- Location
- The state of Paranoia
That would take a LOT of gold/ninjutsu. The Hyūga are the richest clan in Leaf, right?
Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
- Start date
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- 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
Raxner
The most dangerous man in an empty room
- Location
- Israel
His speech to Pein seems to me classic aristocratic stuff--we're inherently superior and therefore ought to rule. That doesn't necessarily preclude being concerned for the well-being of the serf class. Noblesse oblige and all that. I think we ought to try to build bridges to the Hyuga, recognizing that at the very least they're going to be a permanent fact of life in Leaf going forward. I think that if we reach out to them, it's very possible that we'll find that we can get along in a Hyuga-run Konoha (even if uncomfortably), and I think it's even possible that they'll be okay with Uplifting the civilians (provided that ninja power remains assured).
Would it be ideal? No. It might be the only way forward. You can't necessarily jump straight from a medieval feudal society to an advanced liberal republic.
- Location
- Washington State
I like this idea. One thing that's kind of bothered me since the BoTG is that we haven't seen the Hyuuga do anything to further their own interests/counter us. Admittedly Hiashi's in the hospital and it hasn't actually been all that long, but even so, it's been starting to feel like we're up against an afk player recently, so having outside intervention tank the deal actually feels pretty realistic (not to mention true to life).
Chapter 273: Vignettes from Leaves on the Wind
- Location
- The Deep Blue Sea
Chapter 273: Vignettes from Leaves on the Wind
"Hmmm. I don't like him. Stinker's looking at me funny," her grumpy company for the afternoon grumbled.
Yukari let out a small giggle. "With respect, I'm not sure he can really help it. I think he's looking at everyone funny. Hopefully his attitude won't spoil the soup."
The 'he' in question, a hefty four-eyed fish currently on display as an advertisement for a market stall, did not respond.
When she was Ishihara Yukari, she would never have shopped on this street. Now she was, and was still getting used to being, Gōketsu Yukari, being personally escorted by a shinobi past shops that would have turned their noses up at her not even a month ago. Pride, and guilt over feeling prideful, mingled disagreeably in her gut. Perhaps it was a sign to stop lollygagging and continue her covert mission for the day.
"Kagome," she said gently, "would you mind getting the attention of the merchant once he's done talking with that man? I'm going to go see about some of those winter plums we passed earlier."
"Eh? Uh, okay. You... sure you wanna go alone?" Kagome asked nervously.
"I'll be right over there," Yukari said, indicating the appropriate shop and beginning to walk away.
Before she was halfway down the block, she had to spin on her heel at the sudden shout of "OY! Stinky fish-stinker!"
-o-o-o-
"And then Hanabi says, 'Neji, no, that's angry, you need to be mean!' Ha! I think he managed to exhaust his face before she got bored!" explained a giggly and somewhat tipsy Hinata.
Strictly speaking she had been allowed to 'borrow' one of the clan's best sake bottles for her 'diplomatic mission' to the Aburame compound on the condition that she consume only a polite amount. Screw that.. If it would get a smile out of Shino, she would burn manners to the ground, at least for today.
Her teammate did at least emit an appreciative exhalation. Not quite enough energy for it to be a 'snort', but she was making progress. Kiba was of course howling with laughter at the thought of Hanabi giving intimidation lessons to Neji, but he wasn't who Hinata was worried about at the moment. As much as the Inuzuka cared for their canine partners, losing your second-cousin-once-removed's dog was just not really comparable to losing your father.
-o-o-o-
The room of the failed sealmaster had been far enough from Shikamaru's quarters that nothing here had been damaged. Sitting with her back to the corner, Keiko could almost put out of her mind the scenes of devastation her tessera had spent all day helping to clear. The blank faces of people who'd spent hours and hours trapped under the ruins of their collapsed lives, not knowing if their families were safe, or sometimes knowing very well that they were not...
She wrenched herself back to her body. The ache in her muscles and her chakra coils felt good, and real, and solid, a reminder that she was at least doing something to help. Even if she wasn't nearly intelligent enough, or competent enough, or —
clink, insisted Tenten's teacup, snapping Kei back to reality again. All four members of their little... arrangement... had retreated to recuperate in silent commiseration. Tenten was alternating between weapon maintenance and maintaining her tea intake. Shiori was ensconced in silent meditation, closest to the room's coals. And her dear husband was splayed out in an entirely undignified manner along the floor, clutching his head as though he didn't trust it to hold together on its own. His tea lay by him, abandoned and long cold.
