Man. There are in insane amount of Jonin seemingly all over the place where you guys do missions. This Hot Springs mission failed epically, because apparently this one hot springs just has a random Jounin chilling and willing to jump into a ninja fight where she knows neither party and has no stakes in order to almost TPK the party. Cool deal.
@faflec, I would like to argue the point that we ask Keiko for permission to tell Ami about her involvement. She should have a say in it, and not only because Ami is her family member. Keiko's just realized that she doesn't wholly trust the sister that she's idolized/worshipped for this whole fic. She's just realized that she needs to decide whether or not to trust Ami. Maybe Keiko's had time to come to a decision, maybe she hasn't, but she still deserves to have a say.
Maybe we can convince her, or maybe it's not a smart idea to tell Ami for reasons that Keiko hasn't disclosed. But, either way, Keiko deserves to have her agency respected, if only due to how flagrantly Hazou's disregarded it in the past.
(also it would be a sign that Hanzou can learn lessons)
Man. There are in insane amount of Jonin seemingly all over the place where you guys do missions. This Hot Springs mission failed epically, because apparently this one hot springs just has a random Jounin chilling and willing to jump into a ninja fight where she knows neither party and has no stakes in order to almost TPK the party. Cool deal.
Man. There are in insane amount of Jonin seemingly all over the place where you guys do missions. This Hot Springs mission failed epically, because apparently this one hot springs just has a random Jounin chilling and willing to jump into a ninja fight where she knows neither party and has no stakes in order to almost TPK the party. Cool deal.
The boy did what he could to assist the pair, but a bend in the fifth dimension resulted in no possibility except separation in the three dimensional universe.
"All green/Good to go/Affirmative/Yes, L-Squadr/All clear,"
So the pair split. Much as the warp in the higher dimensions of probability resulted in the termination of joint experience for many others, so too did it happen to this boy and his mother.
"Voyager Squad, conduct final checks on your GUTS suits,"
But the topography of a higher dimensional reality is not an absolute.
"This is Voyager Leader Goketsu Hazou. All systems are ready for the Universal Travel,"
Even if the journey is long.
"Any last words, Hazou?"
Do not cast away your sentiments in the face of reality.
"We'll succeed. No matter what."
Do not give up the childish voice that insists in the face of all contrary evidence that yes, the impossible is possible.
"Then you better bring 'em all back."
Everything must be defined in relation to the goal one sets for themselves.
"I will. Console, begin countdown to the Universal Travel,"
So when a man decides that he will end death, that he will not only bring back everyone he's ever loved, but bring back everyone that has ever died, must be the kind of man who would not flinch in the face of an impossibility.
"Brace for chakra drain. Five."
That is what that man decided all those years ago.
"Four."
So as the arrays on Nagi Island crackle in anticipation, the technicians and guests gathered around the Grand Universal Traveller snap to attention, fist over chest in a perfect salute.
"Three."
Everyone saluted their pride and joy, for the last interminable eternity.
"Two."
Supposedly, chakra was a means for everyone's wishes to be heard. A means for everyone's wishes to be granted.
"One."
Thus, Hazou sought to use one miracle to accomplish another.
"Voyager Squad, launch!"
Space rippled and shattered. Time stretched and snapped. Reality contorted and collapsed. Linear dimensions bent and folded in on themselves. None in the present audience had lived to see the end of Whirlpool, but some surmised that this incomprehensibility must be what that event was like.
And then the moment passed, and the Voyager Squad was gone without a trace.
To bring someone back from the dead was not quite so simple a task as merely reconstructing their attendant biology, as Orochimaru had discovered all those years ago; no, the process was much more involved. To achieve even a limited immortality on the normal plane, Orochimaru had to seal his very soul to an anchor. Orochimaru, being a cunning and old ninja by that point, made several anchors just in case.
For Hazou, that solution was not good enough. Hazou wanted to achieve the miracle that the Pein had achieved on Nagi Island - six true resurrections from the Naraka Path, at the cost of the most powerful bloodline limit and an unfathomable amount of chakra. Hazou and his research collective did not have the world's most powerful bloodline limit, nor did they have an unfathomable amount of chakra - in fact, Hazou knew to the decimal point how many chakra units the group had access to at any given point in their project.
