And I'm thinking, the Rift Seals are supposed to send chakra constructs through the rift, right? Could we make a fourth rift seal, designed to send a signal through the rift? Our explorer sitting on the other side would, say, hear a loud sound from the rift and know that the home team is on the other side ready for exfiltration. A minute later on the dot, both of them activate RS3 at the same time and re-open the rift. No Naruto required, no prolonged presence Akatsuki could spot, in-and-out necromancy without any traces left behind.
A little more work adds some redundancies to this plan: if the first attempt fails, the home team withdraws for a short span of time agreed in advance and tries again. After a few more rounds of this, if unfruitful, the home team goes back to Leaf and gets Naruto for a proper one-sided opening. That is to say, stealth necromancy can be made to fail gracefully into a variant that only keeps the Akatsuki out of the loop while letting Leaf learn what we're up to.
Depending on the design, the two Rift seals on each side might not need to be activated at exactly the same time. I say this because for all we know time flows differently between the two Paths. But if Rift Seal 4 alerts the sealmaster on the other side and he can just set up a longer lasting chakra blocking seal that allows Rift Seal 3 to function without exorbitant amounts of chakra, then that would fix any timing issues. Because if I understood the techno-babble correctly then that's all that the counterpart seal needs to be. Something to block the hole enough to allow for inflation.
Edit: Also one does not necessarily need a sealmaster on each team. Just someone able to place the seals correctly and activate them. Even the use of diagnostic seals can be learned by non-sealsmiths.
Well, yeah. That is the main reason. But as long as we're doing that, I don't see the issue with dedicating the kills we already have to do to Jashin. At least for as long as that doesn't result in undue mental influence. It's killing to keep up the ruse while specifically not dedicating said kills to Jashin that seems like the worst of both worlds to me, even if Jashin's gifts turn out to be marginal.
Time passes differently on the Seventh Path and the Human Path. Why would the Pure Lands be any different? We don't have timekeeping devices (not reliable, portable ones, anyway, and we can't use seals) and the margin of error for simultaneous activation is probably measured in seconds or minutes at most: this is going to be a weeks-long mission, so even if time moves in lockstep, even if the sun rises and sets at the same time, it just doesn't seem viable.
Put another way: why are we planning for something going right?
If we can bring Naruto and get seals that work on in the Pure Lands, we can just Kool-Aid man out of the Rift whenever we like.
Ultimately, I think finding Pain and praying that we bring enough gear for him to bust us out is the only real play, unless we want to make this a Leaf endeavor and hope that we bring enough traitors to make it an Uplift one once we're on the other side.
The real issue is that we need to understand how the ambient drain works before we go on extended missions. That's going to require testing, which requires opening the Rift.
Bringing Naruto into the Pure Lands might be a very very bad idea. We know that he's not allowed to be a Summoner and the bijuu sealed within him is a pretty good guess as to why. Double down with how the most plausible explanation for the failure of the Great Seal is the three bijuu that never reformed from Nagi Island and it really sounds like taking a Jinchuuriki to another path is tempting fate something fierce.
Or maybe it'll be fine
But it's as you said, we shouldn't plan for things to go right. I cannot endorse bringing Naruto into the Pure Lands if there's a risk it brings another apocalypse to the world somehow, which means he needs to stay on this side of the rift.
Regarding the timing, though, I think the method I outlined is sufficient to void most of the varying passage of time between paths. Unless the difference is significantly pronounced, Hazou's accounting of a month is unlikely to be more than a week different from Kagome's accounting (presuming Hazou is the explorer and Kagome is the home team). When Kagome arrives after a month has passed and sends a signal into the Pure Lands, Hazou is most likely going to be there to see the signal (and then coordinating the Rift Seal 3 is just a question of keeping count of a handful of seconds: Kagome sends the signal and counts 30 seconds on the dot, Hazou hears the signal and counts 30 seconds on the dot while getting into position, they both hit '30' in their heads and use RS3 at the same time), and if Hazou is not there then he might be a day late, or two or three but probably not more than a week. So Kagome comes back in a week and sends another signal, and if Hazou's there that time then he coordinates the RS3 dual-activation at that time instead.
And of course, don't plan for things to go right. Maybe time really is more than one part in four dilated and Hazou winds up more than a week late to the rift site. Maybe he gets in trouble of some sort and can't make it back to the rift site. Maybe the path drain is stronger than he thought and all his Rift Seals dry up and he can't make any more. After failing to find Hazou on the other side for long enough, Kagome goes back to Leaf and gets Naruto so they can Kool-Aid through the door and rescue Hazou. With these precautions, the only way Hazou would fail to return to the EN is if he got trapped in his exploration so thoroughly he cannot return to the rift site or be rescued, which is an invariant threat no matter how we intend to traverse the Pure Lands.
But again, qualifiers on my confidence, this route hard-relies on us having both a means to ward off the Path Drain for an extended period of time, and a way to create a Rift Seal 4 that produces a signal strong enough for Hazou to hear on the other side of the rift. This is why I consider it only Plan B material and want to start making probing inquiries about the viability of its key components.
