Have a chapter where Hazou "unbottles" all the recent trauma that he's been repressing in favor of supporting Akane
Help out with Snowflake's desired experiment (the one she mentioned wanting to conduct once they were all back in Leaf)
Poke Ami and work towards their desired reconsciliation (meta: social spec feels guilty, wants to make amends, and is questioning the quasi-Heartbreaker route she's taken. Makes Ami suscpetible to Hazou's non-jonin Aura of Friendliness and Compassion)
Not a fan of these but in sort of vague undefined ways. Would be willing to support if the plan contained other things I was interested but probably wouldn't vote for otherwise
Cast Earthshaping on an Earth Clone to see what possible interactions there are. We might be able to harden an Earth Clone's skin into Pangolin-like scales.
Devour Minato's Bijuu Notes for POWER
Give samples to Kabuto to give to Orochimaru, receive ???
Def not a fan of spending XP on vague mystery box power ups so will 100% oppose Earthshaping. Shoring up socials or basic combat stats would have a much bigger immediate impact and be the only thing I'd be willing to support spending non resolve or lootbox xp on
higher sealing def worth doing though since we literally have free XP in the notes
Strongly opposed to this. Mednin has crazy low payouts at lower levels. Maybe after we reach detour one and grind through all of the sealing notes but I would still be against it
Just realized you said branch family so zero interest but not opposed
Sealing notes, find out if Noda is still alive. Catch up with the Aburame and maybe check in on Kiba, too. (they'd both have insights into Hinata, as well...)
We could also stay in Leaf and just send a more combat-oriented party out. Hazou isn't exactly the best at combat, so he could be swapped for one of the other Goketsu chunnin.
Below is my proposed plan (barring anything immediately pressing happening during today's update). Word count is unoptimized, but this is the general content I'm thinking about...
[] Returned to Home and Hearth, the Bottled Bile Begins to Break
Words: tbd
Rest, recover, talk to Mari about killing the kids
No good options, and we couldn't just let them go. Orders are orders, and opsec is opsec.
We couldn't think of anything. It's our job to think of things outside the box. We came up with the Force Wall Netting, with the clinic, with GED, with the Food Bank, with Skyslicers, and even the Zoo Rush.
Why couldn't we think of anything here?
We told the genin to head for the Rift Site, but who knows if the afterlife's landscape is a perfect reflection of the Human Path, if they can orient themselves well enough to travel, or if they can somehow manage to cross the sea to get there?
We've been repressing it since it happened.
Akane needed our support, and afterwards, we were still in the field. We were the mission leader; we couldn't dwell on the order we gave.
Then, Snowflake deserved a Goketsu-style mission that didn't involve child-murder, and she ended up absent for half of it because of course there was a murderous crystal mind commanding chakra beasts and summoning golems.
Administrative Work [can be offscreened and summarized as an A/N if QM spoons require]
Sanity Check with Mari
Assign other Clan Roles [will link to separate post later on]
Mari
How's the growth of your spynetwork going?
[If Mai doesn't want to learn a new element] Would Mai learning THing give her a sense of control over the thing that hurt her? Would she be more open to that? What does she want to specialize in?
If Atomu wanted to become a social spec, would you be willing to train him? We think he'd make a good Goketsu Ambassador.
Atomu was one of the Cabin Leaders during the immediate aftermath of the Collapse, is charismatic enough, seems to treat his daughter well, and is a likeable guy.
Also sends a solid Goketsu Political Statement: Crippled ninja are not worthless, and anyone who refuses to meet with Atomu isn't someone we'd want to ally with or empower.
[Still thinking on, as per MS's points. Might remove] Take the mission samples to Kabuto, negotiate rewards
Goal: More Biosealing Journals, have Kabuto teach us biosealing, and/or whatever else Mari can finagle
Clan Edict:
Have every non-Uplift/Branch Family Goketu learn Medic jutsu/know up to 20 (to help out at the Goketsu Clinic and Leaf's Hospital)
Noburi trains them?
Exemptions...
Atomu (due to missing fingers)
Mai (if busy learning new element, or THing?)
Kagome: Can we make Medical Knowledge part of the GED curriculum?
Optional classes, with incentives?
