I didn't get the implication from ROTP that the Oro debacle was what they were referring to. I thought it was more like twisting the Merchant Council to her will, which from my reading she enjoyed the hell out of.
no, i mean that the recent debacle with Oro plus her whole family (the only people in the world who she truly loves) continuously passing judgement on her past and current actions while she used to working away and having her sins be gone whit the dead, with only yagura truly knowing what she did (and yagura is not gonna pass moral judgment). has her stressed.
There is a reason she seduced(?) Ami in a heartbeat without consideration for Keiko as they both will keep that private.
she likes when her actions have no consequences as she can trade trust without actually losing any if no permanent damage is done.
Yes I'm sure that in the time we've been away they've done something as impressive as become a major political leader, acquire 3 summon scrolls, revolutionize warfare, gain a major new ally, find a way to gain massive amounts of xp, and get put in charge of containing entities on par with tailed beast.
This is rational fiction and they are trash compared to us
Yes I'm sure that in the time we've been away they've done something as impressive as become a major political leader, acquire 3 summon scrolls, revolutionize warfare, gain a major new ally, find a way to gain massive amounts of xp, and get put in charge of containing entities on par with tailed beast.
This is rational fiction and they are trash compared to us
I mean, I thought it was obvious that Downfall all had jōnin stats and had been spending the past year pushing towards elite and looking for S-rank shinies to round themselves out. I believe you've seen exactly one Downfall roll, and that was Shin getting beaten by a jōnin summon.
I mean, I thought it was obvious that Downfall all had jōnin stats and had been spending the past year pushing towards elite and looking for S-rank shinies to round themselves out. I believe you've seen exactly one Downfall roll, and that was Shin getting beaten by a jōnin summon.
Hazō cursed his own genius as he squeezed through an opening roughly the size of Captain Zabuza's mercy. He'd be fine once he was inside the tunnel proper, but whatever hack had created the Tunnel Excavation Technique had apparently never heard of stealth, and felt that two metres was the ideal diameter for every tunnel ever. He was pretty sure he hadn't been detected while digging the entryway manually (most people clearly thought it crazy to venture into a pitch-dark hedge maze in an event filled with hostile ninja), but it had still been a thoroughly miserable experience. He hoped Keiko and Noburi were going to be suitably grateful when it was their turn.
The inside was in perfect darkness, which had the advantage of concealment in case anyone thought to look more closely at this perfectly innocent animal den (not that anybody would be doing so at 3 am), as well as a measure of protection in case they somehow figured out his trick anyway and came down here while his disguise was off. It wasn't exactly comfortable, being blind in hostile terrain, but on the other hand—
A familiar sensation against his ankle.
It might have been the blindness honing his other senses. It might have been missing-nin paranoia refined and heightened by the teachings of Kagome-sensei. It might have been pure dumb luck. Either way, Hazō heard the whistling of the incoming missile, and dropped flat to the ground, before he'd even consciously processed that he'd triggered a tripwire.
How was there a tripwire in his tunnel, which was only a few hours old and with an entrance whose disguise would fool anything short of a real fox?
If there was one, there could be others. The tunnel was compromised. He'd have to very carefully make his way out and go warn Keiko and Noburi. Hazō got up and slowly began to move—
No, he didn't. There was something, some sticky, tar-like substance, slathered all over the ground exactly where somebody might drop after hearing an incoming missile from an unknown direction. It clung to his arms and upper body, holding him in place.
Still, to someone who'd experimented with Goo Bombs, this barely qualified as an impediment. With sufficient strength and a bit of leverage, and his legs largely unaffected…
Hazō froze as he heard another unmistakable sound. Someone was crawling into the tunnel after him.
Hazō unfroze. This wasn't something he could hide from. Instead, he struggled with renewed vigour. Just another couple of seconds, and he was sure he could at least—
A hand pushed down on the small of his back, thrusting him back down into the tar. A strong, wet hand.
Hazō tried to twist away, to dislodge the attacker long enough to free himself.
It didn't work. The hand kept pressing down, its touch draining his life-force and robbing more strength from his muscles with every second.
Finally, Hazō stopped struggling and fell into an even deeper darkness.
-o-
Noburi had teamed up with the enemy to kill Hazō.
That was how it felt.
If he'd created a distraction to get rid of the Maze Runners' Competition instead of waiting…
If he'd found the damn tunnel entrance himself…
If he hadn't spent so long looking for Hazō before giving up...
If he'd taken Uji the Pimp's first offer for Team Kurenai's identities, and Hinata's first offer for finding Hazō, instead of wasting time bargaining…
If he'd done even a single thing right, Hazō might still be alive.
Noburi also wouldn't be in mortal danger himself.
"Wake up, you bastard," he muttered despondently. "I didn't waste all my chakra water on you so you could just lie there and leave me to clean up your mess. Wake up, Hazō. Please wake up."
But the next sound Noburi heard was nothing human. It was a horrific, unnatural "shlurp", the kind only a chakra beast—or a summon—could possibly make. Suddenly, the list of suspects for Hazō's death began to widen.
Noburi leapt back, nearly slamming into the wall of the air dome. No chakra. No room to manoeuvre. Precious little light. But if he was going to join Hazō, he'd sure as hell take their killer with him.
The expected assault never came. Instead, Noburi heard a voice.
"Where am I?" it asked dazedly.
"Hazō?!"
"Mmm," Hazō said vaguely. "I can hardly see anything, my head is killing me, and I'm on the floor covered in something sticky. Mari-sensei said there'd be mornings like this."
