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Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest

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IMO S-Rank is a nebulous thing, or perhaps better expressed, it's a socially constructed rank. There could be a hermit Madara out there with Rinnesharinmangekyowhateverthefuckigan who has Taijutsu:200 as their lowest effective combat stat, but until that Madara comes out and beats someone's ass into the ground they're not an S-Ranker. By contrast, well, it's hard to find the lowest tier S-Ranker because it's a sliding scale down there; some people say they're S-Rankers, other people don't.
 
If Zabuza is roughly as powerful as he was in the OG, I think that's enough for him to be S-rank. Kakashi was the strongest Jonin in leaf and Zabuza was seriously pressuring him. Kakashi straight up couldn't beat him without Sharingan. If he'd fought anyone else from Leaf (besides the Hokage) he probably would have won. Zabuza is most definitely the bottom of S tier if he is S tier though, no way he's contending with the likes of Jiraiya or Orochimaru.
 
To the voting population of MfD,

I am writing with respect to events documented in recent published chapters of the online web serial, title Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest. I wish to claim insurance on conjunctive probability, which has accrued significant damage as a direct result of the actions taken by the aforementioned voting population.

Owing to the concurrent dissolution of Bayesian probability, I am currently unable to provide an accurate estimate of the monetary damages amassed. Instead, I would like to take a Leaf out of the defendants' book, by starting with a highball estimate of infinity dollars and the cessation of all ills, and praying to the RNG gods that my lawyers roll high.

Sincerely,
Veedrac
 
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faflec said:
I think we are severely underestimating the strength of the chakra golem. Keep in mind Jiraiya, who probably had all the Toads available to him when he fought his chakra golem, still almost died. I'm genuinely concerned that whatever Summons we bring out to fight the chakra golem will just end up popping without making a dent, unless they have some very exotic ninjutsu to change things.
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Okay, I keep kicking myself for seeing ideas I don't think will work out, not work out and yet I never post. But for the love of god don't fuck with the Chakra Golem.
 
Daikloktos said:
Okay, I keep kicking myself for seeing ideas I don't think will work out, not work out and yet I never post. But for the love of god don't fuck with the Chakra Golem.
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More i think about it,more this seems reasonable: The Chakra Golem could vary from High S-Rank(One Young!Jiraiya) to "I eat single or multiple S-rankers for breakfast" S-Rank (Konan running away, Itachi AND Hidan being scared, Nagato possibly going full power to kill it). The former is possible to kill with enough preparation and by not being there, the latter is something we should not fuck with at the moment.
I still like the idea, but we need more intel, probably the Toads can tell Noburi how the Jiraiya vs Chakra Golem battle went
 
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Adhoc vote count started by Velorien on May 20, 2020 at 9:43 AM, finished with 142 posts and 27 votes.
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Voting is closed.

I swear we've had life-or-death decision plans that had lower turnouts than this cycle's "What flavour of beach episode shall we have?"
 
Daikloktos said:
Okay, I keep kicking myself for seeing ideas I don't think will work out, not work out and yet I never post. But for the love of god don't fuck with the Chakra Golem.
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Don't worry. This will take roughly a year of prep work. No one is proposing that we go fight one today. It's a ton of sit up in gaining power, doings research and developing strategies.
 
Velorien said:
Voting is closed.

I swear we've had life-or-death decision plans that had lower turnouts than this cycle's "What flavour of beach episode shall we have?"
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Socials are scary.

At least when someone points a kunai at you the situation is more clear.

(Ninja kinkiness aside.)
 
So, with the contest about to be timeskipped to completion, we should start considering what to do in the scenario where we win the Dog Scroll. To my understanding there are two main choices for who to have sign it: Hazou and Akane.