So his group needed to get creative. Their research collective would have to achieve several holy grails of sealing in order to begin to approach the results that prior efforts by Tobirama and Pein had supposedly so easily bypassed. What Hazou's research collective possessed, however, was a truly organized and rigorous team, generous external support, and Hazou's uncanny knack for finding a way to use lesser seals to achieve a greater effect.
Many years passed, as the research collective diverged into individual projects. A portion was dedicated to the biological aspect of resurrection - what use was dragging a soul back, if there was nothing to receive them in? Another portion was dedicated to improvements to a combat suit, one that could withstand the harshness of any environment, and defeat any ninja, beast, or demon the researchers might encounter. The last and final team was simultaneously the most important and riskiest group: their mission was to find a way to navigate between dimensional planes - the final goal would be to reach the Naraka Path, and create a two-way bridge between the worlds.
The biological body team succeeded first. Using their ability to construct artificial muscle, they transferred over to the combat suit team, and helped create an amalgam between chakra beast flesh, biological innovations, and sealtech to create a suit capable of fighting in any environment. One heart of a magma dragon provided the fire and earth chakra, while also providing heating; six fangs of the gargantuan ice yeti provided water and ice nature chakras, while also cooling the heart of the magma dragon. Three counterrevolving strips of sky squid sparked and spurred themselves on, generating a cyclone of wind and lightning chakra. Layered megalodon carapaces covered green veins from the millenial pine, which channeled chakra to the various weapon systems littered all over the suit. Space-warping seals expanded the internal and external space within the suit, enabling the deployment and storage of thousands seals. The finishing touch was the jutsu-boosting seals, twined all across the surface of the forearms and gloves. Any jonin wearing one would be qualified to defeat five S-Rankers, so the suit-makers boasted.
However, the dimensional plane navigators ran into an issue: prototypes of the dimensional seal system indicated that the cost of travel increased exponentially for every single extra unit of chakra. The Universal Traveller, as the team had begun to call the system, could launch a baby to the Naraka Path and back forty times, but would fail to even meet the activation cost to launch a single S-Ranker. That being said, the dimensional plane navigators said that their prototype seemed like it was going to be the only one that would work - the collective would either have to work around the limitation, or abandon the project entirely.
From Hazou's perspective, there was no decision.
The Grand Universal Traveller Sealtech Suit would be designed to reach a state of near total chakra exhaustion in both the user and suit in the instants before Universal Travel would initiate. Much to the grumbling of Naruto and Killer B, this excluded the jinchuriki from being part of the expedition almost instantly - no amount of chakra drain available to the project could hope to drain even a fraction of their staggering reserves.
The planners also agreed that many things were most likely going to go wrong - just in case, the final team would bring along supplies for one year, enough expendables to take out an entire Hidden Village, and one set of Grand Universal Travellers for each person. Hazou, as a sealmaster, taijutsu monster, and project leader, was a shoo-in for expedition leader. However, disagreement intensified about what criterion the other five members of the Voyager Squad would be selected on; eventually, the group decided on selecting the team members based on...
() Raw combat ability. With Hazou as the sealmaster on team, the council eventually decided that the most critical role was to make sure that Hazou survived all the way to the end - so long as he made it, everyone else could be brought back eventually. Thus, the team would be selected based on their ability to keep him alive. Team members: Akane, Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Kurotsuchi.
() Sealing ability. With so few copies of the Grand Universal Travellers, the council decided that the team needed to be able to repair and improve the travel method. Thus, the team was selected to conduct field improvements to the system. Team members: Kagome, Fuyuki, Makoto, Mika, and Hachiro.
() Team Uplift. The six of them have a diverse toolset and a preexisting deep cooperation in the group. Sending them on the journey (and away from the Elemental Nations) seemed like a no-brainer. Team members: Mari, Kagome, Noburi, Keiko, Akane.
