Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

[Ipsos Custodes]

How much do we get for Skywalkers?

So, if Kagome makes Chunin Grade Seals (rather than Jonin, despite what Jaraiya said) then each element is R760 rather than R100 at regular Chunin seal rates, which would mean they cost R1,140 per element at special 150% Skywalker rate. At Jonin Grade, that would be R3,435 per element.

That changes a lot of other calculations.

It means it would take Kagome, at Chunin Grade, slightly less than 99 hours per month (not counting the seal tax requirements) to pay for the entire mortgage just scribing Skywalkers. At Jonin Grade, slightly less than 33 hours per month.

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Therefore, recommend making plans assuming Skywalkers command a price ~R3435

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So...no more money problems?

33 hours per month, split between Hazou and Kagome, and the mortgage is fully paid for. An additional 97 hours if we want to also take on, and fully pay, the Hagoromo debt each month.

That's not counting the tax hours.

All sealmasters capable of making skywalkers are required to make at least 100 of them per month as a tax to the Tower. (That's about 17 hours of work per month.)

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I'm not sure if Hazou is considered capable of making them since he's not able to infuse them....QMs?

Assuming he's not, 50 hours total, split between Hazou and Kagome, is required each month (not counting the unconditional clan money we get from Leaf) to pay the mortgage. 147 hours total if we want to also pay the entire Hagoromo debt.

That's ignoring the possibility of refinancing or paying off the principal with money in the bank.

The mortgage is R51,150,000. If we want to pay it off entirely and not need to worry about paying the mortgage - first, R10,000,000 off the top that we already have in the bank. Bringing the total to R41,150,000. At R3435 a seal, that only requires 1997 hours of sealsmithing (at 6 seals per hour). Both Hazou and Kagome can smith the seals. So 999 hours for each of them. At the standard civilian work month of 200 hours each month, we can own the property free and clear within 4 months. If we say ninja don't take weekends off (they don't), and they work 12 hours a day (they won't want to), we can finish it in 12 weeks. That's not really enough of a benefit to work them to the bone, just pointing out that we can do it.

 

[Paperclipped]

Pankurashun had never believed in doing things the hard way, or in fighting fair. Instead of crossing through the room and attacking via the doorway, he stepped down the wall a few yards and ripped another section out, creating an opening for Haga.

From the moment they met, the girl's attitudes and movements had reminded him of the Weasel Clan; that impression was borne out by the way she slid nimbly through the hole and punched her enemy in the back of the head. The blonde was too busy fighting her invisible assailant; she didn't notice Haga coming until it was too late. She had just started to turn, her swords starting to spin in a defensive circle, when Haga's fist crashed into her skull and dropped her like a sack of rotten tubers.

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Note for anyone who's tracking the summon clans, the Weasel Clan wasn't mentioned in Jiraiya's notes, but Pankurashun seems to know how they fight. The Weasels are probably closer to the Pangs than to the Toads

 

[Raxner]

Hazou said he'd be able to get Sealing lessons once he made Chunin, so clearly Hana knew someone with the skill...

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I feel like Kagome's extaordinary caution has helped keep Hazou alive, but Hana wouldn't have that luxury and would be facing a pretty sizeable chance of dying horribly before even getting to the point where she could make seals.

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While she might have been willing to tolerate Hazou pursuing Kurosawa tutelage of his own volition, she wouldn't do it on her own.

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My assumption is that no Kurosawa would be willing to teach her, and probably Clan Kurosawa pulled strings to make sure that nobody else would teach her either. Of course she could learn Sealing with a proper teacher--she's a jounin with mastery of Iron Nerve. If not her, who? She must lack a proper teacher, and it's just too dangerous to try on your own.

Plus it would likely be seen as incredibly shameful / dishonorable to even attempt this sort of thing.

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Ninjas cheat. Is shameful/dishonorable even a thing they think about? But if it is, it suggests the possibility of exploits. Whenever there's something useful to us that nobody else is expecting because it's shameful/dishonorable, that becomes an ace up Hazo's sleeve.

Try it. What could go wrong?

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There you go, then. It's a perfect plan.

If you adopt a sealmaster you could mitigate this, but (precisely because sealing is so lucrative) they are already among the most well-compensated professionals in Leaf, vastly more so than field ninja, so are the least needful of clan backing. Thus it is in your interests to find some means of generating massive wealth that is either even more lucrative than sealing or that does not rely on your continuous personal contribution to maintain.

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A possible long-term solution might be adopting low-level clanless ninja (even Academy students, perhaps) into the clan, and training them to be seal masters. Not, however, master seals. It's hard to see how balancing plastic balls on their noses could actually be useful.