Intent is to help Goketsu Civilians secure jobs at Leaf Hospital, and to further improve quality of Goketsu Clinic.
Put Atomu in charge of Saltern Project.
[possible idea to help keep our promise to Atomu regarding MEW] Sealing Project: AtoMEW
Does Hazou-pilot think he can take Jiraiya's Pillar Seals, and turn them into something recognizably MEW-esque? If so, research Pillar Seals.
Well I think there's space between "backburner for 100 chapters" and "leave immediately". Frankly, we could go do a couple of research projects before leaving again. But my point is that we'd be leaving sooner rather than later.
My personal preference is a research to improve chakdar seals into something with actual mechanical effects. They are currently useless, the seal description says they boost Alertness and improve initiative but they don't actually do that. We currently struggle a lot with winning initiative in combat. Since the first person on Team Uplift triggers MARS, winning initiative is a critical part of our fighting style. An initiative-boosting seal could make the difference between total victory and a dead teammate.
My personal preference is a research to improve chakdar seals into something with actual mechanical effects. They are currently useless, the seal description says they boost Alertness and improve initiative but they don't actually do that. We currently struggle a lot with winning initiative in combat. Since the first person on Team Uplift triggers MARS, winning initiative is a critical part of our fighting style. An initiative-boosting seal could make the difference between total victory and a dead teammate.
The team was barely through the gates of Leaf, ten minutes from home and the bath and food that they all desperately needed after the long run back from Honey. They had been up at dawn and run all day, the rhythm of the road pounding in their feet, the flow of muscles and steady thump of hearts washing away the world and letting them move in a silent state of zen. The first words of the day were thus even more shocking than they otherwise would have been.
"You were wrong, Kei," Hazō said.
Kei turned to look at her brother, one eyebrow raised in incipient offense. "Oh?"
"Yes," Hazō said. He pointed with his chin. "No adventure is complete until the heroes return home and see how things have changed in their absence. This is the very definition of a Gōketsu adventure."
The target of his gesture was a troupe of players busking at the edge of the Uzumaki Square market, atop a collection of wooden pallets that served as a rude stage. The barker and one other stood on the stage proper while two others stood behind it, holding up a bedsheet between them to serve as a curtain. From this angle, Hazō could see several people kneeling behind the curtain.
"Gather, one and all!" cried the barker. "Gather, for the tale of The Mighty Jiraiya's Mighty Torch and the clan that sprang forth from it! Gather ye, gather ye!"
The barker was a boy, perhaps eleven or twelve, whose voice hadn't broken yet. He was animated, bouncing around the stage with wide gestures. Shoppers and passersby were caught up in his excitement and began to drift over.
At the back of the stage, waiting solemnly, stood 'the Mighty Jiraiya', eyes front and staring into the infinite distance as though his mind flew far beyond the mortal world. The player in question was probably the troupe's leader, a man in his thirties, but with the makeup that stage tradition used to suggest age—a dusting of flour in the hair and a few streaks of brown makeup across the forehead that sufficient imagination could perceive as wrinkles. The man's natural hair color was a mediocre brown and his hair was short, nothing like the enormous white mane that Jiraiya had cultivated. He had at least managed to find a haori that looked something like what Jiraiya wore most of the time, and he had streaked red paint across his cheeks the way Jiraiya had. A rolled-up blanket was strapped to his back, simulating the Toad Summoning Scroll. It was actually an excellent costume for a street player; many of them simply hung a sign around their necks that gave the name of their character.
'The Mighty Jiraiya' was holding a torch and holding it suggestively, one end clamped between his thighs and one hand holding it out at an angle so that he looked like he had a three-foot dong the end of which was on fire.
A sufficient crowd had gathered, so the barker commenced.
"The Mighty Jiraiya! Hero of the age! Protector of the Leaf! Imbued with the Will of Fire!"
The Mighty Jiraiya's player hopped forward, throwing a 'taijutsu' kick that would have driven Academy instructors to drink, then plucking the torch forth from its resting place and smiting an imaginary foe over the head with a loud HYYAAAA before tucking it back and waggling his hips slightly.
"For decades, The Mighty Jiraiya slew like a storm, crushing every foe that dared raise hand or eye to Leaf! The Will of Fire draped his body in power, granting him strength and virility beyond normal men!"