Eventually Shikamaru spoke up. "Shiori, would you kindly pass the notes we were making earlier on to my dear wife? Wife of mine, if you could pass them to your brother tomorrow, it will make my life noticeably less troublesome. It may or may not make his moreso; I leave it to your judgement as to whether to take enjoyment from that."
Shiori was already up and moving to open one of the desk's drawers. Keiko accepted the scroll from within with a silent nod. No need to speak more and stress everyone, when all the important things would doubtless be sitting there in plain writing.
-o-o-o-
"You're free to go, Lord Hyūga." Tsunade leaned back from examining her patient.
"Thank you," Hiashi said with a sincere bow as he stepped back from Tsunade's bedside. "Before I do, I'm afraid I must trouble you a little further, and ask if you've given more thought to what we discussed yesterday."
Tsunade didn't meet his eyes, preferring instead to scan her list of remaining patients for the morning. "I appreciate the offer. I don't appreciate the attempt to buy my vote."
A scowl, equal parts concern and frustration, crossed Hiashi's face momentarily. "Tsunade, war is coming, whether from betrayal by Mist, or by Rock and Cloud leading the Minor Coalition, or both at once. Our mednin are one of our biggest advantages, thanks in large part to you. Investing in a massive training program only makes sense. Asuma is young, and delusionally naive; he insists that peace is possible, and he won't do what's needed! I am not buying anything. I am asking you to help me keep Leaf safe."
Tsunade sighed and turned to the window. "If you're lucky I'll give it further thought when I don't have people to treat. Now get out."
-o-o-o-
Noburi and Naruto staggered along tonight's safe path to the main house. In the entryway, Noburi stored his coat, dusty and only slightly bloody. Naruto proceeded directly to the main lounge and practically collapsed onto one of the larger chairs.
Hazō carefully placed his brush down and turned to face his brother-to-be. "That bad, huh?" he inquired gently.
"Nah, nah, it was... manageable. Having a medic at the ops center helped," Naruto answered, gesturing toward the entryway as Noburi joined them.
"Fifty-one saved, out of eighty-two, since Noburi could stabilize on-site and on the way to Aunt Sunny or whoever."
"What he's not saying is the 'ops center' was him, and that he ran around like a madman literally nonstop," added Noburi. "I think there were at least a few dozen other Narutos doing the same thing, as well."
"Yeah," Naruto grumbled, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Gods, I don't think I'm gonna sleep tonight. That one kid —"
"I know, bro. I know," Noburi cut in grimly.
"You did what you could, let that be a blessing," said Mari in a melancholy tone from right behind Hazō wait when did she get there. "If you feel guilty about not being able to do more, it'll just hurt your ability to actually do more."
"Shut your Sagebedamned mouth, Mari," declared Naruto, his voice cracking as he sprang to his feet and strode across the room. "He was trapped on top of his dead mom, for fuck's sake! I'll feel however I damn well please about that, thanks very much!"
Slowly, gently, the red haired woman lifted her arms and wrapped them around the blond teenager, pulling him into a hug as he started to sob.
Notes from Nara:
- Due to sealing failure repairs / rescue / recovery, Nara manpower is going to be over-swamped until well past the vote, so they likely won't be able to do any further negotiations. Recommend going through Yamanaka & Akimichi if at all possible.
- ISC is willing to cover half the Hagoromo payments.
- Minami & Sarutobi have been negotiating with the Amori/Motoyoshi/Kurusu block. They report that they may be able to break off Amori if Gōketsu can add something substantial to sweeten the pot. ISC have already sent their offer along.
- Since Hazō is not yet at the Leaf age of majority, he'll need to make sure all the appropriate administrative stuff has been dealt with for Mari to cast Gōketsu's vote. Shiori enclosed a copy of the necessary paperwork; for planning purposes, assume this will happen in the background.
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- Location
- North Wales
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
She's a Jounin—they don't come any other way.
delusionally (though autocorrect throws that up as a typo itself.)
Extra period at the end.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
Aww, Hazou won't be able to directly vote? I was looking forward to seeing Hazou stare down the clan heads of Leaf and stand by Asuma 
I'm revising my opinion of the Minami's stability on our side upwards, if they're collaborating with the Sarutobi to flip clans to our side. That said, with the Hagoromo down the Amori would mainly be a margin of safety, so I'm not sure if we should go for this (It would mean we can afford things falling through with the Uchiha, though). Also happy that the Hagoromo debt is getting split, means more of our profits can go to Uplift expenditures.
And I like seeing more of Naruto. I'm still getting used to how he's like and seeing him in that last scene was as illuminating as it was heartbreaking.
