Marked for Death: A Rational Naruto Quest
- Thread starter eaglejarl
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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 open voting
- Location
- florida
By all means be more specific.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Luckily it's super simple. Ch 343 ended on the 11th of April. The next day Ami got sent home and Yasuji. Ch 347 ended at 1 A.M. on the 13th
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Chapter 348: Negotiate All the Things!
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
"Which brings us back to Yasuji," Asuma said thoughtfully. "Yasuji, and this Wakahisa trade opportunity." He glanced at Noburi. "You've been completely silent, young man. You are most directly affected by this, and will doubtless be heavily involved in any negotiations. Your thoughts?"
Noburi clearly wished that he had the Hiding Like a Mole jutsu so that he could vanish into the earth. Or at least that Mari hadn't insisted that he come to the meeting. "Sir...." He trailed off, then tried again. "Lord Hokage, I am a loyal Leaf ninja and will follow whatever orders you give."
Asuma frowned. "I didn't ask about your loyalty, I asked for your thoughts." He rubbed his face, clearly trying to push away the tired, and took a breath before resuming in a less snappish tone. "You grew up with these people and will have insight into them that is not available to me elsewhere. Please, speak freely."
Noburi glanced at Mari and seemed not best pleased to get nothing but an encouraging nod. "Sir...I am very afraid of losing my barrel. Without it I'm virtually helpless. If I make a real effort then I can keep chakra confined into a normal container for half an hour, maybe a little more." (Neither Hazō nor Noburi had been thrilled about Mari's order to understate Noburi's capabilities slightly, but they had gone along with it.) "That's not enough time to be an effective ninja."
"Not for missions, true. It would be perfectly adequate for a support role on the home front, or for medical work. I thought those things appealed?"
Noburi bit his lip to keep the words in and struggled (without success) to keep the anger off his face. "If those are the only way that you'll allow me to serve, then fine. I would prefer not to be a cripple for the rest of my life. My Lord."
Asuma nodded thoughtfully. "Fair. Still, these barrel seals are the foundational secret of the Wakahisa. The price that would be required to get them would be truly excessive, and I'm not comfortable having a Leaf clan—especially not a Council Clan—so beholden to a foreign village." He fell silent, pondering the flames in the fireplace.
"Don't forget that I'm going to be the Toad Summoner, sir. You said it yourself: Summoners need to be deployed. I can't go into the field without a barrel, which means the toads are off the table."
"True...still, the toads are not the most combat-oriented of the clans. Their primary value is and always has been as teachers. There are exceptions, yes—Gamabunta is a combat monster while Ma and Pa are equally devastating in their own way—but combat is not their forte." He paused. "Also, if you'll forgive me, the scroll could be passed on to someone else."
"Jiraiya left it to me! You can't—" Noburi cut himself off mid-word and took a breath. "Forgive me. You are the Hokage. You can, of course, take away the scroll that was left to me by my adoptive father and forcibly invest it in another Gōketsu. You can even take it from our clan. We can't stop you. Sir."
Asuma shook his head. "I wouldn't do that, Noburi. The scroll belongs to the Gōketsu and it will remain with the Gōketsu. In fact, I see no reason it shouldn't remain with you—your bloodline means that you can use as much chakra as Leaf ninja can produce. You could summon dozens of toads and they could teach dozens of Leaf ninja. Yes, Summoners usually need to be in the field, but a large part of that is as a reminder to foreign nations that attacking us means fighting through a swarm of unkillable assets with completely unknown powers. Your situation is more nuanced."
"What about the koi, sir?" Hazō asked. "The only way we're going to get them is as part of a deal, and that deal could easily include the barrel seals. If we had the koi then Noburi could supply all of Leaf. Imagine every Leaf ninja, including the Academy students, being able to train as much as they want without running out of chakra? More powerful jutsu require so much chakra that they can only be practiced a few times a day, so it takes a long time to get really good with them. Imagine if everyone could throw as many Water Dragon Bullets as they wanted. How fast would they improve?"
"That would require Noburi being at home, where the barrel seals are not relevant," Asuma pointed out. "And it doesn't need to be koi; we could find other beasts that can fill the same purpose, or captured ninja, or even convalescent Leaf ninja."
Noburi took a long breath and let it out slowly. "Sir...there's one more reason you might want me to be mission-capable."
Hazō immediately told the Iron Nerve to clamp down on his face. He had been stridently against this part of the plan, but Mari had backed it and ultimately it was up to Noburi.
Asuma raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"
"You are familiar with the nature of my bloodline: I can drain chakra from one or more targets as long as we are both touching the same water and they're within my range. The thing that I keep secret, and probably one of the deepest secrets of the Wakahisa clan, is that it doesn't have to be liquid water. Mist works too."
Asuma blinked. "What?"
Noburi nodded. "It's a secret even within the Wakahisa clan—you aren't told about it until you're old enough, which probably means until you're a jōnin, and most of the younger kids think it's just a myth. It requires a lot of practice and it only works with natural mist, not a chakra construct created by a jutsu. Also, the mist needs to be pretty dense. Still, the Gōketsu have a seal that makes mist, and that mist works just fine for draining. I'm still developing my skill, and therefore how fast I can drain, but give me a few years and I'll be able to suck the average chūnin dry in a few seconds, especially if they're already burning chakra on combat. A few years beyond that and I'll take jōnin down.
