I'm not sure what terrifies me more, the fact that she used her jutsu or that she's met with Ami.
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
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- 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
I'm not sure what terrifies me more, the fact that she used her jutsu or that she's met with Ami.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Spontaneous changes in eye colour are a well-known sign of disguise kit overuse.
- Location
- Poland
- Pronouns
- He/Him
... OH GOD.
The intuitive part of my brain finally understood this little concept. And it's implication.
They're on the communicational highway, aren't they?
Moving through the districts of their shared minds with ease of long-time locals, with speed of a parkouring ninja on chakra boost.
And even if they are working against each other, slowing, redirecting, gaslighting and difussing their advances, there are neutral topics they can easily set agreements on.
And even with Mari's being an old veteran, Ami's an avatar of Tzeentch on this ninja world, shifting the political landscape with ease of her own personal labirynth of schemes.
Sage help us all.
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
In the interests of ensuring there's no failure of mutual knowledge, here's my obvious-and-vague interpretation of this inscrutable interaction.
(Referring to Mari as "Mari-sensei" instead of e. g. "Lady Gouketsu" may or may not have meant to convey that her actions won't be outright hostile.)
AMI: That's not how you signal willingness to work with someone.
MARI: It is, given current political situation, my understanding of your M. O., and what I want you to do.
AMI: (stops to think)
AMI: Ah. I see what you mean now.
(It is, of course, unclear whether Mari actually overestimated Ami, or just pretended to to make Ami feel slow/as a dominance play.)
I have no idea. E: some recent development regarding Tsunade. Possibly that "thing with the thing" Ami praised in this chapter.
The most crucial piece of information missing here is, of course, what Ami had to think about. Clearly Mari had something specific in mind, but since we have no idea as to the political situation or Mari's previous actions, we can't even make guesses.
Ami approaches Mari. Bouncy demeanour, mischievous expression: I am here and I am going to cause chaos!
(Referring to Mari as "Mari-sensei" instead of e. g. "Lady Gouketsu" may or may not have meant to convey that her actions won't be outright hostile.)
Mari looks at her; no-nonsense expression or a sharp glare: No, you aren't.
Ami reads Mari's reaction as: Sit quietly. If you do anything more than have tea parties with Keiko, I'll have you thrown out.
You misunderstood. I'm not against your activity in principle, but you need to work with me.
Apparently Ami has to catch up here.
AMI: That's not how you signal willingness to work with someone.
MARI: It is, given current political situation, my understanding of your M. O., and what I want you to do.
AMI: (stops to think)
AMI: Ah. I see what you mean now.
(It is, of course, unclear whether Mari actually overestimated Ami, or just pretended to to make Ami feel slow/as a dominance play.)
No idea. "Lupchanzen piss" is how Mari dubbed Tsunade's favourite alcoholic beverage, maybe she was referring to...
Literal reading. They're now working together.
The most crucial piece of information missing here is, of course, what Ami had to think about. Clearly Mari had something specific in mind, but since we have no idea as to the political situation or Mari's previous actions, we can't even make guesses.
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Shard
One and Many
- Location
- Malaysia
Interesting. Just how good are disguise kits?
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
[x] Continue Previous Plan
I kept a link around to the last Ino plan in the Plan Cache, feel free to use it.
- Location
- Yes.
Assuming Tsunade's right that Mari is making a bid for the hat, Ami might be thinking that chaos associated with her might reflect negatively onto Mari, which would be bad for her bid. Or just in general, really.
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
HDK. They must be very good, though, after all the times he's used them.
- Location
- Academy City
- Pronouns
- They
That makes sense. Hazou never gets anything good, so anything he doesn't have must be excellent.
- Location
- Kiev, Ukraine
I think I know how the Grue chapter will end
When Grue will grow tired Ami will stomp inot the room to ask why we called for her. At which point we don't have anything coherent to answer
When Grue will grow tired Ami will stomp inot the room to ask why we called for her. At which point we don't have anything coherent to answer
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
Incidentally, my current guess is that Truth Lost in the Fog blunts emotional responses or somehow erodes empathy/affection to loved ones, not erases happy memories. That explains Mari's swift recovery — she literally no longer cares about being a monster.
Granted, it doesn't make sense as a cost, but "happy memories" aren't much better.
Granted, it doesn't make sense as a cost, but "happy memories" aren't much better.
- Location
- Yes.
That...shit. That's completely possible. It might wear off over time, hopefully, but that's...shit.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
Secretly it wasn't the Grue wiping our memories earlier, it was just Mari grinding up her sociopathy stat.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
We should ask her how she invented it, because she hasn't called herself a Technique Hacker and don't you need to be one to invent jutsu? Hopefully that lead-in will give us a little more insight on what makes it different from normal techniques.