So, let's walk through this as Naruto Uzumaki, loyal Leaf-nin who wants to believe us but still doubts the seance because for all he knows we heard about the Toad Thrust and forgot about it.
Hazou claims that the O'Uzu rift leads to the Pure Lands. You've read the report and would like it to be true, but you aren't convinced and need more proof before you believe. You know or at least strongly suspect that Asuma's in the same boat of waiting for more evidence.
Hazou says that he can open the rift, and he needs your help. You go along with this because you want it to be true. You see the scenery on the other side like he said, but that wasn't the part you were doubting. Until Hazou finds someone to rez, your priors haven't shifted. Maybe you ask him to go looking for someone as proof of concept, but maybe not. After all, this is the research trip so that they can better equip themselves for a real expedition, and the threat of Akatsuki looms over this location while there's no guarantee anyone is nearby the rift site on the other side (if it even is the afterlife in the first place). You relay all this to Asuma but this doesn't shift his priors for the same reasons it didn't shift yours.
Hazou's ready to go for a proper expedition. In this hypothetical we couldn't move the rift so we're trying stealth necromancy instead. You open the rift and Hazou walks in, and you close the rift behind him. You'll have your answers when you go back to re-open the rift, but for now you still know nothing that you didn't already know. You relay this to Asuma, the two of you both privately hope that Hazou's right and your respective loved ones can be saved, but epistemically your stance still hasn't changed: wait and see, proof will either come or it won't.
This is stealth necromancy, so Kagome goes back to exfiltrate Hazou without Naruto present. Naruto, and thus Asuma, is still under the impression that Hazou is still exploring the other side of the rift. Kagome exfiltrates Hazou and whoever Hazou found, any and all options that we've obtained from finding and rezzing people have been actualized. Maybe we found Jiraiya and he's ready to march back into Leaf and take the Hat from Asuma. Maybe we found Pein and successfully convinced him to owe us a life-debt and enshrine Uplift in the new world order. Whatever the gains, we have them now, and Naruto is none the wiser.
But maybe stealth necromancy hits a snag, and Kagome can't sync up with Hazou to exfiltrate him. Worrying for Hazou's safety, Kagome returns to Leaf and brings Naruto to the rift, just as Naruto expected would happen since he had no clue stealth necromancy was even an option. Naruto opens the rift again and Kagome et al. goes in, and hopefully Hazou's safe enough to exfiltrate. Whoever Hazou found is now known to Naruto, as well as the fact that this is truly the afterlife. Only in this scenario does Naruto run back to Leaf and tell Asuma to secure the O'Uzu site as soon as possible.
At the end of the day, the only thing that constitutes meaningful information to Naruto is the actual resurrecting of someone. Everything else is stuff he has no reason to disbelieve, which already proved insufficient to fully convince him. We will have, at the very minimum, until Hazou first escapes the Pure Lands before Naruto truly believes, and if we play our cards right we may have even more time than that.
I note, for instance, that even if we move the rift and remove the Akatsuki OPSEC problem we would still need Naruto's help opening it, and would thus similarly wind up exiting the rift under the watchful gaze of an unquestionably loyal Leaf-nin. (While we would not need to let the rift close again if it is in a safe location, by the same token we do not need to leave the scene quickly to avoid Akatsuki attention, and consequently Naruto is far more likely to stay there and wait through the preliminary exploration until we have proof of concept). That is to say, Naruto running back to Asuma as soon as we rez our first person isn't an unusual fail state of stealth necromancy, it is the expected outcome unless we have some way to circumvent him.
Incidentally, it's not implausible that Primordial Sealing will allow us to circumvent Naruto entirely. If it can channel vaster amounts of ambient chakra than the paper Minato seals can, it's not implausible that it will work as a serviceable substitute for Naruto's bijuu power. If this proves true, not only stealth necromancy but Plan A "move the rift" necromancy becomes much easier for us. But the core of stealth necromancy is that even without this innovation we do not necessarily need Naruto for our exfiltration, which means we can buy precious time and initiative by having only Team Uplift standing outside the rift as it opens. No Leaf, no Akatsuki, nobody even suspecting a thing, and all without needing to move the rift in the first place. I'd say it's a perfectly serviceable Plan B.
and then coordinating the Rift Seal 3 is just a question of keeping count of a handful of seconds: Kagome sends the signal and counts 30 seconds on the dot, Hazou hears the signal and counts 30 seconds on the dot while getting into position, they both hit '30' in their heads and use RS3 at the same time
If the two seals actually do need to be coordinated that precisely, then there's an easy way to compensate for time dilation. Kagome fires off three RS4 seals in total, each with the exact same amount of time in between them. Lets say 30 Human Path seconds. Then after 30 more, he activates RS3. Hazō counts the time between seals and activates his own RS3 counterpart after the third RS4 signal, waiting for as long as the time gap appeared to him in between the previous ones. Three RS4s because the first one might surprise Hazō and he might not be ready to start an accurate count, but he should be able to count the time between the second and third just fine. Also, Hazō can count absolutely precisely because of his Bloodline, so if the dilation is both significant and inconsistent then he'll notice.