"Possibly more important, I can sense the location of chakra through the mist without needing to actually drain the targets. Imagine a team sneaking into enemy territory where we know where the enemy are but they can't find us, and we can do non-lethal silent takedowns on their sentries from long range." He made a tossing-away gesture with one hand. "Sure, it's not the Byakugan, but how many Hyūga do you have left after the Collapse? Yes, I'm good at support and medical work, but I can be very useful in the field...as long as I have a barrel so that I can be in the field."
"You've convinced me," Asuma said. He nodded to Noburi and then looked to Hazō. "What do you need?"
Hazō had the mental list ready to go. "Permission to trade with Yasuji, and possibly directly with the Wakahisa Clan Head. Guidelines for what we can and cannot trade. Ideally some resources. The contest means that you've been collecting a lot of things—jutsu, seals, ideas, whatever. Obviously we shouldn't give the Wakahisa anything too powerful or combat-capable, but are there any low-level things that you'd be willing to let us give them? We have money and technology, but they can get that on their own. Jutsu or seals would be better. I had considered giving them a couple of my less combat-oriented jutsu—Multiple Earth Wall, Earth Clone, Spine of the Earth. Not Living Roots or Hiding Like a Mole; those are too useful in combat." His lips twitched in something far too grim to be called a smile. "Also, given what happened during the Collapse, Tunnel Excavation is definitely not an option." He flipped one hand dismissively. "I haven't decided on exactly which of those to offer, if any, but I wanted to get your permission first."
Asuma nodded. "Feel free to trade with Yasuji, and I have no objection to you giving up those jutsu. If you need to go to their Clan Head then have Mari do the actual negotiations and have the negotiation here in Leaf or at least on neutral ground. As to what you can trade...give them whatever amount of money you choose as long as it doesn't break your ability to function as a clan. Trade deals are a good option; they'll keep the Wakahisa, and to a lesser extent Mist as a whole, tied to our interests. Approve them with me just in case, but it's unlikely to be an issue." He gestured with one hand, indicating a change in line of thought. "Don't give them anything from Jiraiya's notes on seal theory. Those are too much of an advantage for Leaf. As to jutsu and seals..." He trailed off, rubbing his jaw in thought.
After a moment, he smiled. "Tell me...can these koi produce literally unlimited amounts of chakra?"
Noburi considered that. "I don't think so...? I was certainly never turned away from the ponds, but after I drained a fish it would have lower reserves than it had, and it didn't regenerate instantly. There's probably a max but it's going to be very high."
Asuma chuckled. "Well then, let's give them something to spend it on, shall we? The more they're using up, the less they have available for fieldwork or for supplying other Mist ninja.
"The Second Hokage was well known for being a jutsu hacker extraordinaire, and he spent a great deal of effort trying to create a jutsu that would duplicate the effects of the First Hokage's Wood Element bloodline. He had only very limited success and eventually gave it up. Travel forward a few decades to the time of Orochimaru, also a jutsu hacker of great skill who, unlike the Second, had a good knowledge of seals and was willing to dabble in madness. Before the Third forced him to flee from Leaf, Orochimaru got hold of the Second Hokage's work and took it further. Like the Second, Orochimaru didn't get very far with it, but he did manage to produce one item that is perfect for this situation: It's a paired biosealing process and two jutsu, one Earth and one Water. You use the process to convert certain kinds of seeds, then you plant those seeds and use the jutsu on them every day. They will produce leaves that are made of literal gold. Not a chakra construct, real gold. A lot of it."
The Gōketsu stared in shock.
"That's...that's wild, sir," Mari said. "I had no idea such a thing was possible."
Asuma shrugged. "It's possible, but it's not practical. It requires a caster with both Water Element and Earth Element, an exorbitant amount of chakra, and the patience to sit in the dirt and channel chakra for six hours each day. On top of that, the plants are sensitive to soil conditions and weather, so they require time-intensive tending under exacting conditions. Plus, the plants only live for a few weeks, and they're annuals, not perennials. Their offspring lack the bioseal preparation and therefore are not compatible with the jutsu. Still, the plants are prolific enough in their growth to make a high-chakra clan ludicrously rich...and thereby destroy the economy of their village." He waggled a finger at them, an amused smile on his face. "Growing these plants is impractical enough that no Hokage has needed to forbid its use until now, but as of tonight it's on the Forbidden Jutsu list to everyone here in Leaf. I like our economy the way it is, thank you."
"We'll need a way to prove that it works," Mari noted. "They're not going to just accept our word for it that something like this exists."
Asuma nodded. "I'll order Orochimaru to prepare a batch of seeds and a hothouse. We should have a convincing demonstration within a couple weeks." He nodded to Noburi. "We'll likely need your help. Orochimaru is not going to be willing to drain his reserves every day for this, and even if he were willing I wouldn't want him to." He considered for a moment, then grimaced. "At least...I hope he was using his own chakra for those experiments."
The Gōketsu flashed back to the Basement and shuddered.