 

[Paperclipped]

"There was a parade in my honour. I chose tonight to make my visit to the Seventh Path because Pankurashun had informed me of the timing. The pangolins have elected to use me as a symbol of the Pangolin Clan's supremacy in both worlds: the Pantokrator has used me to raise the pangolins above all enemy clans on the Seventh Path just as He has recently used me to raise the pangolins above all enemy ninja on the Human Path."

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Interesting note: It seems like the Pangolins have built up some culture around Keiko specifically. That means both that it would be challenging to replace her, and that it lends her respect in the eyes of the Pangolin population. While the Pangs at large are largely jerked around by the office of morale, I could imagine some "claws on the ground" operations where Keiko goes around the Seventh Path and talks to Pangolins personally (à la election campaigning) to try to build up cultural favor, raising the value of her personal preferences in the Pangolin utility function at large.

 

[Emstar]

Why Freebird? I would have thought one of the following:

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Mostly because it came up in my Spotify radio and I found the idea vaguely amusing.

 

[Raxner]

Interesting note: It seems like the Pangolins have built up some culture around Keiko specifically. That means both that it would be challenging to replace her, and that it lends her respect in the eyes of the Pangolin population. While the Pangs at large are largely jerked around by the office of morale, I could imagine some "claws on the ground" operations where Keiko goes around the Seventh Path and talks to Pangolins personally (à la election campaigning) to try to build up cultural favor, raising the value of her personal preferences in the Pangolin utility function at large.

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Maybe, but I don't think she has the clout for it yet. However much they like her, she still only knows a handful of them, and only for a short time. A year, two maybe? If she were to go around trying to convince Pangolins to abandon their basic cultural furniture, she'll be shunned almost instantly.

She might be able to do it eventually, but first she'd need to spend a long time building up her personal brand in Pangolin-land, turning herself into someone that's not just broadly popular but deeply popular--popular enough that in a contest of wills with the Pangolin Boss, she might actually win. Of course, in order to do that, she'd have to be patient (on the scale of at least ten years, probably twenty or thirty) and she'd have to be Mari.

 

[Emstar]

Most of our monetary issues can be heavily mitigated or outright solved in the next IC couple months or so by plopping Team N in front of Kagome to learn Sealing, in return for each of them spending 40ish hours a month making seals for us.

Combined with plots and business openings we should be pretty good to go with that assuming we don't drop the friggin ball entirely in the next month.

 

[Kiba]

Most of our monetary issues can be heavily mitigated or outright solved in the next IC couple months or so by plopping Team N in front of Kagome to learn Sealing, in return for each of them spending 40ish hours a month making seals for us.

Combined with plots and business openings we should be pretty good to go with that assuming we don't drop the friggin ball entirely in the next month.

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I am of the "don't catch your eggs before they hatch" camp.

Selling land is medium to long term. Salt seems like the shortest term, but seems to unlikely pay off lot immediately, since it does take time for our agents to sell salt. There will be investments into civilian business, but it's unknown how long it take for that to pay off.

Plus, Mari is helping to jack the price of seals way up by working to open up the civilian economy to ninja magic.

We should probably start getting income bout a month later, but how much is up in the air.

 

[Emstar]

I am of the "don't catch your eggs before they hatch" camp.

Selling land is medium to long term. Salt seems like the shortest term, but seems to unlikely pay off lot immediately, since it does take time for our agents to sell salt. There will be investments into civilian business, but it's unknown how long it take for that to pay off

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There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding as to how we're going to sell salt. We are not going to have street vendors hawking this door to door, that would be assinine. We don't have the infrastructure for that and we wont for months or years. We find out whoever has a controlling interest in the market in Fire/Wind/Water/??? and we sell it to them in batches of "tons". In Mist , we could probably sell directly to the Yakuza. I'm sure they would like more economic levers to play around with.

 

[Kiba]

There seems to be a fundamental misunderstanding as to how we're going to sell salt. We are not going to have street vendors hawking this door to door, that would be assinine. We don't have the infrastructure for that and we wont for months or years. We find out whoever has a controlling interest in the market in Fire/Wind/Water/??? and we sell it to them in batches of "tons". In Mist , we could probably sell directly to the Yakuza. I'm sure they would like more economic levers to play around with.

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I assumed we will be selling it to our agent outside Leaf..But I guess it's ok if we can sell it to our agent for a lump sum.

 

[Emstar]

I assumed we will be selling it to our agent outside Leaf..But I guess it's ok if we can sell it to our agent for a lump sum.

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We don't currently have "agents" at all though.

 

[Raxner]

We are not going to have street vendors hawking this door to door, that would be assinine. We don't have the infrastructure for that and we wont for months or years. We find out whoever has a controlling interest in the market in Fire/Wind/Water/??? and we sell it to them in batches of "tons".

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I assumed we will be selling it to our agent outside Leaf..But I guess it's ok if we can sell it to our agent for a lump sum.

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I don't have personal experience with it, but it is my understanding that factories sell wholesale to retailers, who sell--well, retail. And the factories make a lot more money than the retailers.