All this is of course only all that important if the RS3 counterpart (I'd like to call it RS3b) needs to be activated precisely together with the main RS3. Ideally we design it in a way that it doesn't. An RS3b that lasts at least multiple minutes longer than the RS3 needs it to would be great.
By the way, if for whatever reason sand based hourglasses aren't a thing yet, it should be really really easy to invent and make one with ES. It requires no knowledge of physics or the nature of air spirits or whatever. Just the observation that letting sand (or water or whatever else) fall through a hole takes the same amount of time each time. Hell, the observation can start with a funny musical instrument.
I'm not sure that a continued relationship with Jashin is worth all the fuss. For a moment, let's ignore the fact that leaving Jashinism might result in a fairly acute case of three-bladed scythe poisoning. What are the costs, and the benefits, of Jashin worship?
The rift thing is a big deal, potentially history-altering one. If there's more where that came from, if Jashin's boons can reach this scale and it wasn't just a unusual confluence of circumstances *cough, cough*, then even if He can only do that once in a few years, His benefits massively outweigh what we've seen of His costs so far. Consider also Hidan's immortality — a boon of the comparable scale. Would that not worth a hundred dead bandits and some unpleasant Hidan interactions?
But, of course, all that is under the assumption that Hidan's characterization of what Jashin needs to grant us boons is correct, or that associating with Hidan is useful at all. Which we have no reason to believe so far: killing those bandits (or Hyenas) seemed to have no effect whatsoever, we didn't even have any dreams, and in the meanwhile the cases where Jashin did help us didn't involve us deliberately sacrificing anyone in His name at all.
I'unno. What I'd suggest is doing a massive stress-test here. Find some major bandit camp or a particularly assholish group of Hyenas or missing-nin or something, subdue them, put them in a dramatic sacrificial circle, slaughter them en masse in Jashin's name while requesting a specific boon, then see if that has any effect. If no, drop the whole thing on the spot and never look back.
It's easy enough to leave no traces behind. We can close the rift again by just throwing some local wildlife back and forth through it until it's pinprick-tiny, and if we just go there to put someone in and leave it can look like just another unproductive visit to the rift: Akatsuki certainly doesn't seem to go red alert over that. We can also skywalk in and leave no traces if we wish, but I digress.
Mm, the keyword is "seems". For all we know, Itachi has Crow summons permanently stationed there, watching the rift site from the skies 24/7 on a rotation. Or Sasori deployed his puppets there or Hidan a bunch of stealthy cultists or Konan surveillance seals directly hooked up to her senses.
Akatsuki, if they know we know they're also researching the rift, would expect us to try something like the stealth necromancy. They'd want to put measures to prevent this, and I think their resources, collective or individual, are entirely sufficient for that.
I suspect stealth necromancy or, now that I'm thinking about it, even rift-moving may be completely nonviable for these reasons. (What I'm suggesting we do, then? Take the rift hostage.)
I mean sacrifices to Jashin cannot possibly involve merely murdering people personally. For one, he hasn't managed to make all the rest of Akatsuki into Jashinists. For another pretty much every Leaf jōnin has a serious kill count but none of them seem blessed by Jashin.
Imagine you were playing Akatsuki Quest. While you were looking away for just a moment, the annoying NPC "Hazō" opened the rift and rigged it with that setup described in the link. How long does it take you to come up with ideas to circumvent this new obstacle the QMs presented you with?
...
Because to me it seems trivial. Knock Hazō out shortly after his last failsafe reset, then put him under a genjutsu that makes him continue resetting the failsafe. And just in case, you kill all his loved ones and put them in a prison in the afterlife, so he won't want to permanently close the portal even if he wakes up. Your physically buff Blood Cultists that can function as prison wardens even without chakra are ordered to torture their prisoners for as long as the rift remains closed, or until they forget what the hell they were doing there.
What makes you say that? Consider the scenario where we keep all the resurrected people at a Leaf black site until we accumulate enough military power to defeat Akatsuki.
This compared to the scenario where we keep it a Goketsu only mission and we do.......what? about Akatsuki?
What makes you say that? Consider the scenario where we keep all the resurrected people at a Leaf black site until we accumulate enough military power to defeat Akatsuki.
This compared to the scenario where we keep it a Goketsu only mission and we do.......what? about Akatsuki?
Oh sure, I don't think we have the manpower or the social clout to run one without the Tower noticing.
Manpower should be pretty obvious, but is Hiruzen going to stay on a Goketsu black site without the say-so of the current Hokage? Prooooobably not, and he's our #2 candidate for a friendly essie.