"The plant is an excellent suggestion, sir," Hazō said. "Not to sound greedy, but we would really like to make this a leg-breaking offer. The Gōketsu have some seals, both of our own creation and things that Jiraiya left us. A lot of them are combat oriented, and therefore not good candidates, but there are some utility items like the Jiraiya's Awesome Daybright Lantern seal." (He paused, a sad smile flickering across his face as he recalled his adoptive fa—his Clan Head's stringent insistence that the seal be referred to only by its full name.) "There's also the Air Dome and Earth Dome, and the Purifier...not the Tunneler's Friend. That's a little too well suited to espionage. And definitely not the Goo Bomb."
Asuma considered. "I agree that Tunneler's Friend and Goo Bomb are not for trade, but I have no objection to the rest. Also, I believe you've also had civilians working on some sort of...airwalking project?"
"The skysliders. Yes, sir. It's a platform that glides—you know how a shuriken descends more slowly than a rock, because the shuriken is flat and so the wind spirits are more willing to lift it? The skysliders are like that. If we can get them working then they will allow for faster travel. You'd need to either start from a high place or use skywalker or skytower seals to get the initial height. Once you're up there, you could travel for miles without having to expend your skywalkers or your chakra."
Asuma's eyebrows went up. "Interesting. And you're having civilians build this?"
"Yes sir. No chakra required."
"That's off the list then. Anything related to aerial superiority needs to remain a Leaf secret, especially if it requires no chakra." He thought for a moment.
"See if you can sell it based solely on the jutsu you already mentioned. If you can't, visit the Leaf Private Library and talk to one of the Nara advisers. Have them put together a list of jutsu and seals that would make good trade candidates, then send them to my office for approval. Avoid combat applications as much as possible, although I'll bend a bit on that so long as it has enough drawbacks—very high cost, not efficient for the cost, stealth-defeating, that sort of thing. Also, avoid Water Element jutsu unless there's a good reason not to. Most ninja in Mist are Water Element so anything aside from that will be better for this purpose—it doesn't empower Mist as a whole but it will be attractive to the Wakahisa since it will empower a handful of their members individually. Plus, any Mist ninja who is spending their time studying a new element is not spending it in the field or focusing on things that are effective in the short term. By the time it becomes an issue, Leaf will have recovered from much of its recent damage, and I have a feeling that we can gain power as a village faster than the Wakahisa can as a clan."
"I agree," Mari said. "At the risk of sounding like a suck-up, this contest of yours is brilliant."
"Thank you," Asuma said, shrugging modestly. "Ebisu's experiment is still in progress, but I'm coming around to his way of thinking regarding the clanless. I don't know that they will ever be able to equal the clans, but they will gain far more from a given amount of investment than a clan ninja would. And the contest will empower the clans as well."
He yawned and blinked tiredly. "Is there anything else?"
Hazō hesitated. "Two quick things, sir. Would it be all right for me to write to my mother? Personal contact only, no discussion of politics or capabilities, and I would ask that you have someone review my letters before they are sent and her letters before I get them."
Asuma smiled in mild approval and nodded. "I have no objection. Family is important and she might make a good agent-in-place someday."
Hazō hesitated at the turn that sentence had taken, then shook the thought off and forged ahead. "Thank you, sir. Finally, regarding Ami...for Keiko's sake, I really want to make sure she's okay. I'm the Mizukage's nephew, so when you send your messenger please have them lean on that if you think it's at all useful. And I'm happy to intercede in whatever way you believe could help, or stay clear if that's better."
"I appreciate your eagerness, but I think this should remain between the relevant Kage. The situation is simply too delicate to have many sensei in the classroom."
"Yes sir." He glanced at his clanmates and got two headshakes. "I think that covers everything, sir."
"Excellent. Remember: The final deal with Yasuji needs to be run past my office, as do any jutsu or seals that you want to offer that we haven't discussed. Mist is an uneasy ally at best and their history with us does not inspire trust. Do not give them this mist-producing seal of yours. Do not give them any details on Leaf bloodlines—well, you may tell them about the Gōketsu bloodlines if you so choose, since the information is already available in Mist. Just don't reveal anyone else's. Avoid other strategic capabilities—no details on our summoning contracts, for example. You can name the clans we have contracts with, but nothing more. Do not give them Jiraiya's seal notes or any of his combat jutsu. Do not so much as mention the words 'Shadow Clone' or...what did you call it? 'Skysliders'?" He shrugged. "I'm not convinced about their utility, especially if it's merely civilian work, but anything related to better air travel or aerial maneuverability should be assumed to be classified."
"Yes sir!"
"Good. In that case, I'm going back to bed."
o-o-o-o
"Dumpling?" Hazō said, offering the bowl. Yasuji had been eating the offered dinner sparingly, keeping a nervous eye on Hazō the whole time while periodically making calf eyes at Mari.
"Thank you." He used the back of his chopsticks to take one of the steaming buns and set it delicately on his plate.
"I spoke with the Hokage," Hazō said casually, taking a bite of his fish. "He authorized me to trade with you so long as the koi and the barrel seals are part of the final deal."
"Hey, I can't promise that the seals will be handed over," Yasuji said. "I said that I can get Noburi a barrel and ongoing maintenance. I'm not even sure that you guys could learn our seals—" He visibly caught himself and hurried to add, "No offense. You guys are famous as brilliant sealmasters, but no one in history has ever figured out the Wakahisa barrel seals. They're probably part of our bloodline."
"'Probably'?"
Yasuji shrugged. "I mean...why else would no one ever figure them out? Sure, we're complete badasses but even we occasionally lose people on missions."