Who should get the scroll? A collection of thoughts on the various implications:
  • Whoever signs the Scroll is going to be sent on summoner missions.
    • This will lead to dangerous encounters, which may complicate FOOM if we need to divert XP to 'stay alive' stats instead of Resolve.
  • Being a Summoner allows for very direct participation in our various 7Path schemes, such as personally going to the 7Path to train/trade/treason/etc.
  • Whoever signs the Dog Scroll is essentially locked out from signing future Scrolls. If we come into possession of the Otter/Kraken/Kangaroo/etc. Scroll in the future we will be forced to give them to whoever has not signed the Dog Scroll.
    • The other side is that we do not know for sure that we will ever acquire another Scroll, so who we choose to not sign the Dog Scroll may forever remain not a summoner.
    • Thus, if you (for example) believe that Hazou would be better suited to the Otters, you would have to weigh (increase in utility from signing Otters * odds that we find Otters) against (decrease in utility from not signing Otters or Dogs * odds that we don't find Otters).
  • Itachi might consider Hazou to have broken his word to use the Porcupine Scroll for trade if he turns it in without even the plausible excuse that he was just swapping it for the Dog Scroll.
    • However, it is not implausible that Hazou could argue that having Akane be the summoner is just as good for such a purpose as Hazou being the summoner.
  • What we can expect of the given summon clan is also relevant. If one person works much better with the Dogs than another person does, that's an advantage.
    • Worth keeping in mind is that apparently the whole 'Pangolins conquering and enslaving the Condors' thing is some bad rep for the Goketsu on the Seventh Path.
  • At the end of all of this, we have to not just consider what we want, but what our clan wants. I would not want to make a unilateral decision if it would upset and alienate our teammates.
    • Though what I remember of the Toad Scroll assignment is that the de facto assumption was that Hazou, as Clan Head, would take the scroll for himself. That may hold true now and factor into their assessment of who ought to have the Scroll.
Between all of those points, here's how I think I'm feeling:
  • In terms of 7Path schemes, Hazou is more of a boon than Akane as Hazou is the one coming up with these schemes so can execute them directly.
  • The summoner missions are concerning unless we can find some good way to make sure we stay safe. I feel like with our plans to abuse Shadow Clone and copious Noburi refills we're probably fine there. Maybe.
  • My preference ordering between Dogs and Otters for Hazou and Akane is small enough that I don't want to let the acquisition of other Scrolls really enter considerations except as 'the other one might get this eventually'.
  • I worry that the Dogs will be very cross with the Goketsu enabling the Condor tragedy, and murderize Hazou for what he's done. Akane is more innocent regarding the trade deal, and I feel like she's more likely to persuade Boss Dog to not murderize if that's the situation.
  • I don't want to factor Itachi in too much, as we have plausible-ish excuses either way and I frankly don't want to meet him again if it isn't with overwhelming force on our side. Heckin essies.
  • Whatever we have Hazou's leanings be, we should definitely discuss it with the clan before making a final decision.
So overall I feel Hazou signing the Dog Scroll has a moderately stronger payout than Akane signing it, but carries a moderate amount more risk than Akane signing it. If we feel confident that the risks are not severe, I would suggest Hazou, but if we feel that the risks are severe we might want to let Akane sign it to optimize odds of things going well.
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
So, with the contest about to be timeskipped to completion, we should start considering what to do in the scenario where we win the Dog Scroll. To my understanding there are two main choices for who to have sign it: Hazou and Akane.