"Please, Haru," said Hazō, gesturing for Haru to stand. "You've been in the clan for almost two years now. You can drop the 'lord' stuff. Mari mentioned that you thought I had made a mistake in requesting that everyone in the clan compile their ninjutsu together. Given that you joined long before the KEI had their ninjutsu exchange running, I wanted to check in and see what you were thinking about the situation."
Haru nodded, and followed after Hazō as he walked. The old estate hadn't really had any suitable areas for proper gardens, but this one had plenty of lush open stretches that would be filled with flowers come spring. For now, Hazō and Haru's walk around the compound was through the slush of a few-days-old snow.
"Well, you already have all my ninjutsu, sir," Haru said. "There's the clan techniques, the Fist of the Lightning God that Mari taught me. The ninjutsu I had before joining, I turned into the Contest. They both ended up in the library. I don't have any ninjutsu from the exchange."
"I see," Hazō said, glancing at Haru. For all Hazō had grown tall, Haru had grown taller, though with that height came a notable lankiness that would no doubt fill out as Haru continued to train. "I still want to know how you're feeling, Haru. What do you think of my decision? What could I have done better?"
Haru was silent for a while as they walked. Hazō took the time to enjoy the crisp winter sunshine on his face.
"I don't have an issue. Even if I hadn't shared my ninjutsu in the Contest, I'd be fine to give them to the clan. The clan's given me more than I've given back. I guess the issue is taking ninjutsu from the exchange, from people who would never have wanted a clan to have it. As to how you fix that… I dunno. Mari explained to me that all the clans – or at least the sane ones – are going to be gunning after the best KEI jutsu that they hear about. Not taking the jutsu you have available would be a disadvantage. But maybe a strong signaling tool. If you need to take them, you could try remunerating KEI. You could have any clan ninja with KEI jutsu join the exchange, but only on the teaching side. That way, the techniques continue to be taught to the KEI population, and they don't become a clan secret."
"Interesting idea," Hazō said. "I'm not opposed, but…"
o-o-o
"...there are some logistical difficulties. And we need to think it through. Why don't you take your ideas and spend a couple hours refining them? It's easier for me to approve a proposal if it's already in a complete form."
"Sure, sure," Yūma said, gesturing with one arm in a wide motion that incredibly failed to spill tea all over the place. "But really, I think it's fine for you to copy down the KEI ninjutsu. I think of it kinda like the Library ninjutsu – people put them out there not because they wanted to keep things secret, but because they wanted the ninjutsu to have a positive impact on the world. Now, the exchange is a little more secret than the Library, but still, no one just teaches any jutsu to a random person and expects that jutsu to be secret forever."
"Right," Hazō said, sipping from his teacup substantially more delicately than Yūma. For all that he didn't want to appear stuck-up, Mari had drilled proper tea etiquette so deep into his bones that he couldn't ignore it if he wanted to. "But why is that fine? The KEI might be mad. And other people already are mad."
"I think it's fine because, like I said, people put the jutsu out there because they wanted the jutsu to make the world a better place. The Gōketsu are doing that in spades, with all the till-n-fills and various initiatives around Leaf, and you've honestly done a great job of advocating for the clanless in the past. If the seal bank isn't enough, I say you could support a few more pro-KEI policies. It'll show people that you're using your power for good, not evil, which is what people really worry about with the clans.
"Firstly, I would only want to take a stance on pro-KEI policies if they're actually good for Leaf as a whole," Hazō said. "Fortunately, the clans have all too much power, and usually anything that balances the scales helps. Secondly…"
o-o-o
"...I do want to make sure that all concerns are addressed. Some solutions might be fine on average, but I really want to keep this squeaky clean."
Jin chuckled, a low and deep rumble that still somehow sounded faintly mocking. "I am pleased to hear, Lord Hazō, that after the previous weeks you have decided that your public image is in fact important."
Hazō waved a hand. "No one with a working brain would have actually thought I was a Jashinist. Which, unfortunately, rules out three-quarters of the conservative clan ninja in Leaf. Still, let's stick to the matter at hand. The clan order I gave to submit your ninjutsu scrolls. What are your thoughts?"
Jin reached into his bag and slowly drew forth a scroll, placing it on the table between them. "This is the ninjutsu taught to me by my uncle, taught to him by his father, taught to him by his sister. It is a secret of my family. Therefore, it is yours to take."
Hazō didn't touch the scroll. "I don't want to be taking from you, Jin. I want this to be an equal exchange, wherein the Gōketsu – the family – give you techniques, and you give back. I assure you that, so far, we've been sharing the best tools with you that we can. More importantly, I'm still developing new seals to keep the clan safe. When I gave the order, I meant for it to be part of an ongoing exchange within the clan where we all work together to make each other stronger. Not discussing things adequately before the order was a mistake, and for that, I'm sorry. Still, I stand by the reasons why I gave it."
Jin chuckled again. "I appreciate your forthrightness, Lord Hazō. However, this was not an elaborate trap. I truly give this to you freely, in full acknowledgement of the wholly correct reasons behind your orders. Please, take it."
Hesitantly, Hazō took the scroll.