I'm revising my opinion of the Minami's stability on our side upwards, if they're collaborating with the Sarutobi to flip clans to our side. That said, with the Hagoromo down the Amori would mainly be a margin of safety, so I'm not sure if we should go for this (It would mean we can afford things falling through with the Uchiha, though). Also happy that the Hagoromo debt is getting split, means more of our profits can go to Uplift expenditures.
And I like seeing more of Naruto. I'm still getting used to how he's like and seeing him in that last scene was as illuminating as it was heartbreaking.
Emstar
The Shining One
- Location
- Trapped in an extradimensional rift.
- Pronouns
- She/They
Oh dear. Oh dear. Oh dear!
Cariyaga
Handsome Gentleperson
- Location
- United States
Give the vote to Kenta. Mari can work her magic on one of the supporters for Hiashi
- Location
- UK
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Officially endorsed. I know it's frustrating to have OOC circumstances influence significant IC events in this way, and it is for us too (even if we're the ones choosing to make it happen), but sometimes you have to accept compromises in order to continue being menaced by unscrupulous politicians, deadly chakra beasts, even deadlier sealing failures, and whatever else it is you people come here for.
- Location
- Yes.
Addendum to this, I am not sad, I am stupid.
grumbling to self Seriously, though, who puts the most recent threadmark at the top instead of at the bottom? Am I supposed to be reading this thread upside-down or something? end grumbling
Edit: Oh, and I can't even do my * now? Is that a permanent feature? -grumbling intensifies-
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- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Do not take this deal.
Give them 50% of land clearing
- Location
- Yes.
@eaglejarl @Velorien @OliWhail If it's allowable, can we ask Mari (and Naruto, if he's present) what is known about the Amori?
- Location
- USA
You're suggesting not taking the ISC benefit so that we are personally the saviours of the Hagomoro?
@Sweets for the Amori pot, how about giving them the right if first refusal on the land we clear for the next X years (possibly as a discounted rate)?
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Yes. We can pay it off easily so we should
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
I think we should take the ISC up on the Hagoromo split because unlike the Uchiha we don't have plans to bind them to us long-term and millions spent on our vanity is millions not spent advancing Uplift.
True, but that meeting is scheduled after 5 clan meetings. Should we really put off it that long? About 1 2/3 of a day? If we can stop the genocide one day earlier imagine how many lives that saves. Of course getting the hat for Asuma will make Uplift easier so we should consider which one has a higher time priority. By moving the Keiko (and gather Kage/Hyuuga info) meeting to our immediate next time slot we can do that consideration as soon as possible and then either continue meeting clan heads or scheduling more Keiko meetings.
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JulieK
Unintentionally funny
- Location
- Israel
When the moon hits your eye, like a big pizza pie..
- Location
- Yes.
Yeah, gonna have to agree with this. Our funds are currently wrapped up in Skywalker sales (which won't last, since the prices are artificially inflated to increase supply). We do have theoretical funds in land-clearing and selling, but there's still the potential political issues which we have to get Tsunade on; more importantly, land-clearing's going to take time and net us less than with Skywalker sales (especially if we're going to be splitting the pie with other people).
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Having a clan think Uplift is responsible for their salvation is worth millions. If we let ISC pay half of it they will get all the credit. We will be sacrificing huge political gains which we can't buy for minimal amounts of Hazō's time.
- Location
- USA
I don't think they will get all the credit, given that we are personally giving the equivalent of three major Leaf founding clans. We look good by comparison.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This will play out exactly like the 5th event. Nara will get the credit. Followed by the other members of ISC. Please don't sacrifice influence
- Location
- Yes.
Will this not already be clear? From my understanding the entire deal was made by Mari of Clan Gouketsu, and the ISC are just being there to help shoulder the burden. All the real work and/or agreement was done by us.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Nahh if the Nara are involved everyone will believe it's entirely their scheme.
- Location
- The state of Paranoia
screaming loud and long in Kagome
I guess I should have expected the Hyūga to send Hinata to turn Lord Aburame, since he is her teammate after all. Still, for some reason it hadn't occurred to me, and the fact that they're probably well on their way to turning him (if she didn't already) is terrifying.
screaming intensifies
screaming reaches a crescendo, slowly turning inaudible as it becomes too high pitched for human hearing
We absolutely need to have Asuma promise a massive increase in funding for training mednin, as well as a campaign to get clanless nin to sign up for training. We could even start the campaign now, having the civilians we rescued tell any clanless ninja they know that they should sign up for med nin training.
How do people feel about trying to set up a debate with Hiashi? If we can egg him into talking about his elitist views in front of the more moderate clans, without coming off as insane ourselves, that might drive moderates like the Aburame away from him.
As far as swinging Amori, any ideas other than massive amounts of money? What do we know about them?