Hazō smiled in amusement. "Of course. Anyway, there's a lot that we could put on the table, but let's start with a particularly interesting option. What would you give us for a jutsu—well, a pair of jutsu—that turns chakra into gold?" He quickly sketched out the details of Orochimaru's gold-producing plants, being careful to downplay the costs and not mention anything about why Asuma had actually authorized it.
Yasuji shrugged, leaning back in his chair and draping one arm over the back of it with elaborate casualness. "I mean...I guess that's not bad, but it's just money. We're talking about offering access to deep Wakahisa clan secrets. Gold is nice, but what else you got?" Despite his protestations, Hazō could see ryō dancing behind Yasuji's eyes.
"Noburi did mention that 'just money' was something you found appealing," Hazō said with a slight smile. "Just think...being the scion of a rich clan is one thing, but being the one that made your clan the richest by far in all of Mist? The one with the exclusive contract to get more of the seeds? We'll commit to only trading them to you, in person. The Wakahisa elders will need to stay on your good side if they want to keep the deal going."
Yasuji shifted in his chair, trying to keep his breathing even.
"I didn't grow up with the Kurosawa, but I met their elders a couple times," Hazō mused, poking distractedly at his fish as he spoke. "Arrogant old men who thought I would fall in line simply because they snapped their fingers. Thought that I didn't matter next to their needs, that I was some kind of shogi piece to be pushed around the board. That I would abandon everything I cared about for the privilege of a few scraps of their approval. Infuriating."
"Yeah..." Yasuji muttered.
Hazō shrugged. "Anyway, if you aren't interested in the money then let's forget about it. We could—"
"No, no. The money is probably fine. It might take a little work, but I can probably swing it. You know, as long as there's some other good stuff."
"Hm." Hazō set his chopsticks down and thought carefully. "Well...like I said, I'm willing to go pretty damn far to take care of my family. Jiraiya was well known as the world's greatest sealmaster, and he left us a treasure trove. I can—"
Mari's eyes went wide. "Hazō," she said, interrupting. "You're not thinking of offering what I think you're thinking of?"
Hazō straightened, his face going cold as he stared her down. "I am head of Clan Gōketsu, Mari. Son of Jiraiya of the Three, the greatest sealmaster who ever lived. If I choose to offer some of his signature seals, that is my choice."
"But—" She looked at Yasuji, then back to Hazō. "Could we discuss this in private, please?"
"Hey, what's all this?" Yasuji said. "Hazō, I thought you were in charge here? If you need to have your mom holding your hand—"
"She is not my mother and she is not in charge," Hazō said coldly.
Mari glanced at Yasuji again and then back to Hazō. When she spoke it was around gritted teeth. "Hazō, you told me that those seals were foundational to Jiraiya's sealing style, that you and Kagome could use them to— That they were important. You can't seriously be looking to give those away!"
"The Wakahisa do not have access to the same context that we do. Furthermore, they are not known as a sealing clan. I doubt they have anyone with the expertise to take advantage of those seals. They're valuable but without the relevant theory notes they aren't going to upset the balance between Mist and Leaf."
"But—!" She cut herself off, her normally controlled face unable to hide her frustration. Her hands clenched on the table in front of her, the right slightly less white-knuckled than the left.
"You may go, Mari." Hazō's voice was cold. "Yasuji and I are capable of making this deal on our own."
"Hazō—"
"GO!"
She gave him one final glare, then stood up and left, anger vibrating through every line of her body.
"My apologies," Hazō said smiling in embarrassment. "She hasn't quite accepted her demotion from 'my teacher' to 'my subordinate'. Anyway, where were we?"
"You were telling me what else you had aside from just money. Something about Jiraiya's seals?"
Hazō chuckled. "Right, that. There are a few. There's the one he insisted always be called by its full and rather pretentious name: Jiraiya's Awesome Daybright Lantern. It does exactly what you'd think: Bright, even light. Perfect for home defense; lanterns and torches are vulnerable to wind and bad weather, and they aren't strong enough to light up the entire grounds of a clan compound the size of the Wakahisa's, so they leave too many shadows that enemies or animals can sneak through. These seals change all that. A few of them in the right places and no one is coming near you without being seen."
"Yeah, I saw them on the way in. You weren't using them as much yesterday."
Hazō shrugged. "Kagome-sensei is in charge of the defenses. Most nights he prefers a more...proactive style. He leaves specific routes that seem appealing for invaders but will in fact blow you into fragments so tiny that you can only be cleaned up with a mop, not a broom. We went with the lanterns tonight so that you could get a feel for what's possible." He caught himself. "Excuse me: We went with the Jiraiya's Awesome Daybright Lanterns tonight."
Yasuji laughed. "Okay, so seals that make light. That's nice. You mentioned there were others?"
"Yes. There's also a series of pedagogical seals that he created when he was training the Fourth Hokage. It's a progression, with each one building on the previous one. The first is so easy that even an idiot could do it, the last one is a variant on the explosive seal; limited amount of force, but a great deal of light and smoke. He used to use them for cover when he needed to make a quick exit." Or, at least, he had done so once, back when he initially met the team. Kagome-sensei had turned the training seals and the smoke bomb up in the process of decoding Jiraiya's notes; the first two in the series had been so obvious that it had taken him under a minute to figure them out, but fortunately he had remembered the urgency of the decoding and went back to it instead of getting lost in the theorycrafting and pedagogy of the legendary sealmaster. Asuma had waffled on letting the seals be part of their contribution but finally granted it since the material was too basic and too limited in scope to make a major difference.