"Now, the second ninjutsu I learned was from the library. That too, either I or Noburi will prepare a copy of. The final one was from the KEI's exchange. Naturally, your order applies to that one as well. However, as you are well aware, as a part of the exchange, I took an oath that I would not share the ninjutsu without confirmation and tribute to the creator, and that I would not share the ninjutsu with any clan. I am loath to break my word, but I am aware that as a clan ninja, I must follow orders. Naturally, I prepared this."
Jin reached into his bag once more and produced another, much shorter scroll. Hazō unfurled it. It was barely a scrap of paper, with a handful of words written on it.
I, Lord Gōketsu Hazō, order Gōketsu Jin to share all techniques learned in the KEI ninjutsu exchange for the betterment of the clan.
"If you would sign it," Jin said, "then I will acquiesce that the choice is no longer in my hands, and provide the technique."
Alarm bells went off in Hazō's head as he read the paper. Whatever the last scroll had been, this was definitely a trap. "I've already given the order, Jin. Is this a necessary component?"
"Yes. My teacher, Okada Hidemaro, was a staunch believer in the KEI. Indeed, no one would share their ninjutsu with unknown people if it were not for a firmly held higher cause. He believed that all clans were corrupt, the Gōketsu included. In as much as it makes sense to pay respects to the wishes of a dead man, would this not be a violation of his trust? Moreover, it is important to me that I adhere to my word as much as is possible, and if this is indeed your order, then I would like to have it in writing so that the KEI will understand that it was not I who elected to share their ninjutsu away. After all," Jin said, grinning "the KEI now has teeth."
Hazō nodded, tucking the scrap of paper away. "I will consider it."
"Please do," Jin said. "After all, the contents of that scroll would be a far less sweeping order than you gave in actuality. If at all, this should be an easy request to grant."
"I see," Hazō said. "Thank you for the feedback. If you have anything more you need to say, just know that my door is always open."
"It's not," Jin said. "And if it were, you're rarely there."
Hazō sighed. "It's a figure of speech. You can ask Gaku if you want my time, and I'm always glad to give it. In fact, that's exactly…"
o-o-o
"...why I thought it was so important to check in. I heard you were dissatisfied with the clan recently, and I wanted to see what I could do to help. Is it related to the jutsu exchange? Or those unfounded rumors of Jashinism?"
Mio continued to glare at him. She probably thought she was keeping her face neutral, but she was a combat specialist. For all that he'd been neglecting Mari's training, Hazō could still read a new-ish chūnin that had never really tried to become a better liar.
"The 'unfounded' rumors of Jashinism were not exactly pleasant, sir," she said, trying and failing to keep the skepticism from her voice. "No one enjoyed being dirtied by association."
"I'd heard that the rumors were only targeting me," Hazō said.
"Yeah, but what does that say about the people that follow you?" Mio asked. "I… Whatever. It's fine. I don't have anything more to say."
"You clearly have something more to say," Hazō said. "It sounds like you're still very frustrated. Please, tell me how you're feeling."
Mio waffled for a second before coming to a decision. "Oh, it's nothing," she said, voice bitingly sarcastic. "I joined a clan hoping to be treated equally, only to discover that the clan head's inner circle was treated way better than everyone else. Sure, I could deal with being an outcast. I've only been one my entire life, you know? And then my sister dies. So that was great. And now my clan head's actions mean that everyone I knew outside the clan is pushing me away because they don't want to associate with blood cultists and despite the fact that my sister's dead, I'm still a twin so I'm unclean anyway!"
Hazō paused for a moment as he considered the implications. Mio had always been one to clam up around serious questions, according to the reports he'd skimmed. If she was telling him this… was she genuinely intending to leave the clan?
"I understand," Hazō said. "I can see what I can do to quell the rumors. And I'm sorry about-"
"Oh, don't fucking say it," Mio said. "You don't care about her. You didn't care about her. You gave her a funeral, then bounced away to parts unknown for months on end. She never mattered to you in the slightest."
"She did," Hazō said, insistently. "It's why we adopted her, and you. To get you the techniques you needed to maximize your odds of survival in the war. I promise you, we really did share everything we could have shared. There were a few things left out at the time – specialized seals for sealing research, outright state secrets, but there was nothing else that we had that we didn't give you. Unfortunately, it's still a war, and the odds of survival can never be a hundred percent.
"On that matter, after Akane's death, I'm reconsidering some seal OPSEC," Hazō said, reaching for a sheaf of seals from his belt. "I designed these improved versions of the Rocket Boots seals, and I'm still researching new ones to make the clan more powerful."
Mio looked at the proffered seals in his hand for one, two seconds, before raising her own and striking the seals out of his hand. Slips of paper fell through the air.
"This is exactly what I fucking mean," Mio said, raising her voice. "Any of us die, my sister dies, and what happens? A funeral. An engraving on a rock. But your girlfriend dies? Suddenly you're opening up a giant charity in her honor, chaining Shinji and Kazushi to their desks to run it, reconsidering your life choices and researching new seals to make yourself feel better. If it had been me that died out in the field, you know what would have happened? Funeral. Engraving. That's it.