() GIS. The substitution of Ino and Shikamaru for Mari and Kagome traded in a sealmaster and a social powerhouse for a social powerhouse and an analyst without peer, a valuable thing to take on such a journey. Team members: Noburi, Keiko, Akane, Ino, Shikamaru.
() Analytical ability. In the transit to other dimensional spaces, the ability to analyze the local environment could be the difference between life and death. In such a situation, it only makes sense to bring all the heaviest intellectual hitters. Team members: Keiko, Shikamaru, Ami, Ruri, and Yuzuki.
() International Compromise. It seems strange, but the final barrier to the other dimensions has always been the constraints in the Elemental Nations. Thus, the team was chosen to create a minimum of team friction between the members of rival villages, as they traveled to the Naraka Path and beyond. Team members: Kurotsuchi, Yuzuki, Ikeda, Ami, and Shiina.
() Some other combination?
So we haven't had omake in a while. I've also been watching someone else play through Super Robot Wars V and listening to "The EXCEEDER" and " 不退の覚悟 " on repeat for the past few weeks. This seemed like an excellent place to crossover.
@faflec I do prefer @MMKII's phrasing of "Check with Keiko beforehand on how forthright you should be about Keiko suggesting you talk to Ami about this." though then his plan tries to keep it a secret about how Hazou got touched by the Out - which I doubt will work on someone like Ami.
She is going to figure out that Keiko sent us and how it happened because of Ami Things so might as well give Hazou some instructions to fall back on when it happens.
(x) GIS. The substitution of Ino and Shikamaru for Mari and Kagome traded in a sealmaster and a social powerhouse for a social powerhouse and an analyst without peer, a valuable thing to take on such a journey. Team members: Noburi, Keiko, Akane, Ino, Shikamaru.
Subbing in Ino and Shika would be nice to see in terms of team dynamics.
(x) Raw combat ability. With Hazou as the sealmaster on team, the council eventually decided that the most critical role was to make sure that Hazou survived all the way to the end - so long as he made it, everyone else could be brought back eventually. Thus, the team would be selected based on their ability to keep him alive. Team members: Akane, Lee, Tenten, Neji, and Kurotsuchi.
It would be nice to see at least a few non-Uplift members, just to get a new take on things, but I also want the grounding of having known characters as the majority. My favorite choice would be to include Kagome, but there's no option that fits both those criteria. This one isn't actually the best choice for such an adventure -- you would definitely want to have options for problem solving other than punching -- but I think it's the characters that I would enjoy the most of the available choices.
Just in case, I'll take a write-in:
(X) Firebird Five
Kagome, Mari, Lee, Honoka, Neji
Doylist: It would be hilarious.
Watsonian: The Firebird Five were chosen for diversity of talents, ability to survive, and (as much as possible) ability to work together. Team roles:
Kagome: The best available sealmaster not downchecked for other reasons. Security specialist (defends static positions during team rest periods, disarms traps, removes obstacles with extreme prejudice)
Combat ability: 5
Sealing: 8
Social: Keep this team member away from social situations at all costs.
Mari: Social specialist. Handles diplomacy, ensures team cohesion, monitors team members for signs of psychological stress and ameliorates it.
Combat ability: 7
Sealing: -
Social: 10
Lee: Combat specialist, scout (raw speed allows him to cover ground quickly), cheerful personality helps to maintain team morale.
Combat ability: 10
Sealing: -
Social: 4
Note: Exuberant personality leads to some friction with...well, most people, but especially team member Neji. This was almost a downcheck during training, but Lee and Neji's long-established working relationship renders this manageable. Instruct Lee to not open his mouth AT ALL during first-contact situations.
Honoka: Generalist. Can serve as alternate for multiple other teammates. Personality renders her good for morale.
Combat ability: 5
Sealing: 5
Social: 7
Note: At sixteen, Honoka is only three months out of the Academy. This was initially considered a downcheck, with the slot intended for a more experienced ninja. She was allowed into training mostly because no one wanted to tell her that she didn't have a shot. Once there, evaluation demonstrated that growing up with Kagome, Mari, and Hazō as mentors and role models had produced a surprisingly useful skill set.