Yasuji's eyes widened very slightly but he snorted. "Lanterns and smoke bombs? That's the best that the mighty Jiraiya left you?"
Hazō smiled slightly. "That's the best that the mighty Jiraiya left me that I'm willing to offer up front. Well, that and the gold-making jutsu and seeds. Now, convince me you that you have something worthwhile and aren't just wasting my time."
"Hey, I already told you: My Clan Head will intercede about Mori, and we'll get Noburi a new barrel and regular maintenance for it."
"And the koi," Hazō reminded him. "We'll want two hundred of them to start, experts to train my people in their care and maintenance, and assistance from those experts in preparing an appropriate space for them. Also, the seeds don't get delivered until the koi have bred."
"You've got to be kidding me! They don't breed until summer and we're not going to wait that long. Look, if you're just going to waste my time, then I'm out of here." He tossed his napkin down on the table and stood up.
Hazō shrugged and leaned back in his chair. "Then go. You'll be giving up the chance to make your clan the richest and most powerful in Mist. And I'll be sure to tell them that when I show up to talk to the Clan Head directly."
Yasuji considered that sourly, then sat down again. "So, seals...."
Hazō, Rapport (14 after bonuses and Severe Consequence) + invoke "Lists and Plans" (-1FP; this conversation was carefully practiced and pre-scripted) + 6 (dice): 22
Yasuji, Empathy: ?
Ah, Yasuji. Such a spoiled little rich kid. You really need to work on learning that other people are important aside from what they can give you. Do that and then maybe you won't lose so badly when someone uses your selfishness against you.
Round 2, fight!
Mari, Maneuver to create the Aspect "You're Giving Away the Store!". Deceit: A lot.
She also signals that Hazō's got this and it's okay to send her out. She created the Aspect so she gets a tag; she passes the tag to Hazō.
Hazō, Rapport: 14 + invoke "The Hokage Was My New Dad" (-1 FP) + invoke "Team Uplift" (-1 FP) + invoke "Head of Clan Gōketsu" (-1 FP) + tag "You're Giving Away the Store!" - 12 (dice): reroll, -1FP!
Hazō, Rapport 14 + invoke "The Hokage Was My New Dad" (-1 FP) + invoke "Team Uplift" (-1 FP) + invoke "Head of Clan Gōketsu" (-1 FP) + tag "You're Giving Away the Store!" + 6 (dice): 28
Yasuji, Empathy: ? + invoke ? + invoke ? + ? (dice): ?
Yasuji does all the losing!
Yasuji, Empathy: ?
Ah, Yasuji. Such a spoiled little rich kid. You really need to work on learning that other people are important aside from what they can give you. Do that and then maybe you won't lose so badly when someone uses your selfishness against you.
Round 2, fight!
Mari, Maneuver to create the Aspect "You're Giving Away the Store!". Deceit: A lot.
She also signals that Hazō's got this and it's okay to send her out. She created the Aspect so she gets a tag; she passes the tag to Hazō.
Hazō, Rapport 14 + invoke "The Hokage Was My New Dad" (-1 FP) + invoke "Team Uplift" (-1 FP) + invoke "Head of Clan Gōketsu" (-1 FP) + tag "You're Giving Away the Store!" + 6 (dice): 28
Yasuji, Empathy: ? + invoke ? + invoke ? + ? (dice): ?
Yasuji does all the losing!
This update went from 1am on the 13th to 8pm on the 15th, as the negotiations took a couple of sessions and some back and forth. It is now about 8pm. You and Yasuji have hammered out a preliminary agreement and he's gone back to his quarters. The Gōketsu family is back together (including Keiko) and everyone has been read in on results of the negotiations. Mari is pleased with how it went.
The agreement still needs to be reviewed with Asuma, by which I mean that @Velorien and I only did a driveby review and would like a little more time with it. Please post comments on it, although we may or may not incorporate those comments into the final version. With all that said, the tentative proposal is in the next post. Asuma may require modifications or redactions and most of the details for the Wakahisa side are "specified in-universe but TBD by the QMs, suggestions welcome".
Vote time! What to do now?
Voting ends on Wednesday, June 10, 2020, at 12pm London time.
FP total: -4
- -1 (invoke "Lists and Plans")
- -1 (invoke "The Hokage Was My New Dad")
- -1 (invoke "Team Uplift")
- -1 (invoke "Head of Clan Gōketsu")
- -1 Rerolling a -12
- +1 Winning an important conflict
XP AWARD: 7
Bonus XP: 2 Thank you to @Oneiros for figuring out the in-game date for me.
Brevity XP: 0
Ami-style training XP: 0
"GM had fun" XP: +2
- +1 for scene: Asuma negotiation. This was fun because Hazō was doing high-stakes diplomancy. (High stakes because Asuma recently intended to have him executed, has not entirely gotten over that, and has the power to follow through. He's not looking for an excuse, but he's unlikely to be averse to one.)