"And you know what? It wouldn't be that bad if you just accepted it. Acted like the Hyūga, like I should be happy to lick the scraps off your dinner plate once you're done with it. Instead, you think that you're so great, that you're so different from the other clans, when really you give about as much of a shit about any of us as they do!"
There was one question that hung heavy in Hazō's mind.
"Are you going to leave the clan?"
"No," Mio said, her body language suddenly closing off. "Nothing like that. I'm just pissed at the way you treat the rest of us like irrelevant pawns."
She was lying. She'd been planning something, and whatever it was, she knew she'd already revealed too much, that the plan would be best executed if it were done all at once, rather than leaked to the primary opposition.
"Mio," Hazō said. "I've heard rumors about your dissatisfaction with the clan. I really don't want you to have to feel this ostracized, nor for this to become a big conflict between the Gōketsu and KEI. It definitely shouldn't become a conflict between all the clans and KEI. So please, tell me. What changes do you want to see in the clan that would help you want to stay?"
"Nothing," Mio said, bitterly. "After all, if what you said is true, you have nothing more to give."
"Mio. What you're proposing is the theft of our clan secrets. If you try to leave the clan, that would be taking the clan secrets we have and declassifying them. That's something I have authority over as the clan head. It's not something you can just do on a whim."
"If a ninja were to join a clan and be abused and ostracized by them," Mio said. "I think the KEI would be very interested in helping them get back out of it."
"We never abused or ostracized anyone," Hazō said, frowning. "Don't you have friends in the clan? I thought you were close with Haru and Jin."
"You tell yourself that," Mio said. "Anyway, it doesn't matter. Like you said, leaving a clan alive is impossible. So I won't. Are we done here, now?"
"Look, Mio, you've been living with us for… two years, now? And been a part of the clan for one. You know that the Gōketsu are trying their best to do good in the world. Look, even your sister knew that. She took the most till-n-fills of any ninja in Leaf, and-"
"Don't talk about Misa!" Mio yelled. She paused and lowered her voice. "Just don't. You never said a word to her. Don't pretend like you knew her. Now, are we done?"
"Yes," Hazō said with a sigh. "I'll keep in contact."
"I'm sure you will."
Can Hazō get Mio to open up about how she's feeling?
Yes, he does. He gets the vague outline of her plan (basically: claim abuse from the clan, leave, and trust KEI to shield her from the extremely obvious legal repercussions). Can he try to convince her otherwise?
He succeeds. He makes a bit of progress, but fixing this problem will take more than high social skills.
o-o-o
"I have no objection to you taking a bandit clearing mission, Hazō," Asuma said. "To appease Hidan, I assume? And you said you wanted to take it directly from me, right?"
Hazō nodded. "After what happened to Akane…"
Asuma sighed. "At this point, I think it's just some out-of-context problem. A new seal, or ninjutsu, or Sage-forbid, a genjutsu that extracts information and implants false memories into our staff. But whatever it is, if the Hokage's office isn't secure then we have far, far bigger problems.
"I can't possibly keep up with all the C-ranks, but…" he stood and paced to a side shelf, where scrolls were stacked high. "Here, this one caught my eye recently. Group of bandits plaguing some villages on the river halfway between Keishi and Otafuku Gai. From the reports, they only hit the smallest villages that can't defend themselves, extorting them out of grain and supplies. That said, I don't think it's wise to give you an ANBU escort, Hazō. Hidan is unpredictable, and if he finds out about the ANBU, he may think that you're only courting Jashinism on my orders and kill you over it.
"If you want to keep this secure, I suggest going back to the Gōketsu compound and immediately grabbing two or three people to take with you. No waiting or preparations. I'll adjust the scroll accordingly, and I'll wait till tonight to tell the mission desk that this one has been claimed, so hopefully no one notices your absence."
"Understood, sir," Hazō said. "Thank you for your support."
"May the Will of Fire light your path."
o-o-o
"Well, here ya go," Canvass said. "Pretty sure these are your guys. They don't smell like the other humans 'round these parts. None of all those weird plants. And there's also too much going on here. Humans in those farming villages didn't go out a bunch, I think."
"Thanks, Canvass," Hazō said. He, Jin, and Yūma had traveled out of Leaf for around three hours before finding one of the farming villages that had been hit by the bandits. A few minutes of cross-referencing directions, Hazō had summoned the tracking dog, quickly found the bandit's trail, and raced them back to their hideout.
"So, what are we gonna do?" Yūma asked, leaning heavily on his spear. Yūma wasn't tired, he just had a naturally… bendy way of standing, sometimes.
"We kill them," Hazō said grimly.
"Wait, really?" Yūma asked. "Is that right?"
"It's our right as ninja, and as keepers of the law of the land," Hazō said.
"Yeah, sure," Yūma said. "It's what any other ninja would do. But I was wondering if we were gonna do something better than that. It's been a bad season for chakra beasts, right? Maybe these guys were just driven out of their home and needed to find any life they could."