Who should get the scroll? A collection of thoughts on the various implications:
  • Whoever signs the Scroll is going to be sent on summoner missions.
    • This will lead to dangerous encounters, which may complicate FOOM if we need to divert XP to 'stay alive' stats instead of Resolve.
  • Being a Summoner allows for very direct participation in our various 7Path schemes, such as personally going to the 7Path to train/trade/treason/etc.
  • Whoever signs the Dog Scroll is essentially locked out from signing future Scrolls. If we come into possession of the Otter/Kraken/Kangaroo/etc. Scroll in the future we will be forced to give them to whoever has not signed the Dog Scroll.
    • The other side is that we do not know for sure that we will ever acquire another Scroll, so who we choose to not sign the Dog Scroll may forever remain not a summoner.
    • Thus, if you (for example) believe that Hazou would be better suited to the Otters, you would have to weigh (increase in utility from signing Otters * odds that we find Otters) against (decrease in utility from not signing Otters or Dogs * odds that we don't find Otters).
  • Itachi might consider Hazou to have broken his word to use the Porcupine Scroll for trade if he turns it in without even the plausible excuse that he was just swapping it for the Dog Scroll.
    • However, it is not implausible that Hazou could argue that having Akane be the summoner is just as good for such a purpose as Hazou being the summoner.
  • What we can expect of the given summon clan is also relevant. If one person works much better with the Dogs than another person does, that's an advantage.
    • Worth keeping in mind is that apparently the whole 'Pangolins conquering and enslaving the Condors' thing is some bad rep for the Goketsu on the Seventh Path.
  • At the end of all of this, we have to not just consider what we want, but what our clanwants. I would not want to make a unilateral decision if it would upset and alienate our teammates.
    • Though what I remember of the Toad Scroll assignment is that the de facto assumption was that Hazou, as Clan Head, would take the scroll for himself. That may hold true now and factor into their assessment of who ought to have the Scroll.
Between all of those points, here's how I think I'm feeling:
  • In terms of 7Path schemes, Hazou is more of a boon than Akane as Hazou is the one coming up with these schemes so can execute them directly.
  • The summoner missions are concerning unless we can find some good way to make sure we stay safe. I feel like with our plans to abuse Shadow Clone and copious Noburi refills we're probably fine there. Maybe.
  • My preference ordering between Dogs and Otters for Hazou and Akane is small enough that I don't want to let the acquisition of other Scrolls really enter considerations except as 'the other one might get this eventually'.
  • I worry that the Dogs will be very cross with the Goketsu enabling the Condor tragedy, and murderize Hazou for what he's done. Akane is more innocent regarding the trade deal, and I feel like she's more likely to persuade Boss Dog to not murderize if that's the situation.
  • I don't want to factor Itachi in too much, as we have plausible-ish excuses either way and I frankly don't want to meet him again if it isn't with overwhelming force on our side. Heckin essies.
  • Whatever we have Hazou's leanings be, we should definitely discuss it with the clan before making a final decision.
So overall I feel Hazou signing the Dog Scroll has a moderately stronger payout than Akane signing it, but carries a moderate amount more risk than Akane signing it. If we feel confident that the risks are not severe, I would suggest Hazou, but if we feel that the risks are severe we might want to let Akane sign it to optimize odds of things going well.
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One thing to add to this is it would make EagleJarl happy for Hazō to get it. Making sure everyone can enjoy themselves is important so that firmly pushes me into wanting to assign it to Hazō
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
So, with the contest about to be timeskipped to completion, we should start considering what to do in the scenario where we win the Dog Scroll. To my understanding there are two main choices for who to have sign it: Hazou and Akane.

Who should get the scroll? A collection of thoughts on the various implications:
  • Whoever signs the Scroll is going to be sent on summoner missions.
    • This will lead to dangerous encounters, which may complicate FOOM if we need to divert XP to 'stay alive' stats instead of Resolve.
  • Being a Summoner allows for very direct participation in our various 7Path schemes, such as personally going to the 7Path to train/trade/treason/etc.
  • Whoever signs the Dog Scroll is essentially locked out from signing future Scrolls. If we come into possession of the Otter/Kraken/Kangaroo/etc. Scroll in the future we will be forced to give them to whoever has not signed the Dog Scroll.
    • The other side is that we do not know for sure that we will ever acquire another Scroll, so who we choose to not sign the Dog Scroll may forever remain not a summoner.
    • Thus, if you (for example) believe that Hazou would be better suited to the Otters, you would have to weigh (increase in utility from signing Otters * odds that we find Otters) against (decrease in utility from not signing Otters or Dogs * odds that we don't find Otters).
  • Itachi might consider Hazou to have broken his word to use the Porcupine Scroll for trade if he turns it in without even the plausible excuse that he was just swapping it for the Dog Scroll.
    • However, it is not implausible that Hazou could argue that having Akane be the summoner is just as good for such a purpose as Hazou being the summoner.
  • What we can expect of the given summon clan is also relevant. If one person works much better with the Dogs than another person does, that's an advantage.
    • Worth keeping in mind is that apparently the whole 'Pangolins conquering and enslaving the Condors' thing is some bad rep for the Goketsu on the Seventh Path.
  • At the end of all of this, we have to not just consider what we want, but what our clanwants. I would not want to make a unilateral decision if it would upset and alienate our teammates.
    • Though what I remember of the Toad Scroll assignment is that the de facto assumption was that Hazou, as Clan Head, would take the scroll for himself. That may hold true now and factor into their assessment of who ought to have the Scroll.
Between all of those points, here's how I think I'm feeling:
  • In terms of 7Path schemes, Hazou is more of a boon than Akane as Hazou is the one coming up with these schemes so can execute them directly.
  • The summoner missions are concerning unless we can find some good way to make sure we stay safe. I feel like with our plans to abuse Shadow Clone and copious Noburi refills we're probably fine there. Maybe.
  • My preference ordering between Dogs and Otters for Hazou and Akane is small enough that I don't want to let the acquisition of other Scrolls really enter considerations except as 'the other one might get this eventually'.
  • I worry that the Dogs will be very cross with the Goketsu enabling the Condor tragedy, and murderize Hazou for what he's done. Akane is more innocent regarding the trade deal, and I feel like she's more likely to persuade Boss Dog to not murderize if that's the situation.
  • I don't want to factor Itachi in too much, as we have plausible-ish excuses either way and I frankly don't want to meet him again if it isn't with overwhelming force on our side. Heckin essies.
  • Whatever we have Hazou's leanings be, we should definitely discuss it with the clan before making a final decision.
So overall I feel Hazou signing the Dog Scroll has a moderately stronger payout than Akane signing it, but carries a moderate amount more risk than Akane signing it. If we feel confident that the risks are not severe, I would suggest Hazou, but if we feel that the risks are severe we might want to let Akane sign it to optimize odds of things going well.
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Hazō has slightly higher Rapport, which may help with negotiating with summons. Unfortunately, it's still pretty low.