Noumero
Omit Needless Words
- One issue with that interpretation is that it kind of clashes with Mari's depression. If her worst pre-Swamp atrocities could be blamed on TLitF overuse, why did that never came up, neither in her thoughts as she depression-spiraled, nor during our attempts to therapy her?
- Granted, it's possible she just thinks TLitF is a shallow excuse, and doesn't want to try and justify her actions this way (even though that would be completely justified).
- I don't think it would "wear off", per se. I imagine that, once she uses it, it irrevocably "reset" all her attachments. It doesn't prevent her from growing to love people again, but you'd be starting from zero.
- This is testable: the last time we know she used it is Chapter 34. In the chapters immediately after, did she seem to act more cold towards the team?
- Granted, she is a flawless actor; she may have just pretended to be the same person until "recuperating".
Or just dump the whole thing at her. We've noticed her eye colour changing again, we're confused by her recovery: we think she's used TLitF again and we have suspicions about its "price".
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- Location
- NY
So good that you might call them broken?
- Location
- Under a Rock
I'm not certain that Truth lost in the Fog changes how much you care about people. That seems like it would spiral out of control immediately.
Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
The fact that Mari didn't seek out Ami even though Mari must have known she was in town is likely another power play.
I really liked this.
And since truth is somewhat subjective and all interpretations are equally likely
, I'd like to try my hand at it as well.Probably been in Leaf for a week now and only just happens to run into Mari? Not buying it.
Also note Ami is using a term of closeness by referring to her not just as her past but also present teacher: My favorite color is purple!
Mari is not impressed: Purple is not a naturally occuring color, it is a combination of red and blue pigments. Did I really not teach you better than this? You disappoint me.
I apologize for not meeting your expectations. I will go and repent in the nearby ice cream shop.
Ice cream shop, you say? I might be willing to overlook your faux pas if you are paying.
AMI: Sure.
MARI: Don't expect me to go easy on your wallet.
MARI: Seriously though, purple? Maybe I really did end up meeting the smarter sister when I went missing-nin.
AMI: ...
MARI: Nah, I'm just messing with ya.
AMI: ^_^
MARI: That said, don't do that again.
AMI: ಥ_ಥ
Tsunade is my BFF. Also, I am inquiring whether you have any news regarding the plant parasites subverting the ninja society.
AMI: I might be infected already.
MARI: Sucks to be you, then.
Let's stuff our faces with ice cream!
Bonus round!
Itachi is in Leaf.
Mari learned to avoid water sources by freezing them before they get too close.
Jounin auras are OP.
There are multiple Nara Keikos. Time loop or just coincidence? Not enough information to say yet.
And saving the best for last: the real hidden message!
The first clue that @Velorien is trying to bamboozle us by having us focus on the interaction between Ami and Mari instead of the real VIP: Eiichi.
Why? Because he¹ is actually undead. An Edo Tensei construct walking around in Leaf.
I am serious. There are multiple clues in the text that support this theory though the biggest one got lost in translation:
His name: 永一 'Eiichi'
永 = 'forever and ever'
一 = 'one'
Taken together this translates into the 'One That Is Eternal'.
Like the unkillable Edo Tensei constructs.
But let's continue:
Shuffled. Like a zombie.
1) Ami is scared of Eiichi and acknowledges his dominance.
2) Eiichi's ears aren't as good as they were when he was still alive.
Getting dangerously close to breaking the fourth wall here but Eiichi is basically flaunting his immortality. The allusions to the affair are nothing more than a smoke screen.
¹ Eiichi, not Velorien.
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- Location
- Yes.
The opposite, kinda. She acted like she cared about the Isan-nin back when we first met, but later revealed that was all an act to Hazou. But at the same time, she disproportionately responded to Kouta attacking Akane. So my guess is that it doesn't reset her bonds but makes her more of a sociopath: she has bonds, but they're not strong and she's far more willing to manipulate them.
Of course, this is all assuming she was telling the truth to us. Which may or may not be true.
Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
It's a shame we can't ask Ami about it since she would likely know, what with being her student.
But finding a foolproof way of asking one liar to tell the truth about another liar is awfully similar to those logic riddles on Youtube that I am terrible at.
E:
One day I will figure out why a word like 'foolproof' is written as one word, why a word like 'sure-fire' has a hyphen or why words that sound like they should be one word are written as two.
Today is not that day.
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Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
I'm not necessarily sure if another person's confidential info is up for grabs under the Ami policy. She may be willing to trade it for something else via playing the Honesty Game, or she may not be.
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Noumero
Omit Needless Words
Right, of course. Mari was referring to some recent development regarding Tsunade (possibly the "thing with the thing" Ami praised in this chapter). Can't believe I missed it. Thanks, @Tua.
Hmm. I note that in the chapter immediately after she erased Hazou's memory, she forced Keiko into the leadership role. I imagine it was useful training, but it was nonetheless cruel as well. Perhaps it's something pre-TLitF Mari wanted to do but could never bring herself to? Fits your model...
I wish we had more data.
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