"According to some philosophers," Jin said, "ending a life is the most heinous of acts. Even if these bandits were foul people, killing them would be reprehensible. However, other philosophers reply that the protection of life applies only to those who abide by the rules of society. If you reject the society that has decided that your life has value, then you may find yourself stripped of that inherent moral protection as a result of your own misdeeds."
"Right," Yūma said. "And these guys are bad, don't get me wrong. I dunno if they've killed anyone yet, but looting grain and meat and blankets and medicine from villages is gonna get people killed indirectly. But, even if they've rejected the rules of society and society thinks it's fine to kill them, does that really mean that it's best to kill them?"
"Right now, that doesn't matter," Hazō said. "The mission says we kill them."
"Ah, alright," Yūma said. "Wait, this isn't a Jashin thing, is it?"
Can Hazō hide that this is, in fact, a Jashin thing? Yūma may be easy to fool, but Jin is actually quite sharp.
"No," Hazō said firmly. "And we cannot afford any rumor that it is. Yes, Hidan wants me to hunt bandits. I am playing along purely so that he does not kill me, and so that he does not feel the need to take out any frustration he feels on the innocent citizens of the Land of Fire. This mission is only to protect people from Jashin, not further the causes of some dark god. Is that clear?"
Yūma raised both his hands defensively, before snapping one out to grab his spear as it tilted and fell. "Yeah, yeah, I got it. Sage, it was just a rhetorical question."
"Well, make sure you know," Hazō said. "If people ask, don't joke around. The clan's reputation depends on us being spotless."
Canvass had been sniffing around in the air, and now said, "I dunno about all this Jashin nonsense, but I think they just settled down for a nap. Midday meal over with, maybe? Smell some food off'a them."
"Thank you Canvass," Hazō said. "Go with Jin and get into position. Yūma, you as well."
Hazō needed to kill the bandits himself. Jin and Yūma would circle the bandit camp's perimeter and keep any of them from escaping, but Hazō would be the one engaging. This time, Hazō would hopefully avoid a chase through the forest.
Hazō walked up a tree trunk, then slowly leapt from tree to tree as he approached the camp. He stopped as he saw it. It was a collection of tents and bedrolls, arranged upwind of a small campfire. Most of the bandits, like Canvass said, seemed to be in their tents and bedrolls for a midday nap. Another bandit was opposite them, keeping watch from a stump while steadily carving shavings from a piece of wood.
Hazō crept onto the tree directly above the lookout. He drew a kunai, already armed with an explosive tag.
Hazō would be dedicating these kills to Jashin, of course. On the off-chance Hidan asked about Hazō's mental state while he was killing the bandits, Hazō needed to be able to answer honestly in a way that would satisfy the S-ranker. Plus, if Hazō was going to be killing the bandits anyway… there was no harm in earning the favor of a god in the process.
Last time, Hidan had required Hazō yell aloud "Die, for Lord Jashin!" before every kill, and he had made Hazō draw the triangle-in-a-circle symbol with the bandit's blood. Hazō couldn't justify going that far without Hidan over his shoulder and his clanmates nearby, so instead, Hazō said a brief prayer.
Jashin, I make these kills in your name. May they please you, and bring your favor to me and to the advancement of Uplift.
He traced the triangle-in-a-circle that he'd inked onto the explosive-tagged kunai as he thought the prayer. Then, he activated the explosive and threw the kunai into the middle of the sleeping bandits.
The watchman turned at the soft thunk of the kunai hitting the earth. A moment later, the explosive tag triggered. The bandits nearest the explosive tag, man and woman alike, were shredded by the sudden blast of force, while the farther ones were simply picked up and ragdolled away from the tag. Hazō heard necks break and heads slam into tree trunks.
The sentry belatedly called out. "Ninja atta-"
Die, for Lord Jashin!
Hazō dropped from the tree trunk, slamming an elbow directly in the back of the man's head. If that hadn't been enough, he quickly reached down and snapped the man's neck with a firm twist. The half-finished wood carving of a fox fell to the ground.
Hazō turned to survey the camp, battle-ready instincts scanning for threats. One of the bandits, a man, had been in the forest relieving himself, and had taken two steps back into the clearing at the noise.
Hazō substituted into the forest next to the man. The man turned at the sound, one hand already outstretched as if to ward Hazō away, the other holding his half-tied trousers up.
"No, please, I-"
For Jashin!
Hazō kicked the man in his exposed groin, then as the man doubled over, Hazō grabbed the man's head and snapped his neck.
A moment later, Hazō collapsed to the ground. Nausea threatened to overwhelm him. Before Hidan, Hazō had never needed to fight a civilian. It was sickening. He'd ended a dozen lives in five seconds. Killing them was child's play.
Easy. Pointless.