Why would we want to sell retail, when wholesale is our natural position in the supply chain?

 

[Velorien]

Interlude: One More Try​

The sound of unexpected footsteps in the entry hall made Kei freeze in awed anticipation, her empty spoon tumbling from her suddenly-numb hands to clatter on the floor. Could it truly be? The subjugation of every vicious fear, the resurgence of every helpless hope? Her father strode boldly into the dining room as if leading a parade, an enormous grin plastered over his chiselled face.

"Is that your trademark Mist-style crab stew I smell before me, Kagome?" he demanded with a roguish smile that dazzled the silent room. "Tell me you've got some left for the conquering hero."

"Father!" Kei exclaimed euphorically. She leapt from her seat in a display of celerity to earn the envy of any chakra toad as she locked her father in a tight embrace. He chuckled fondly as he ruffled her hair with his calloused hand.

"Now, now, little Keiko," he chided her with light-hearted words that would surely have earned him attempted strangulation were Kei not willing to succumb to mercy on this one superlative night. "I didn't survive the mess that was Nagi Island only to die here."

Kei, uncaring, continued to bury herself relentlessly into his tasteless green jacket, the strength that had recently belonged to the world's strongest genin being applied to a worthier purpose than the arbitrary slaughter of shinobi life. Finally, he was compelled to use force to gently lift her away from himself, whereupon she reluctantly acquiesced.

"So you're safe and sound," Hazō observed unnecessarily.

"For all intents and purposes." Her father winked mischievously, his gaze sweeping the room as if reaffirming his bond with every family member. "They had me on the ropes a few times there, but every time I thought I was out of options, I remembered that there was no way I was drawing that thing in front of all the other Kage, and that gave me my second wind. So I guess I owe it all to you, Keiko."

Kei felt a profound warmth spread through her from the bottom of her heart.

"Does this mean your seat as Hokage is secure?" she inquired casually.

"You betcha. After all my heroics, I'm Hokage for life, and I managed to embarrass Hiashi on the battlefield, and I saved Shikaku's life so now he owes me bigtime. Oh, and I saved Maito Gai too, in defiance of my better judgement."

Kei drew upon the bottomless depths of courage resting at the core of her very being. "In that case, may I request a reward?"

"Anything for my favourite child," Jiraiya proclaimed affectionately, his eyes glittering with unconcealed pride.

Keiko leveraged her mastery of body language, gazing into his eyes with all the innocent hopefulness of a young feline. "In that case, would you consider implementing certain new laws?"

Fill in later

Under ordinary circumstances, Kei was informed by her superior social skills, it would have been a distinct faux pas to visit another's house without any warning, certainly when even one's very return to the village had gone unannounced to the individual in question. However, she knew every last detail of Tenten's daily routine, in a fashion that was clearly loving and in no way stalkerish, and furthermore was confident that her beloved would not already be hosting guests, given that Rock Lee and Neji had long since been transferred to other teams, and away on long-term missions besides. That Tenten herself would welcome Kei had never been in doubt.

Tenten's expression was one of pure unambiguous heartwarming thrilled sparkling delight as she stepped aside to invite Kei graciously into her familiar flat. The space, once infinitesimal in dimensions, now seemed to expand to encompass the broadest reaches of the world as it was known to man, as Kei prepared to broaden her horizons.

Tenten gave her kettle a perfunctory glance, but her demeanour, more eloquent by far than the writings of the greatest wordsmiths, radiated cognisance of the true purpose of Kei's visit. It was time for Kei to fulfil the true spirit of the profound promise that she had made to herself as she beheld the glittering wonders and sinister horrors of the Chūnin Exam tournament.

As usual, Kei took the initiative. She stepped forward and gently cradled the back of Tenten's neck with her hand, leaning forward to bring their trembling lips together into a passionate kiss. Her heart soared as Tenten, at first unresisting, then eager, returned the explosion of Kei's feelings. Kei placed her other hand softly on Tenten's chest, as if asking a question. Their tongues intertwining was all the response she required. She reached for the clasps of Tenten's chūnin ja

-o-​

With a familiar motion, Kei reached over to the oil lamp, and fed the parchment to the flames.

 

[OliWhail]

So wait, we'd make more money for the same 10 seals if we were chuunin ranked?

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No, specifically not that.

 

[faflec]

Wait, wha—

faflec.reaction

 

[Emstar]

Keiko gets to try to wrap up the Icha Icha series, of course!

 

[Immortal Lurker]

It was time for Kei to fulfil the true spirit of the profound promise that she had made to herself as she beheld the glittering wonders and sinister horrors of the Chūnin Exam tournament.

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We're all rooting for yah, kid.

With a familiar motion, Kei reached over to the oil lamp, and fed the parchment to the flames.