-
+0+1 for scene: Yasuji negotiation.This is neither exciting nor annoyingI wasn't initially excited about this, but I came around and ended up having a lot of fun with it. It ended up being a good drama-based scene with Hazō and Mari being clever about tag-team negotiating. Thinking back, I note that I have enjoyed most negotiation scenes in the past, aside from the ones where Hazō was operating way out of his weight class. -
-1 (4 scenes total)+0 because the "-1 XP for each scene over 3" rule was previously unstated -
-2 (teenage romantic introspection)+0 because the "either do something active about your romance (e.g. a date), leave it to @Velorien because he adores that stuff, or eat a -2 XP penalty" rule was previously unstated. And yes, this applies simply for being in the plan even if I end up not writing it.
Author's Note: Yes, being net negative on XP is a thing that can happen. In fact, it has happened at least once; check the XP log or ask @faflec . Also, the "1XP/fun scene" thing is experimental. It could easily end up dominating the XP awards for short-time-period updates and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I might end up doing "capped at 1", "capped at N% of the base award", or some other alternative.
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- Location
- Yes.
All these chapters took place around the same time. Chronologically, Chapter 346 took place during Chapter 344 (as in, started and ended within 344's timeframe), 345 took place directly after 344, and 347 after 345.
| Date | Event Approx. Time | Event |
| April 12 | Ends at evening | Chapter 344: Interruptions |
| Chapter 346: A Meeting Long Overdue | ||
| Chapter 345: A Perilous Offer | ||
| Ends at 1AM | Chapter 347: In Which Hazō is a Polite and Delicate Negotiator |
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
The Gōketsu / Wakahisa deal
This is the preliminary deal worked out between Hazō and Yasuji. It still needs to be signed off by the Hokage and the Wakahisa Clan Head.The Wakahisa give:
- Intercession on Ami's behalf
- 3 barrels for Noburi, to be exchanged for fresh ones whenever they are destroyed / stop working.
- Training in how to make the requisite seals and physical components. Yasuji clearly believes that this information will only be useful to Noburi; he snorted and said "Knock yourself out" when Hazō asked him if he was worried that Hazō or Kagome might successfully reverse-engineer the seals.
- Annual maintenance on the barrels.
- 25 koi fish.
- Wakahisa aquaculture experts to come to the Gōketsu estate and direct the process of setting up an appropriate koi pond. All expenses will be borne by the Gōketsu.
- An ongoing Wakahisa aquaculturist presence (2-3 experts, plus a couple of bodyguards and some civilian staff. These people will be rotated periodically) in dedicated housing at the Gōketsu estate. These experts will be responsible for all care and feeding of the fish.
- Housing will be built and furnished to the experts' specifications but suitable for MEW construction and at a total cost of no more than R500,000.
- They will be given an appropriate budget (to be agreed on later) for fish food and related essentials, as well as room, board, and R50,000 / month / expert.
- All fish-related expertise will be kept concealed and remain the intellectual property of the Wakahisa clan except for the minimum necessary to allow the Gōketsu to make safe use of the fish. The experts will be allowed to take reasonable precautions to ensure this, so long as it does not endanger any Gōketsu.
- Assume basic "sane person" rules here. We're not getting too deep in the weeds with details but Hazō isn't an idiot and didn't make any utterly bone-headed mistakes in the terms. There might be something he missed but it's not blatantly obvious.
- Five non-combat jutsu (Specified in-universe but TBD by the QMs. Valuable but not obviously game changing. Suggestions welcome)
- Three non-combat seals (Ditto)
- A trade contract for <FOO> that will earn the Gōketsu approximately R10,000,000 / year. Hazō predicts that the contract will be of roughly equal positive value to both sides because arbitrage is awesome. (Again, suggestions welcome on what <FOO> is and other details.)
- Maps of the Eastern continent, plus some notes about its known cultures, individuals, etc. Yasuji was surprised at the request when Hazō threw it out there "on a whim" and he doesn't think that the Wakahisa have much, or very up-to-date stuff.
- Recipes of Mist, plus at the start of each month the Gōketsu can send a representative to pick up a bunch of Water Country spices and cooking ingredients. The representative will be met at the docks and not allowed onto Wakahisa grounds without specific one-time permission from the Clan Head. The supplies aren't special and cost only a few thousand ryō in Water Country but are substantially more valuable in Fire. They will be in small enough quantities that it's more a "feed 25-50 people/month a very expensive dinner" than "become ludicrously wealthy". Hazō asked for it only because it gives the Gōketsu an opportunity to be in Mist on a regular basis and therefore provides opportunities for espionage, visiting family, trade, etc.
The Gōketsu give:
- The Tobirama/Orochimaru process, jutsu, and 3 dozen seeds.
- Training in the following jutsu: (Yasuji failed to hide his uncertainty when asked if the Wakahisa currently had a ninja with the Earth Element; Hazō is not certain if that's because he doesn't know or didn't want to say.)
- MEW
- Earth Clone
- Hōzuki's Mantle jutsu
- 100 of each of the following seals, plus full research notes and research assistance for Wakahisa sealmasters to learn them:
- Air Dome
- Earth Dome
- Usamatsu's Glorious Life-Saving Purifier
- Jiraiya's Awesome Daybright Lantern
- Lesser Barrier Formation
- The first series of Jiraiya's pedagogical seals. (It's an 8-step series similar to the Chime series created by the Nara. He had several of these series but you're keeping the others and Asuma wouldn't have let you trade them anyway.)