'Jiraiya' went into a series of furious spins and 'taijutsu' attacks. The torch shifted from place to place, being held close to the body during a spin so as to suggest a cloak of flame, smiting down on imaginary foes, and then resuming its suggestive placement.
"At last, after decades of glorious service, The Mighty Jiraiya met his true love!"
A teenage boy came running up onto the stage. He wore a linen shirt tucked into a hakama belted tight around his waist. A pair of rolled-up blankets were shoved into the shirt to simulate enormous breasts. A poor-quality wig trailed red strings down to his ankles. His face was painted white with ruby-red lips.
"The only woman fit for Leaf's hero! The Shadowed Death, the Mind Blade, the Kindly One...Lady Firehair!"
The crowd went wild as 'Mari' threw a high kick, spun, kicked over into a handspring, and then twirled into a modified Tree Pose with one hand above 'her' head and the other curved gracefully in front of her. Hazō had no idea what this was supposed to be...a taijutsu guard stance? An implication of seduction? The crowd was woo- and aiayai-ing so clearly it worked for them.
"Born to foreigners, yet still Lady Firehair burned with the Will of Fire!"
'Mari' spun in place, taking a torch from one of the stage hands and returning to her modified Tree Pose, except now her left hand held the torch in front of her. It was a few inches shorter than the one that 'Jiraiya' carried, but still looked oversized on the actor's shorter body.
"So empowered by the Will of Fire was she that she threw off the yoke of the foreign oppressors and hastened to Leaf!"
'Mari' surged, arching her back and expanding her shoulders as though throwing off a weight. She 'raced' around the tiny stage with the mincing steps of a stage performer trying to suggest distance traveled...and then she halted when her eyes met those of the ersatz Jiraiya.
'Jiraiya' had been allowing his Will of Fire to descend until it was straight out in front of him. At the sight of 'Mari' his eyes went wide. He turned his head to face the audience and dropped his jaw, then wiggled his eyebrows furiously as he raised the Will of Fire back up to a sharp angle.
"And thus the two came together!"
'Mari' and 'Jiraiya' raced towards one another, spinning around in what was actually a reasonably good series of mirrored irimi/tenkan pairs. They closed the distance, free hands tightening in each other's jackets so that they could stick together as they spun, faster and faster, the torches on opposite sides so that they were encircled in a pretended trail of fire. They spun for two seconds, then halted, 'Mari' arched backwards and 'Jiraiya bent over her.
"Lady Firehair and Lord Jiraiya fought and loved—"
Both players turned towards the audience and smiled suggestively, nodding until the audience cracked up.
"—until at last it was time to seek an heir!"
The two players moved apart and a pair of stagehands dressed in the black clothes that meant 'I am not here' stepped up behind them and raised a sheet, blocking off the view. They shook it for a moment, then dropped it to the stage.
Thus revealed was another teenage player. He was unimpressive; a weak chin, no proper musculature, a rumpled jacket, and messy hair.
"Mother, Father!" he said, his voice shrill.
"My...son!" 'Jiraiya' said, starting off uncertain and then forcing heartiness into his voice. He cheated out so as to keep the torch away from his fellow players and their probably-flammable costumes. He clapped his free hand on Son's shoulder and squeezed. Son winced and then plastered a pained smile on his face.
"Son," 'Jiraiya' said, "someday, I will be gone." He turned, looping his left arm around Son's shoulders and gesturing with the torch in his right to direct the eye to the horizon. "I will be gone and you will have to take my place."
"Of course, Father! I'm very anxious to rule the clan!"
"I'm sure you are, Son, I'm sure you are." 'Jiraiya' clapped Son on the shoulder again. "Now, it's a tremendous responsibility, running one of the Great Clans!"
"I know, Father!" Son reached towards the torch that 'Jiraiya' held in his free hand, only to miss when 'Jiraiya' gestured with it.
"All right then. Now, I am one of the greatest heroes Leaf has ever produced, so you're going to have to work hard to measure up to me."
"I know, Father!" Son piped in his barely-less-than-falsetto voice. "I will! I'll work so very hard to make you proud, Father! I'll learn ninja-ing and, um, books, and, um..."