I think that if we want to get a scroll for Hazō, the dogs are probably safer. There's a good chance that the dogs are somewhere relatively far away from pangolin territory and as such may not know/care as much about the genocidal murder-balls that are far away from them. On the other hand if they are far away it also gives the scroll less synergy with the toad and pangolin scrolls for things like 7th path communication or trade.
 
I'll argue that our first step for the Dogs (and what should probably have been done to the Toads, as well) is to send a Pangolin courier to their territory and tell them the fact. Make sure that we don't waste months of Summoning training on Hazou only to find out that the Dogs actually hate him for his involvement in the Pangolin-Condor war, or for doing a treason.
 
Inferno Vulpix said:
So, with the contest about to be timeskipped to completion, we should start considering what to do in the scenario where we win the Dog Scroll. To my understanding there are two main choices for who to have sign it: Hazou and Akane.

Who should get the scroll? A collection of thoughts on the various implications:
  • Whoever signs the Scroll is going to be sent on summoner missions.
    • This will lead to dangerous encounters, which may complicate FOOM if we need to divert XP to 'stay alive' stats instead of Resolve.
  • Being a Summoner allows for very direct participation in our various 7Path schemes, such as personally going to the 7Path to train/trade/treason/etc.
  • Whoever signs the Dog Scroll is essentially locked out from signing future Scrolls. If we come into possession of the Otter/Kraken/Kangaroo/etc. Scroll in the future we will be forced to give them to whoever has not signed the Dog Scroll.
    • The other side is that we do not know for sure that we will ever acquire another Scroll, so who we choose to not sign the Dog Scroll may forever remain not a summoner.
    • Thus, if you (for example) believe that Hazou would be better suited to the Otters, you would have to weigh (increase in utility from signing Otters * odds that we find Otters) against (decrease in utility from not signing Otters or Dogs * odds that we don't find Otters).
  • Itachi might consider Hazou to have broken his word to use the Porcupine Scroll for trade if he turns it in without even the plausible excuse that he was just swapping it for the Dog Scroll.
    • However, it is not implausible that Hazou could argue that having Akane be the summoner is just as good for such a purpose as Hazou being the summoner.
  • What we can expect of the given summon clan is also relevant. If one person works much better with the Dogs than another person does, that's an advantage.
    • Worth keeping in mind is that apparently the whole 'Pangolins conquering and enslaving the Condors' thing is some bad rep for the Goketsu on the Seventh Path.
  • At the end of all of this, we have to not just consider what we want, but what our clanwants. I would not want to make a unilateral decision if it would upset and alienate our teammates.
    • Though what I remember of the Toad Scroll assignment is that the de facto assumption was that Hazou, as Clan Head, would take the scroll for himself. That may hold true now and factor into their assessment of who ought to have the Scroll.
Between all of those points, here's how I think I'm feeling:
  • In terms of 7Path schemes, Hazou is more of a boon than Akane as Hazou is the one coming up with these schemes so can execute them directly.
  • The summoner missions are concerning unless we can find some good way to make sure we stay safe. I feel like with our plans to abuse Shadow Clone and copious Noburi refills we're probably fine there. Maybe.
  • My preference ordering between Dogs and Otters for Hazou and Akane is small enough that I don't want to let the acquisition of other Scrolls really enter considerations except as 'the other one might get this eventually'.
  • I worry that the Dogs will be very cross with the Goketsu enabling the Condor tragedy, and murderize Hazou for what he's done. Akane is more innocent regarding the trade deal, and I feel like she's more likely to persuade Boss Dog to not murderize if that's the situation.
  • I don't want to factor Itachi in too much, as we have plausible-ish excuses either way and I frankly don't want to meet him again if it isn't with overwhelming force on our side. Heckin essies.
  • Whatever we have Hazou's leanings be, we should definitely discuss it with the clan before making a final decision.
So overall I feel Hazou signing the Dog Scroll has a moderately stronger payout than Akane signing it, but carries a moderate amount more risk than Akane signing it. If we feel confident that the risks are not severe, I would suggest Hazou, but if we feel that the risks are severe we might want to let Akane sign it to optimize odds of things going well.
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I'm leaning towards Akane, because:
  • It'll increase Akane's importance in Leaf's eyes, meaning she'll likely be (finally) promoted to chuunin and it'll be overall easier to get her Shadow Clones.
  • Insofar as we can speculate about the Dog Clan's culture given near-complete absence of in-universe information about them, she seems to be a better fit for them culturally, meaning it'll be easier for her to negotiate for powerful Summons.
  • It seems fairly likely that we'll acquire another Scroll in relatively short order anyway.
 