Neji: Scout, SAR, combat, analysis
Combat: 9
Sealing: -
Social: 4
Note: An excellent fighter and competent analyst due to a wide knowledge base (years spent copying records in the library), and clan training. Neji's personality almost got him downchecked during training, but the Byakugan is too useful not to have on such a venture.
EDIT: Honoka's age here implies that the Voyager launch takes place in 1079 AS, only 10 years after chapter 306 of MfD. That's probably not the "many years" that @huhYeahGoodPoint was shooting for, but hopefully HYGP will bend under the impact of Honoka's special technique: Puppy-Dog Eyes of Adorableness!!!
@faflec, I would like to argue the point that we ask Keiko for permission to tell Ami about her involvement. She should have a say in it, and not only because Ami is her family member. Keiko's just realized that she doesn't wholly trust the sister that she's idolized/worshipped for this whole fic. She's just realized that she needs to decide whether or not to trust Ami. Maybe Keiko's had time to come to a decision, maybe she hasn't, but she still deserves to have a say.
Maybe we can convince her, or maybe it's not a smart idea to tell Ami for reasons that Keiko hasn't disclosed. But, either way, Keiko deserves to have her agency respected, if only due to how flagrantly Hazou's disregarded it in the past.
(also it would be a sign that Hanzou can learn lessons)
@faflec I do prefer @MMKII's phrasing of "Check with Keiko beforehand on how forthright you should be about Keiko suggesting you talk to Ami about this." though then his plan tries to keep it a secret about how Hazou got touched by the Out - which I doubt will work on someone like Ami.
She is going to figure out that Keiko sent us and how it happened because of Ami Things so might as well give Hazou some instructions to fall back on when it happens.
(x) GIS. The substitution of Ino and Shikamaru for Mari and Kagome traded in a sealmaster and a social powerhouse for a social powerhouse and an analyst without peer, a valuable thing to take on such a journey. Team members: Noburi, Keiko, Akane, Ino, Shikamaru.
Subbing in Ino and Shika would be nice to see in terms of team dynamics.
And that memory once again placed her within her sister's shadow. Ami was perfect. It was an incontestable, undeniable statement. She had received ninjutsu training from Uehida Minori herself. She was so strong, they let her take point in the field despite the fact that she was a Mori. If there were such a thing as a Jōnin Exam (there wasn't, and there would be consequences for anyone who suggested otherwise too loudly), she would already be about to take it. She mocked the Mori Voice, or so she claimed. She even knew how to talk to people. They laughed at her jokes and never gave her strange looks when she made sensible observations.
Hazō shifted a little on his tatami mat, making sure he was comfortable so that he wouldn't be distracted, then unrolled the massive summoning scroll. It was huge when fully extended, at least eight feet long and somehow made of one continuous sheet of absolutely flawless paper. No visible grain, neither too thin for strength nor too thick for easy manipulation. Soft enough to take ink, not so soft that the ink would bleed. It was an instantiation of the perfection of paper.
Pfft. Have you learned nothing from recent updates? Hazō will survive by tanking the explosions with Ami's tongue. At which point he will be honour-bound to marry her for multiple reasons. (She, obviously, will be unharmed because Ami.)
The best part is that you - as a secret QM - are trying to guide players into making the optimal choices but the truth is just so strange that no one takes you seriously.
Also why are we still not using Summoning Scrolls as armor? Keiko needs to keep the Pangolin Scroll on-hand to summon, so it's really no different if she wraps it around her torso to no-sell any attacks aimed there. I doubt it's long enough to properly mummify her, but surely there's benefit to be gained from impenetrable armor no heavier than paper.
I'm not sure whether I should be proud or horrified of Hazō's out-related developments.
I like that feeling!
It would be awesome if he could get back in touch with his feelings without losing the thoughtfulness he's currently displaying.
I'm not sure if it was settled what breach of trust Keiko was talking about here:
"You should speak to Ami. She may have insight into your condition that others do not.
"I have already said too much," Keiko said. "Even to raise this subject in relation to her is an unforgivable breach of trust.
Some people suggested her high Forbidden Lore skill, others thought it referred to her Frozen Skein mastery (which might imply a connection to the Out).