"Don't you worry, Son," 'Jiraiya' said, patting him on the head. Son reached for Jiraiya's torch again, only to miss when 'Jiraiya' reached forward to tap 'Mari' gently on the forehead with it. "Your mother is brilliant, and skilled at everything. She is a mistress of every art a ruler could need. She will support you. With her at your side, you will have no trouble. Just listen to what she says and you'll do fine."
"I will, Father!"
Son started to stealthily reach for Jiraiya's torch again, but then all three players froze in place.
The barker stepped forward, his young voice now somber. "And then came tragedy. Against all odds, the Mighty Jiraiya fell in battle."
'Jiraiya' whirled suddenly into furious action, shouting and kicking, spinning and thrusting his torch to and fro, smashing aside imagined enemies...and then jerking as something struck him in the back. He stutter-stepped once, caught his balance, spun and swung his torch to demolish whatever invisible enemy had struck him. He beat it to the ground with several hard strikes, then crushed it with one stamp of his heel, then slowly collapsed in on himself as he crumpled to a knee. He froze there for long seconds, then stood, shifting back to a neutral stance, with his torch still at his feet. He turned to the audience and surveyed them with a weighty gaze. What he saw seemed to please him because he smiled very slightly, and then he turned and walked slowly off the stage. One of the black-clad stage hands retrieved the torch from where it lay and trailed it along in 'Jiraiya's wake as though the Will of Fire were escorting him off to the Pure Lands. Actor, stage hand, and torch disappeared behind the curtain.
Moments later, 'Mari' and Son left the stage, moving calmly off to stage left and right respectively before curving back around to hide behind the curtain.
"And thus began a new chapter in the life of The Mighty Jiraiya's family," the barker said, a smile breaking out on his face.
Son entered from stage right, a stack of papers in one hand. "Mommm!" he shouted.
'Mari' entered from stage left. "Yes, Son?"
"These are the new sales figures from my board games!" Son said, waving the papers. "Take a look."
Mari took them from him and studied them for a moment without turning them around. She flipped a page over, skimmed down, then tidied the stack, turned it around, and handed it back to Son.
"Those are indeed the sales figures from your board game idea," she said. "It was a very clever one too."
Son preened. Both of them froze and Son turned his head to the audience, smugged, then turned back. "It was, wasn't it? The civilians really like them!"
"They sure do, Son. And that food bank that you thought up, the one with the seals? That's valuable too!"
"I know, right? The civilians are eating way better."
"They sure are, Son. Speaking of good ideas, have you been working on your ninja skills?"
"Oh, uh, yeah. Yeah! Absolutely. You know me, mom. I train super hard, just like every ninja."
'Mari' smiled and patted him on the shoulder. "You certainly do, Son. You certainly do. So, on a completely different topic, how are things with Lady Yamanaka? My beloved Jiraiya went to a lot of trouble to get Lady Yamanaka's father to pledge you two."
Another player stepped up at stage left, another teenage boy dressed as a woman, this one with a long blonde wig on. In 'her' hand was a torch, slightly smaller than the ones that 'Jiraiya' and 'Mari' had carried. At stage right came another 'girl', this one dressed in all green with short brown hair.
"Is that supposed to be—" Akane began.
"Yes," Hazō said. "Pretty sure."
"But—"
Without looking away from the stage, he reached out and stroked her hair. "Welcome to public life," he murmured.
Up on stage, the action had proceeded. 'Mari' had exited and Son and 'Lady Yamanaka' were speaking.
"I am pleased to become your fiancée," 'Lady Yamanaka' said with a demure bow of her head and dip of the knees that would never, ever, ever be performed by Yamanaka Ino, not even as a birthday present for her boyfriend. "My clan is honored to unite with the blood of The Mighty Jiraiya, and our union will be a great thing for your clan. It will provide the connections to Leaf that your clan, so new in Leaf's service, are still developing." 'She' inched up closer, swaying in a teenage boy's best attempt at female seductiveness. "I hope it will also be great in other ways."
"Yeah," Son said, giving 'Lady Yamanaka' a thorough up-and-down look. "Yeah, very great." He embraced her and leaned in for a kiss; 'Lady Yamanaka' arched back, eyes closed and lips overly pursed in stage-style kissing pose.