- A trade contract for <BAR> that will probably earn the Gōketsu approximately R5,000,000 / year. Hazō isn't sure what value it will have for the Wakahisa, but it's probably similar. (Again, suggestions welcome on what <BAR> is and other details.)
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- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
With that specific item, yes.
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
I have three ideas right now, will come up with more later.
Water: Ice Sculpture Jutsu
Will make selective parts of a block of ice melt in order to form an ice sculpture. Precision is based on the level of the jutsu and the amount of time spent on it. Resulting ice is ordinary in every way and must be structurally sound if it is to stay intact. Ice can only be melted from the outside-in, as internal pockets cannot drain melted water. Design attempted is limited only by the user's imagination.
Water: Drying Jutsu
Safely evaporates all water clinging to or seeped into solid materials in this zone. Does not affect significant concentrations of water (like a full glass or a particularly deep puddle) or the insides insides of objects.
Wind: Repetition Jutsu
Initial phase lasts concentration, up to a minute. Any sound heard in that zone in the initial phase will be repeatedly recreated afterwards until the jutsu fades in a couple hours.
ClawClawBite
Mad Engineering!
- Location
- Seattle, WA
I thought we were giving them nothing to do with air mobility, or did I miss something in the prior negotiation?
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
Asuma is assuming Skywalkers are already lost as a secret, so all this does is decrease their chances of experiencing sealing failures while learning them. Hence it is something that seems more valuable than it is. Like the gold seeds.
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Likely based on Asuma prediction that Mist is already close to researching it.
Bit concerned that our FPs were used up. Especially since didn't realize beforehand that they could be used up if we didn't specify to. We should consider adding a short snippet like "don't use FP" in future plans by default, and removing them for specific plan where we wish to use them.
- Location
- The Void
- Pronouns
- She/Her
This was probably the best use of FP we will ever get. I trust Ej and Velorien to play fair with it
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
FP expenditure is fine if we don't get in a fight. We recover them relatively rapidly.
Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
@eaglejarl @Velorien
Could I get a threadmark for the Bowling Omake please?
Also, did the contest get cancelled since there was only one entry? Was kinda hoping to read more omakes myself. D:
Could I get a threadmark for the Bowling Omake please?
Also, did the contest get cancelled since there was only one entry? Was kinda hoping to read more omakes myself. D:
just a reminder that there's a conglomeration of seal ideas from way back when QMs requested it. dunno if there's many non-combat seals in it though.
25 koi = 25^2=625 chakra
equivalent to 2.5 hazou's of chakra. not sure how much noburi drains ninja.
in short term, i expect this to be helpful but not amazing.
longer term depends on how quickly these koi can breed. and i expect the wakahisa to subtly sabotage koi breeding.
foo and bar discussion. something that merchants can't easily buy/sell between mist/leaf. or for that matter, a leaf ninja in mist's markets.
edit:
unless they make a statement that they intend to play fair with it, i would feel a bit rude if i imposed such expectations on them.
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Tua
鸡肉面条汤
- Location
- شوربة الدجاج المعكرونة
Are 25 even a stable breeding population? IIRC they even eat each other if they get too close to each other.
And who knows if we'll even get an even male/female split.
If that is even how it works for fish. Or do we just need one male and the rest female?
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
A few more ideas:
Water: Water Skating Jutsu
A water construct forms into a thin blade (not sharp) along the user's feet from toe to heel. It can support the user and does not sink in water, and with ice skating movements allows for the user to move more quickly across water than chakra adhesion. Lasts hours. Doubles movement speed across water.
Lightning: Magnetic Attraction
The user points at an object made of metal and creates a strong magnetic pull towards the user. The pull is enough to accelerate the object towards the user relatively quickly in a straight line. The jutsu fails if the object is held, otherwise restrained, or has obstructed line of sight.
Water: Cloud Siphon
User pulls a nearby cloud down to the earth and condenses it into a stream of water pouring out of the sky. Takes a long time, 30m-1h, and requires an applicable cloud to work with, but clouds have a lot of water so it gets you pretty much as much as you could need.
Earth: Evidence Remover
An object placed on the ground in front of the user is swallowed up and sent very far down underground without a trace. Nobody is sure quite how far, but nobody's ever recovered something disposed of with this jutsu.
- Location
- floating away
Here are some jutsu ideas.
Water Element: Bubble-head Jutsu
Can be cast reflexively.
Requires "Apprentice Waterbender"
Produces a bubble around the head of the user, giving them a continuous supply of air for [Effect] minutes.
Air Element: Iron Lung Jutsu
Casting time [Level seconds] as the user inhales inhumanly deeply.
Allows the user to hold their breath for [Level] minutes.
Water Element: Rain Dance
Casting Time: 10 minutes
You take control of the weather within a radius of [Effect]*.5 miles, causing moderate rainfall within range.
Can be cast without a source of water, but at [Effect-3]
Water Element: Ideal Hydration
Casting Time: 1 minute
Requires "Apprentice Waterbender"
Hydrates or Dehydrates the target to the designers idea of "Perfectly Hydrated"
Safe on humans. Mostly used on those who frequently drink large quantities of wakahisa water in a short period of time.
Not safe to use on animals or chakra beasts.
Water Element: Island of Stability
Casting Time: 1 minute.