Keiko's "I have already said too much" implies that she's talking about dangerous secrets, which could be one of those things, but I'm not completely convinced that Keiko would be so secretive about them towards Hazō, when she has talked openly about Ami's Frozen Skein mastery and general awesomeness before.
So maybe Keiko's referring to something we haven't thought about yet?
Edit: or she's just being overly dramatic and the breach of trust is just her sending Hazô to Ami...
Also why are we still not using Summoning Scrolls as armor? Keiko needs to keep the Pangolin Scroll on-hand to summon, so it's really no different if she wraps it around her torso to no-sell any attacks aimed there. I doubt it's long enough to properly mummify her, but surely there's benefit to be gained from impenetrable armor no heavier than paper.
"Ami touched the Frozen Skein briefly, just long enough to slow her racing heart" — note the fairly conventional usage of the bloodline.
"Ami had to be in control, always in control, because nobody else shared her skills and her priorities" — the same focus on "control" that Keiko has. Also, note the importance of "priorities", which suggests that whatever she does, it doesn't interfere with her utility function.
Keiko to Ami: "You do not have sufficient compensation for the Bloodline Limit effects the way the clan as a collective does!".
Chapter 267.1— Last scene, Shikamaru and Keiko discussing the Five Clans.
The Mori, and likely all of the Five Clans, were deliberately created, possibly by the Sage. They have a "purpose".
Chapter 291— Mari's exposition on the rest of the Five Clans.
On the Raiyoke, Grandmaster F's clan: "Cloud's Mori. Ingenious, but utterly lacking in curiosity. Spend most of their time sitting in mountaintop monasteries rehashing centuries-old religious debates. They are supposed to shell out some brilliant insights, but you have to prod them hard".
On Grandmaster F: "Most reports of her appearance are in bars, gambling houses, cheap hotels, and the occasional hot spring. Frankly, she sounds like more of a hedonist than I was in my misspent youth, which is to say three or four years ago".
Mari suggests some similarity with Ami: "At least Ami has the decency of being openly insane. I don't know what F's excuse is. "
"Grandmaster F wore the first Fulgurite Sutra, On the Six Paths of Samsara and the Outer Path that Transcends Them, to keep her hair out of her face in lieu of a forehead protector". Reminder on what the Outer Path is supposed to be.
Grandmaster F is fond of following her hunches: she chose her apprentice this way, and "followed her nose a hundred-mile distance from Hidden Cloud".
Pain's speech. Mostly this: "Ever since the Sage's failure, we've been living in a broken world. After a thousand years of sacrifice, the Five are still sealed, and I was born with the power to subjugate the Nine".
Chapter 286 — Hazou reads the Scroll. Entire first scene.
Chapter 298— Keiko reacts to Hazou reading the Scroll. Last scene.
More about the Frozen Skein being deliberately engineered.
"What need concern you is that attempting to interface with inimical entities of terrible power requires certain vital preparations, including means to contact the relevant entity and only the relevant entity, and to have defences in place that have been optimised against that particular entity".
"Are you familiar with the expression 'do not call up that which you cannot pull down?' Hazō, you have called up the universe".
Chapter 305— Keiko suggests that Hazou talk to Ami.
"She may have insight into your condition that others do not".
"Even to raise this subject in relation to her is an unforgivable breach of trust".
My speculations are under the spoiler below. To minimize anchoring, I suggest you try and come up with your own guesses/interpretations before reading them.
Ami learned to contact some other entity, unrelated to the Mori Voice.
Ami figured out how to contact different versions of herself, and this:
Allows to mitigate the Mori Voice's debilitating side-effects by spreading them across several instances of herself.
Gives her her perfect-acting ability: she borrows their mindsets/lets them take the wheel.
Ami is just very good at using the Mori Voice. She possesses some fascinating and relevant insights about it, but that's all. Keiko's statements about breaking trust are either about the specifics of said insights and she's being overly cautious, or she's still trying to cover up the Mori Voice's existence and tries to mislead us.
Ami is a Summoning Scroll.
To be honest, I'm not terribly fond of any of those. Except the last one.
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