Two inches from completing the kiss, Son suddenly looked up and caught sight of the 'girl' in the green outfit, who was currently training in a form of hard-style taijutsu that had been created by a blind person who had never had hard-style taijutsu described to them. He froze, staring in fascination, completely forgetting about the 'woman' in his arms.
The pose held for a slow count of five. The first titter escaped the audience at three. At four, several people started laughing. At five, 'Lady Yamanaka' opened one eye, cleared her throat loudly, and closed it again. The audience broke up.
"Huh? Oh, right!" Son said. He dipped forward, miming a flurry of kisses across his betrothed's face with a noisy "mwah mwah mwah mwah mwah!" The audience continued to laugh.
Son stepped back from 'Lady Yamanaka', who seemed a bit flustered as she fixed her hair. Behind her, the girl in green stepped off the stage and continued performing her wince-inducing 'kata' as she moved away and towards the curtain.
"This was great," Son said to his supposed betrothed. "Definitely great. Let's totally do it again tomorrow, okay?"
'Lady Yamanaka' blinked several times. "Yes. Of course. That will be lovely. I shall look forward to it, my betrothed."
"Cooool," Son said, flashing her two thumbs up. "See you then!"
He turned away and waved towards the girl in green just as she vanished behind the curtain. "Hey! Hey, you! What's your name?!" he shouted as he ran (minced) across the stage, exiting stage left as 'Lady Yamanaka' fled to stage right and looped back around behind the curtain.
The audience was already applauding when the stage hands dropped the curtain and the players came back onstage to take their bows while the barker went around with upturned hat, into which showered one- and five- and even a few ten-ryō pieces.
"I agree with you, Hazō," Kei said. "No proper Gōketsu adventure is complete without mind-shattering events awaiting us immediately upon, or at least very shortly after, entering the city gates."
Akane snorted. "We are going home now," she announced. "We are going to say hello to everyone, then bathe, then eat. And then, Hazō, you and I are going over to Ino's estate and tell her all about this travesty so that the three of us can laugh hysterically."
Author's Note: You spoke with Mari about things.
Appointing Yuno as Clan Warleader: Yuno has little to no experience of fighting as part of a team but she has excellent tactical instincts. Mari will work with her on integrating other people into her actions and work up from there. She says it's a good idea to have someone in the role and helping Yuno figure it out sounds like fun
(EDIT: You were unable to speak to Mai.) You suggest to Mai that she should learn a new element with the aid of Jiraiya's notes. She says 'yes sir' and goes off to check the notes
Gaku has several assistants already and is in good shape
You ask Mari and Gaku to look around for someone in the clan who is willing to learn technique hacking. They'll get back to you
Not sure what's up with adoptions but Hazō does the sensible things to progress it if possible
XP AWARD: 15 It took you 4 days to get home. I'm not sure if you ran like the wind or crawled like a dawdling tortoise, but that's how long you took.
Brevity XP: 4
"GM had fun" XP: 4 I watched the play in my head and then tried to capture it on the page. Not sure I managed, but the version I saw was hilarious.
[x] Returned to Home and Hearth, the Bottled Bile Begins to Break
Words: 284
Rest, recover, talk to Mari about Neck
No good options, we couldn't just let them go. Orders are orders, and opsec is opsec.
We couldn't think of anything.
It's our job to think of things.
We've come up some genius ideas... why couldn't we do that, then?
We've been repressing it all, since it happened.
Akane needed our support, and afterwards, we were still in the field. We were the mission leader; we couldn't dwell on it.
Then, Snowflake deserved a Goketsu-style mission that didn't involve child-murder, but ended up absent for half of it because of course there was a murderous crystal intelligence.
Administrative Work [can be offscreened for QM spoons]
Sanity Check/Optimize with Mari
Mari
How's your spy network going?
Could Atomu be an effective Diplomat, and handle the unique stressors it would bring to him, specifically?
Atomu was a Cabin Leader after the Collapse, and is likeable.
Sends a Firm Statement: Crippled ninja are not worthless.
Besides, anyone who refuses to meet with Atomu isn't someone we'd want to ally/empower.