Noburi sagged in relief. "What the hell, Hazō? If my chakra water really did heal you up, why'd you keep playing dead?"
"I woke up in the dark with my last memory being of someone attacking me. How was I supposed to know if it was safe to move until I heard you speak?"
Noburi rolled his eyes. "Now he learns how to keep secrets.
"Well, the fun's not over yet," he warned as he helped Hazō out of the tar-like gloop. "There's a reason we're in an air dome."
"We're in an air dome?"
"Yes, Hazō, that's what I just said."
"Why are we in an air dome?"
"Because there's been an explosion, the entrance is completely gone, and since I'm not a miner, for all I know this tunnel is about to come down on our heads any second."
Noburi lifted the torch from where he'd stuck it in the ground while inspecting Hazō.
"Now would be a really good time for a contingency plan."
Hazō checks if he's being followed to the maze (first time):
Hazō (Alertness): 30 + 6 = 36
Hazō doesn't notice anyone.
Hazō checks if he's being followed to the maze (second time):
Hazō (Alertness): 30 + 0 = 30
Hazō doesn't notice anyone.
Does Hazō notice the tripwire trap?
Hazō (Alertness) 30 + 6 - 10 (total darkness penalty) = 26 vs TN ?
Hazō does not notice the tripwire trap.
Can Hazō break out of the tar-like substance in time?
Hazō (Physique): 20 + 9 = 29 vs TN ?
Hazō can't break out in time.
Can Noburi identify Hazō's condition?
Noburi (Medical Knowledge): 12 + 9 - 5 (poor lighting penalty) = 16 vs TN 10
Noburi recognises Hazō as being completely chakra-drained.
Strictly speaking, no members of Team Downfall are stated to have been involved there. That said, even if they were, Hazō failed every roll, so it doesn't do much against "Team Downfall have jōnin stats".
Edit: In fact, there are no Team Downfall rolls listed. Just a trap with an unspecified TN.
Strictly speaking, no members of Team Downfall are stated to have been involved there. That said, even if they were, Hazō failed every roll, so it doesn't do much against "Team Downfall have jōnin stats".
Edit: In fact, there are no Team Downfall rolls listed. Just a trap with an unspecified TN.
"You can believe what you want," Hazō said calmly after a second. "It doesn't change the fact that we won."
"Spectacularly," Kurosawa agreed. "I knew I was right to let you keep your word half."
Hazō's calm disappeared. "So it was you!"
"It didn't expect it work out how I expected, to say the least," Kurosawa mused, ignoring him, "but this way has its advantages. Getting into the tournament is a shot at worldwide glory, but it can also end your career if you embarrass your village badly enough in front of the entire world. Or get mangled by an over-eager opponent. On the other hand, after what you did to the Fifth Event, Command is sure to discount that whole clusterfuck for internal purposes, leaving us with a massive score and a guaranteed risk-free promotion. There are worse things in this world."
I didn't get the implication from ROTP that the Oro debacle was what they were referring to. I thought it was more like twisting the Merchant Council to her will, which from my reading she enjoyed the hell out of.
She also meets with the wives of various clan heads to keep the Goketsu in good standing, is training a spy network for the Goketsu, is training Haru to be her lieutenant, on top of her manipulations of the estate ninja to keep them loyal.
Further, I'd argue that you can enjoy the hell out of your job while still becoming burned out by it. There's a reason why soldiers aren't deployed 24/7 irl, and Mari's been either on-the-clock or on-call since Team Uplift joined Leaf.
Then, when you add on Kei (her adoptive daughter, her redemption-fixation, her "this was/could have been me, so let's work to help Kei") turning her back to Mari, Hazou needing a dedicated Hazou-wrangler, Kagome needing a minder to ensure he doesn't blow up Leaf (though admittedly less than when we first joined), never having a chance to grieve Jiraiya, or simply not knowing how to do so (as per Akane), in addition to everything else Mari is likely doing off-screen for the Goketsu that HDK about?
Frankly, it's amazing Mari is as stable as she is.
The third event, the mansion one, mist petyness l really pissed off the hive mind. So we put down the baby gloves and unleashed "the team that won at being a kissing nin" and a bunch of genins.
(Aka the base defense event)
I have had a cheering thought. As FOOM advances, the number of problems that cannot be solved with a single punch or badass speech approaches zero... except for romance problems. It is therefore logically inevitable that the quest will become dominated by romance, to a limit of 100% when Hazō achieves functional godhood.
I have had a cheering thought. As FOOM advances, the number of problems that cannot be solved with a single punch or badass speech approaches zero... except for romance problems. It is therefore logically inevitable that the quest will become dominated by romance, to a limit of 100% when Hazō achieves functional godhood.
I have had a cheering thought. As FOOM advances, the number of problems that cannot be solved with a single punch or badass speech approaches zero... except for romance problems. It is therefore logically inevitable that the quest will become dominated by romance, to a limit of 100% when Hazō achieves functional godhood.
Incorrect, since Uplift may scale infinitely but they can always fight each other. Thus the combat will scale infinitely, not unlike it does in OG Naruto with Sasuke and his rivalry with Naruto. And the best part is we're already off to a great start!
Incorrect, since Uplift may scale infinitely but they can always fight each other. Thus the combat will scale infinitely, not unlike it does in OG Naruto with Sasuke and his rivalry with Naruto. And the best part is we're already off to a great start!
Counterpoint: rolls are not made against other party members by default. Uplift are the only people who can't fight each other (unless they leave the team or schedule a formal duel).
Counterpoint: rolls are not made against other party members by default. Uplift are the only people who can't fight each other (unless they leave the team or schedule a formal duel).