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At this point in time I'd vote for Dogs going to Hazou. I don't want to be forced to gamble if we want a Summoning Scroll for Hazou; I just want one in hand and have the option to pursue another Scroll for the Clan.
 
On one hand Akane is the Goketsu's first full combat specialist and getting a scroll first would give her an edge, not to mention it makes her an important and notable shinobi in her own right.

On the other hand we can still share jutsu with her just fine and considering this may be the last scroll we ever get our hands on (seriously the fact Hazo had and passed an SS multiple times is ridiculous by normal standards) makes me not want to give it up if Hazo can have it.

On the other other hand PUPPERS YEAH

so I'm probably gonna go with Hazo.

That said this whole thing is mute since we might not even win it.
 
Oh you know what I just realized? Giving Hazou the dog scroll is a great way to earn Asuma's trust back, because it means we'll be forced to go on missions.
 
I'm fairly ambivalent about whether or not it's Akane or Hazou, but here are my thoughts:

Hazou:
  • EJ has expressed a preference
  • Forced to interact with Asuma, providing opportunities to earn his trust back
  • Takes away time/xp that might be better spent elsewhere
Akane
  • Raises her danger level, greater synergy with current skills
  • Her personality would likely mesh better with the Dogs
  • Might show favoritism, Haru may feel ostracized
I still think we should have a Clan Meeting about it, to see if Mari, Kagome, Akane, or whomever else might have some opinions/info about it, IC.
 
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RandomOTP said:
Might show favoritism, Haru may feel ostracized
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I'd argue that Haru wouldn't be, since he knows Akane is clanless-born and having Hazou give her the scroll over himself would be surprising for him, in a good way. I expect Haru understands he won't be getting a scroll anytime soon, given his actions earlier and the fact that he's the newest member of an already well-knit group. Him seeing Hazou not take the scroll for himself is something that would make him take our words more seriously.

Oh yeah, speaking of which: WHEN IS HARU'S BIRTHDAY???
 
faflec said:
Oh yeah, speaking of which: WHEN IS HARU'S BIRTHDAY???
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No one really knows. Haru's dad was away on business for the Merchant's Guild and his mother died in childbirth while his father was away. Records from back then are sketchy and birth certificates aren't a thing for clanless. Haru's father returned to find his wife dead and son missing. After a multi-month crusade across the Lead, using every resource at his disposal and burning through every favor he'd ever received, Haru's father found baby Haru at an Orphanage. Haru carries his mother's eyes and frown, by which his father recognized him.

I actually have no idea.
 
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