Does Hazou-pilot think he can take Jiraiya's Pillar Seals, and turn them into something recognizably MEW-esque? (i.e. "Throws up a permanent Granite Wall")
Why research something only good for long-term Uplift when we are going to be actively going back (or sending our people) into hostile territory in the near future? We should research chakdar into something combat capable. Save the Pillar seal upgrade for another day.
[x] Returned to Home and Hearth, A Wild Snowflake Appears
Words: 284
Snowflake
How was your Goketsu-style adventure? Sorry about the Cave's intelligence ruining our plans.
Jokingly hand her a post-mission survey.
Thank her for her comforting shoulder-touch after the execution.
We know she's not great with physical touch, but the fact that she went out of her comfort zone to provide us comfort means a lot.
If Kei is present, thank Kei too. If not, then thank Kei when we see her next.
Now, you mentioned something about running an experiment, once we were back home? We're always happy to help with anything you need, just tell us what you want us to do.
Administrative Work [can be offscreened for QM spoons]
Sanity Check/Optimize with Mari
Mari
How's your spy network going?
Could Atomu be an effective Diplomat, and handle the unique stressors it would bring to him, specifically?
Atomu was a Cabin Leader after the Collapse, and is likeable.
Sends a Firm Statement: Crippled ninja are not worthless.
Besides, anyone who refuses to meet with Atomu isn't someone we'd want to ally/empower.
Why research something only good for long-term Uplift when we are going to be actively going back (or sending our people) into hostile territory in the near future? We should research chakdar into something combat capable. Save the Pillar seal upgrade for another day.
Because a new version of Chakdar is going to take longer than we might want to stay in Leaf. After all, my understanding of things is that we're going to be in Leaf for ~a week or two in order to get some R&R, restock our supplies, and pass training plans to boost our stats.
Pillar Seal is described as a genin-level seal, and even if Hazou can't learn it in a single moment (like he did HOWS), then I don't foresee the entire endeavor taking more than a week. It's a genin-level seal, and the adjustments to turn it into AtoMEW are minor (produce "pillar" -> produce "wall").
Because a new version of Chakdar is going to take longer than we might want to stay in Leaf. After all, my understanding of things is that we're going to be in Leaf for ~a week or two in order to get some R&R, restock our supplies, and pass training plans to boost our stats.
Pillar Seal is described as a genin-level seal, and even if Hazou can't learn it in a single moment (like he did HOWS), then I don't foresee the entire endeavor taking more than a week. It's a genin-level seal, and the adjustments to turn it into AtoMEW are minor (produce "pillar" -> produce "wall").
It's been an extremely long time since I've given out "made me laugh" XP, and I'm not sure if I've ever done it based on something said in Discord, but then RandomOTP said this about Yoshida, the clan head from Isan who has been trading letter with Kagome:
Yoshida: "You're telling me that smart bearded man, who's good with kids, who's a good teacher, and loyal to his family, is now also a Summoner? Get the fuck out of my way everyone, Momma's got some hunting to do!"
+1 XP and all the kudos to you, good person. Thank you for the belly laugh.
I mean... I kind of want to spend some time researching more seals than that. And y'know, being a clan head. And teaching Harumitsu. All responsibilities we've ignored for the past two months.
It took Hazou a long while to research Chakdar in its base form, whereas the Pillar seal is explicitly stated to be a genin-level seal. I'm basing the timetable on the other genin-level seal we've seen recently (HOWS) and tacking on an extra 7-14 days, just to be safe.
Sure, the numbers might be wrong, but even in the abstract, a modified Chakdar is going to take longer than AtoMEW.
Ah, but you see: Hazou promised Atomu a way to cast MEW. A seal isn't exactly the same thing, but it's within our abilities and it keeps Hazou's promise. Thematically, since those action plans have Hazou clarify to Mai that he wasn't ordering her to pick up a new element, and reaffirms her agency with regard to her own build, it would parallel Hazou keeping his promise to Atomu.
Sure, there are other seals that could be churned out. And I want to get to those seals. But Hazou made Atomu a promise, and I want to see it through.
And if we stay in Leaf for longer than a week or two (as @Cariyaga suggests), then there'll be time to work on other seals, along the same vein as you're suggesting.