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I hope that one day, Keiko and Tenten hold hands on screen. It will be the most awkward, adorable scene ever. It will be the most cathartic thing I've ever read.

 

[Kiba]

Is the interlude the real update?

 

[eaglejarl]

Is the interlude the real update?

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Yes

 

[Noumero]

[X] Action Plan:
Timeline: January 6.
Wordcount: 286

• Prepare for and schedule meetings:
  • Dinner tonight (if possible): Nakano's team.
  • Tomorrow: Ino (lunch), Chouza (afternoon), Asuma (dinner).
  • Later this week: Shino, Minami, Keiko (regarding the Seventh Path), Minori.

• Early Morning: Spar with Lee!
  • Invite Akane.
  • Engage in creative training.
  • If they wish, tell them about Gai's final moments from the debriefing.

• Before Akane meets Tsunade, amend your suggestions. You're interested in:
  1. Giving her funding.
  2. Opening a medical institution at/near our compound (clear with Noburi first). We will:
     • Employ junior med-nin at a better pay than Leaf's general hospital.
     • Provide affordable healthcare to civilians at a discount.
     • Offer genin, Academy students, and civilians medical education, and subsequent employment.
     • Prefer to collaborate with Tsunade's organization on this.

• Acquire some operatives with Noburi and Akane.
  • Consider turning mission-desk ninja into operatives. Give them gifts as thanks for their oft-overlooked service?
    • Ito Ino.
    • The kanji-forgetting one.
      • [Hazou, "skinwaste" is a bad word, you mudfoot.]
    • The pregnant one.
    • The Soggy Tag frequenter: gift an alcoholic beverage, trade stories.
  • Consider finding and thanking other "overlooked" ninja. ANBU guards? Logistical specialists?
  • Look over Jiraiya's blackmail/black market notes. Anything worth looking into?

• Spread rumors with Mari and Naruto. Follow their lead.
  • Goals: Make the Hyuuga waste time trying to counter nonexistent plots. Bonus goal: make their allies actually abstain.
  • Ideas:
    • Hiashi insulted an Inuzuka who died at the Nagi island.
    • Hiashi plans to hold the Uchiha responsible for Itachi's actions at Nagi, as the first step to vassalizing them.

• Afternoon clan meeting (high-security room):
  • Discuss working with the Yakuza.
    • We could sell them ice/salt, or promise assistance against their rivals.
    • Should we work with Leaf's xor Mist's Yakuza?

• In our spare time, scribe Kagome's seals to sell later.

 

[Emstar]

[X]Noumero

 

[bigking321]

Sniff...

Jiraiya...

She misses you...

 

[faflec]

[X] Action Plan:

Adhoc vote count started by faflec on Jun 27, 2019 at 7:50 AM, finished with 148830 posts and 3 votes.

• ---

  3 people have voted

  [X] Action Plan:

  • Noumero
  • faflec
  • Emstar

 

[Ipsos Custodes]

Your monthly mortgage payment is R675,526 according to the mortgage calculator website we plugged the numbers into. +1 XP if someone digs through the timeline and figures out the date on which the mortgage was taken out so we know how much of it has been paid off.

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The end of Chapter 123 has the mention of the three compounds Jaraiya is considering. Chapter 124 seems to start with them already in the compound, and specifies the date to be August 31.

The current date is January 6.

Assuming payments are due the last day of the month, that means we've made 4 payments.

Each payment is R675,526, for a total of R2,702,104 already paid.

The principal was R51,150,000 - which means it's now R48,447,896

+1XP please, @eaglejarl

Incidentally, at R3435 per Skywalker, and the rate of Skywalkers being 6/hour, we can fully pay off the mortgage in 2351 hours. If we use the R10,000,000 we have in the bank, that gives us a principal of R38,447,896 - able to be paid off in about 1865 hours. 932 hours of work if split evenly between Hazou and Kagome.

 

[faflec]

The end of Chapter 123 has the mention of the three compounds Jaraiya is considering. Chapter 124 seems to start with them already in the compound, and specifies the date to be August 31.

The current date is January 6.

Assuming payments are due the last day of the month, that means we've made 4 payments.

Each payment is R675,526, for a total of R2,702,104 already paid.

The principal was R51,150,000 - which means it's now R48,447,896

+1XP please, @eaglejarl

Incidentally, at R3435 per Skywalker, and the rate of Skywalkers being 6/hour, we can fully pay off the mortgage in 2351 hours. If we use the R10,000,000 we have in the bank, that gives us a principal of R38,447,896 - able to be paid off in about 1865 hours. 932 hours of work if split evenly between Hazou and Kagome.

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Hazō glared at her. Seriously? Who actually said 'sigh'? "I made a list about the pros and cons of the three potential clan compounds. I wanted to run them by the rest of you and then show them to Jiraiya."

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This is in chapter 124.