... for twelve hours.
    • Send Ami a(n encrypted) message:
      • Update her on the wedding.
      • Offer any assistance in getting into Leaf IFF it wouldn't cost us politically.
        • Suggestion: Volunteer to transport/escort one of our merchants to Leaf. At luxury speeds.
      • She totally owes us another favor.

Past Plans:
A Chunk Of The Previous Plan That Could At Least In Theory Fit In One Update by Noumero
Stealing the Snake by Oneiros/MMKII (defunct)
Sometimes when we're making a plan we have a good idea that's just outside the temporal scope of the update, but we don't want to cut it from the plan because we might forget by the next cycle. This adds unnecessary words that could have been spent fleshing out the rest of the plan, and may outright cost XP in the worst cases.

This plan cache will hold these subsections so they don't fall into the void between planning cycles. Just ping me with the subsection and, unless it's wildly unreasonable, I'll edit it into the post. I'll keep them there for a while until they either make it into a winning plan, fall out of favour, or the context significantly changes. Depending on circumstances, they might end up in my Side Project Cache, or they might be dropped, and I'll make sure to be transparent about what I'm doing.

I'll do my best to quote this post after every update, so that planmakers can get an easy reminder about what we never quite got to last cycle.
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eaglejarl said:
"Fine," he said. "Then let's do it from the other direction. Keiko, you said that the Pangolins and the Snakes weren't in conflict?"

"Correct."

"Great. Do you think you could get the Pangolins to send a diplomatic envoy there to open positive relations?"

"...Maybe? Why?"

"Good. Do it. If you need to sell it, talk about how we can help facilitate a Pangolin/Toad/Snake alliance that will benefit all of them. That's dependent on the Snakes saying that they will not accept any summoner except a Gōketsu."

Noburi sucked in a breath. "Wow. Some serious balls on that one, Mr. Mew."

Hazō shrugged. "I don't care. I'm tired of the powerful people here in Leaf, and in the rest of the world, with their politics, their stupid traditions and status games that make them let civilians starve and not do anything useful with chakra. I want that Scroll in this family so we can finally get moving." He glanced over at the redheaded misaimed kunai sitting across from him. "Unless you see a problem, Mari?"

She laughed and shook her head ruefully. "Not sure how you get your boxers on over those, kid, but no. It'll piss people off but it's not against the law or any unwritten rule that I'm aware of. Honestly, I think some of them will grudgingly admire it."

"Cool," Hazō said. "That was everything I had. Anyone else?"

Heads were shaken around the table.

"Great. Pass the fried plantains?"

He fell upon the deliciously sweet treat with abandon. Clan Heads who proved themselves competent by navigating tricky social and political issues deserved fried plantains.
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If anyone in the greater [REDACTED] metropolitan area was distracted by a very loud "YES!" that was quickly accompanied by loud obnoxious cheering which surely reverberated throughout the entire city and its suburbs, you have my sincerest apologies.
 
eaglejarl said:
I want that Scroll in this family so we can finally get moving.
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I think Hazou is really, really, wrong here. We do not need the snake scroll. The snake scroll would be nice. But we don't need it. We have a preposterous amount of power and influence right now. 3 bloodlines, 2 sealmasters, 1 going on 2 summoners, a social jonin, Naruto, a vote on the council, a marriage alliance to the Nara, a favor from Ami...

The list just keeps going.

We do not need more power. We need exactly two things:
  1. The survival of the clan.
  2. ww4 to wait.
 
Immortal Lurker said:
Hazou might need an intervention soon. He's giving too many "My way or the highway" style orders.
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I didn't get the impression to be honest.

Note that Hazou leaves the decision of actually going through with Lee's adoption for later (i.e. up to player voting) instead of playing the Clan Head card and forcing the issue.

Likewise with his plan to get the Snake scroll: he made sure to check with Mari both times before committing to it.

He also handled dealing with Keiko and Akane superbly.

In fact, this chapter was probably Hazou at his best. He made sure to delegate where possible, request advice where it made sense and was socially adept enough to reassure Akane and Keiko.
 
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eaglejarl said:
She fidgeted with her chopsticks for a moment. "On the subject of funding, you should know that...I..." She stopped and tried again, but no words came. Finally she set the chopsticks down and put her hands in her lap. "I will need some time to prepare before I can offer a proper accounting."
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KEIKO CANCELLED HER DEAL WITH THE PANGOLINS WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Happy, @eaglejarl ? :p
 
Immortal Lurker said:
Hazou might need an intervention soon. He's giving too many "My way or the highway" style orders.
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He is? There was a considerable amount of discussion about whether we should do certain things or not. Thats not "my way or the highway" style, in fact he very visibly defers to many of the Team in areas where he isn't so adept (Keiko with the finances for one, Noburi with handling all of Nobby's bloodline bs and Kabuto, Keiko again for the summoning stuff and Mari for general politics, etc.) and he seems to approach any "Hello, please approve this Mr. Clan Head Sir." stuff with all the care it deserves.

This is not the behavior of someone who just got a license to order people around, this is the behavior of someone granted the Power of the King who recognizes this authority as the responsibility it is, and is summarily quite wary at exercising it.

Immortal Lurker said:
I think Hazou is really, really, wrong here. We do not need the snake scroll. The snake scroll would be nice. But we don't need it. We have a preposterous amount of power and influence right now. 3 bloodlines, 2 sealmasters, 1 going on 2 summoners, a social jonin, Naruto, a vote on the council, a marriage alliance to the Nara, a favor from Ami...

The list just keeps going.

We do not need more power. We need exactly two things:
  1. The survival of the clan.
  2. ww4 to wait.
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We will put the Snake Scroll to better use than anyone else. This issue will likely not impact WW4 or the clan survival if we approach it through established channels and do some buttering up on the Snek side.

The more allied summoners you have the greater your Instant Teleport Trade powers be. Quite frankly, thats a bigger game changer than skywalkers is and it would be used for all the right reasons. 7th path peace and neutral ground for an EN UN staffed by summoners would be a pretty good play.
 
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Wow, everything went significantly better than expected. A few days like this one and we might survive yet.

Inferno Vulpix said:
Plan Cache out early this time, we're finished with the retroactive planning so go nuts with whatever's most important.
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The Noburi: and Snakes: part can be removed, or at least significantly shortened.

faflec said:
KEIKO CANCELLED HER DEAL WITH THE PANGOLINS WE'RE ALL GONNA DIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Happy, @eaglejarl ? :p
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But later she was grumbling about their genocidal nature in way that suggest she didn't do anything drastic about that. There's room for optimism.
 
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eaglejarl said:
"The Pangolins and the Snakes are in fact even closer than they used to be, now that the Pangolins have committed entirely morally justified and not in any way distasteful conquest and virtual genocide against the Condors. Perhaps two or three days travel, if I've understood correctly."
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Wuhu more dead Xenos! Heil Pantsa/Manda!
 
MMKII said:
We might want to let Keiko know that we are open to complete negotiation of the Pangolin deal?
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Well, duh; we're the ones been pushing against genocide in the first place. Half the conversations with Jiraiya were Hazou initiating IIRC.

Why Keiko doesn't think we'd be opposed and or freak...grumble grumble.
 
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