It's been an extremely long time since I've given out "made me laugh" XP, and I'm not sure if I've ever done it based on something said in Discord, but then RandomOTP said this about Yoshida, the clan head from Isan who has been trading letter with Kagome:
Yoshida: "You're telling me that smart bearded man, who's good with kids, who's a good teacher, and loyal to his family, is now also a Summoner? Get the fuck out of my way everyone, Momma's got some hunting to do!"
+1 XP and all the kudos to you, good person. Thank you for the belly laugh.
But yeah, not to mention Kagome can be stunningly insightful and compassionate at times. The way he gave Honoka that jacket, in the middle of the street, during that one winter? Any single lady looking at him in that moment would have swooned. Kagome is a lady-killer, and since he's been able to interact with Yoshida through the barrier of letters (meaning less social anxiety, less panic, more time to think out his words), she gets to see closer to the True Kagome than anyone else.
Well, except maybe Mari, but she's a bullshit social spec jonin.
I mean... I kind of want to spend some time researching more seals than that. And y'know, being a clan head. And teaching Harumitsu. All responsibilities we've ignored for the past two months.
I'd be okay with that, but I also know that a lot of the playerbase wants to return quickly.
I figure my plan draws a decent balance between the two. It's only 1 day, and it offscreens a lot of boring-but-necessary paperwork. I believe that off-screening these things are better than devoting entire updates to "Hey, let's have a meeting about Project Updates and Paperwork Stuff."
It took Hazou a long while to research Chakdar in its base form, whereas the Pillar seal is explicitly stated to be a genin-level seal. I'm basing the timetable on the other genin-level seal we've seen recently (HOWS) and tacking on an extra 7-14 days, just to be safe.
Sure, the numbers might be wrong, but even in the abstract, a modified Chakdar is going to take longer than AtoMEW.
Just a note we researched Chakdar seals before we got SSA. So our effective sealing is double what it was when we first made the improved version. On top of that this will be the 6th seal in this tech tree (Casino seals, Chakdar, Improved Chakdar, ARS, MARS) which will further boost our roles due to the vetrancy bonus
Just a note we researched Chakdar seals before we got SSA. So our effective sealing is double what it was when we first made the improved version. On top of that this will be the 6th seal in this tech tree (Casino seals, Chakdar, Improved Chakdar, ARS, MARS) which will further boost our roles due to the vetrancy bonus
That's true, but the other genin-level seal we've seen recently was the HOWS seal, which was learned instantly. Which then gets into the numbers difference between "low base TN" sealing projects versus "high TN, but veterancy" sealing projects.
I still suspect that project AtoMEW will be faster than an improved chakdar.
Ah, but you see: Hazou promised Atomu a way to cast MEW. A seal isn't exactly the same thing, but it's within our abilities and it keeps Hazou's promise. Thematically, since those action plans have Hazou clarify to Mai that he wasn't ordering her to pick up a new element, and reaffirms her agency with regard to her own build, it would parallel Hazou keeping his promise to Atomu.
And if we stay in Leaf for longer than a week or two (as @Cariyaga suggests), then there'll be time to work on other seals, along the same vein as you're suggesting.
Besides, if we decide to linger in Leaf for a little while longer, the way that @Cariyaga and @Orisha91 want to, then there might very well be time for both projects.
I mean... I kind of want to spend some time researching more seals than that. And y'know, being a clan head. And teaching Harumitsu. All responsibilities we've ignored for the past two months.
Just worrying about FOOM progress for now (and in Noburi's case, finishing up what he asked to train). We should talk about what next to use the excess on for Akane this cycle and what to do next for Noburi (imo, CR is the move for Sages + sage mode). Kei can go all the way to resolve 69 (snowflake makes her interval weird) so she and Hazou are fine for the moment.
[X] Training Plan: Hazou
Resolve 50 -> 53
Spend 19 Yamanaka XP, 137 normal XP
Save 69 XP (nice)
[X] Training Plan: Kei
Resolve 61 -> 66
Spend 4 Yamanaka XP, 316 normal XP
Save 129 XP
[X] Training Plan: Akane
Resolve 65 -> 68
Spend 19 Yamanaka XP, 182 normal XP
Save 239 XP
[X] Training Plan: Noburi
Vampiric Dew 40 -> 50
Spend 227.5 XP
Save 115.5 XP