Requires a supplemental action to maintain each round.
Solidifies the water around and below the caster within a radius of [level] feet, allowing them and anybody near them to water walk without spending additional chakra. In addition, it creates a barrier against attacks from the depths below.
Water Element: Bubble-head Jutsu
Can be cast reflexively.
Requires "Apprentice Waterbender"
Produces a bubble around the head of the user, giving them a continuous supply of air for [Effect] minutes.
Air Element: Iron Lung Jutsu
Casting time [Level seconds] as the user inhales inhumanly deeply.
Allows the user to hold their breath for [Level] minutes.
Water Element: Rain Dance
Casting Time: 10 minutes
You take control of the weather within a radius of [Effect]*.5 miles, causing moderate rainfall within range.
Can be cast without a source of water, but at [Effect-3]
Water Element: Ideal Hydration
Casting Time: 1 minute
Requires "Apprentice Waterbender"
Hydrates or Dehydrates the target to the designers idea of "Perfectly Hydrated"
Safe on humans. Mostly used on those who frequently drink large quantities of wakahisa water in a short period of time.
Not safe to use on animals or chakra beasts.
Water Element: Island of Stability
Casting Time: 1 minute.
Requires a supplemental action to maintain each round.
Solidifies the water around and below the caster within a radius of [level] feet, allowing them and anybody near them to water walk without spending additional chakra. In addition, it creates a barrier against attacks from the depths below.
more trade thoughts:
We should get a few people to look over those sane person rules for any non-obvious stuff.
could add a koi provision of expected increase of population over time. and if the koi underperform wakahisa gives us healthy koi to make up. but if the koi overbreed than we give the extras back to wakahisa. this will incentivize the wakahisa attendants to increase koi fertility (even though they'll understate the expected growth rates).
could stipulate the seals we get should have full seal research notes and research assistance from wakahisa sealmasters to learn.
We should get a few people to look over those sane person rules for any non-obvious stuff.
could add a koi provision of expected increase of population over time. and if the koi underperform wakahisa gives us healthy koi to make up. but if the koi overbreed than we give the extras back to wakahisa. this will incentivize the wakahisa attendants to increase koi fertility (even though they'll understate the expected growth rates).
could stipulate the seals we get should have full seal research notes and research assistance from wakahisa sealmasters to learn.
- Location
- Potato land
So, in your update track, Hazou acting like a shounen main character literally accelerates his growth beyond what is normal? Somewhere out there, Kishimoto must be laughing.
On a more serious note, I think this is a great idea in principle, and that the results of incentivizing players to optimize plans for yours and Velorien's fun factor are going to be really funny, if nothing else.
- Location
- Yes.
...didn't Noburi drop those two Chashu ninja on the Sunset Racer? Weren't they Chunin?
- Location
- USA
- Pronouns
- He/Him
My bad. That was from an earlier draft and shouldn't have been there. It's been snipped.
Done.
We're still hoping to see a few more. *looks meaningfully at the crowd*
Oh for heaven's sake. Yes, we intend to play fair. To the best of our abilities, we play fair about everything.
*rolls eyes*
Pretty much, yeah.
Shh. That was from before the rules rewrite so it doesn't count. Also, see previous comments in the update about "slightly understating his abilities".
- Location
- The Maple Syrup Mountains
Additional info:
- Koi regenerate their chakra every 8-10 hours. This in essence means that we can get two charges per day, so 1250 chakra per day.
- FOOM starts with 225 chakra required per day, and scales up to a maximum of 975 CP/day.
- We hit 975 about a year in, during the skill column grind to support Resolve 60.
- If we go SC 40 earlier than that then we'll only need 450/day.
- With Hazou's CR 26, we can also draw on his natural regen to reduce the needed chakra from koi to 190 CP/day (715 with SC 30).
- After a year or so we presumably can have our koi breed and get whatever number we think is necessary.
- We can overshoot here and keep a few koi isolated from the main school so they don't increase food consumption much.
- If we ballpark ~200 CP/day/person after natural regen, we can support 6 FOOMs simultaneously.
- If we assume SC 30, we can support two FOOMs simultaneously, though not at full intensity at the end of the year when costs get too high.
- It's important to remember that we aren't all FOOMing at the same time. Hazou's primed for it, but Noburi can't learn Shadow Clone, Akane isn't cleared for it yet, and Keiko wasn't there for that meeting and I've heard some sentiment about keeping her away from it (not to mention she might have issues with her Shadow Clones). We don't know whether Kagome and Mari are interested, or whether we'd trust Haru enough for it. Costs are only really explosive for a few months at the end of the first year (before we get SC 40) so if people enter that phase at different times the burden won't be as large.
- As an example, if Akane is at Resolve 30 when Keiko is at Resolve 55 and Hazou is at Resolve 62, then Hazou will draw (450 - 260 =) 190 CP, Keiko will draw (925 - 270 =) 655 CP, and Akane will draw (425 - 300 =) 125 CP for a total draw of 970 CP/day, well within our margins.
- Also, at the end of the day if we're short ~100 CP we can just continue buying CP from Leaf-nin until we're out of the woods.
edit: I don't actually know if the CR/day costs in the spreadsheet assume use of natural regen or not. I assumed not, but if I'm wrong then the costs are significantly higher and dipping into the other options to mitigate problems will become more important.
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