No, not pointless. Hazō needed to do this if he didn't want Hidan to punish him when the mad Jashinist next came knocking. Beyond that, there was nothing he could do for the bandits. He didn't have the time to resettle a bunch of violent survivalists in the Gōketsu estate, nor could he just inflict them upon civilization, knowing well what measures they would turn to when they finally hit a streak of bad luck again. They would die one way or another, whether by his hand or someone else's.
If their deaths served to earn Jashin's divine intervention, so be it. Hazō's tasks were monumental in proportion, and he would accept help from any corner.
Hazō heard a groan of pain. Some of the people on the outer edges of the explosive blast must have survived. He saw one slumped against a tree, one hand gingerly rubbing against her head.
Hazō drew his kunai, stuffing down another surge of nausea.
Slowly, he set about his work.
Mari agrees to share with the clan all the ninjutsu that she shared with the contest. However, she maintains jōnin-privilige on her best ninjutsu, which are not just of the caliber that might be useful in jōnin-on-jōnin fights, but could potentially be an edge against "even greater opponents".
Hazō did not share that he was mentally dedicating kills to Jashin with his sanity checkers. If you vote for it, we can have Hazō start regularly taking bandit clearing missions.
Noburi is reluctant to scale back his hospital work right now because of an outbreak of late-season influenza. He can start on the notes in a month, perhaps, once that's handled. He says that he can try practicing on chakra beasts, but chakra beast's chakra systems are very different than human chakra systems – which makes sense, of course, since the Sage gave chakra to humans but chakra beasts stole chakra from a completely different source: vengeful ancestors who were disdained by their progeny. Moreover, the difficulty of the procedure is likely to be commensurate with the degree to which the target's chakra system is developed, and he has no clue what a jinchūriki's chakra system is like.
Hazō has attended some religious purification rituals. The Hagoromo were surprised that Hazō was there, and Hazō, after biting down his first several rude remarks, managed to take part without issue. The Hagoromo priest that performed the Fivefold Anointment on Hazō had an interesting comment. Some people had claimed that Hazō would never attend a proper religious service, and that this would be proof of his guilt. The priest was pleased to be proven otherwise, and commended Hazō for taking his spiritual health as seriously as a clan head should.
Hazō will continue attending Asuma's informal advice sessions by default, until you vote otherwise.
Hazō has provided some generic advice to Sasha. When she graduates the Academy, the players will have the option to design her sheet.
By definition, Harumistu's cold-creating seals are a Hagoromo clan secret. Hazō could fairly easily commit clan secret theft (ask Harumitsu to show him the seals, IN-download them, then recreate them), but if Hazō wants to do an above-the-board trade, it will need to be cleared by the Hagoromo Clan Head. You know what that means. Vote it in again if you're willing to conduct negotiations with Ritsuo.
Mari laughs when you ask for paper-style ninjutsu. She says that she scoured Leaf for paper-style ninjutsu a year ago, and has had a couple bounties out with various informants to pass her tips if they get wind of it. Having access to seal-manipulating jutsu would be the perfect complement for a sealmaster clan – but alas, it does not appear to exist in Leaf at all. She wonders if any of Shikigami's family in Mist is still alive…
Regarding the Hyūga deal – the following plan won:
[X][Hyūga] Finalize the deal: Hazō will provide them with sapphire and diamond only, in exchange for a healthy income stream.
As a result, Hazō has turned over a six-month supply of raw gemstones. The Gōketsu will not be rich off of this trade deal alone, but it is a nice level of insurance against another economic disaster. Combined with the massive cash infusion from the Tower for the iron ore deal, it nearly puts the Gōketsu back to the heights they had before the bank run (when they could literally print money). The roads initiative has resumed with the new cash.
Mari notes that this will definitely build strong bonds with the Hyūga over time. She recommends that Hazō gradually increase the quantity of gemstones he provides – both to make them more reliant on him in a way that other suppliers could not match, as well as to let the Hyūga corner more of the market, which will eventually find its way into Gōketsu coffers.
Regarding the Aburame deal – the following plan won:
[X][Aburame] Spend 1 day per month making telescopes. (+50% production)
As mentioned in the thread, Hazō will do so as long as he is in Leaf and available. This won't be a huge source of income, but it'll be a nice little ongoing bond between the Aburame and the Gōketsu.
Update timeline:
Day 1: Optimizing with clan, Asuma, Ino, then having conversations with clan members.
17 clone blocks after SSA consequence
-4 on notes.
-1 on clan head training.
-3 preparing telescopes.
-1 preparing gems.
Day 2: Performing purification rituals, then performing trade deals.
17 clone blocks after SSA consequence
-4 on notes.
-1 on clan head training.
Day 3: With SSA consequence healed, Hazō goes bandit hunting.
Can only do clones in the morning. Without long duration clones and wanting full chakra for the bandit hunt, he can only manage 3 casts. Topped up, that's 18 clones. Few of those clones will be training, so it's fine chakra-wise (all fits in one barrel).
-4 on notes.
-1 on clan head training.
-6 prepping seals for the Yamanaka deal.
Overall SC rate: 0.9x
No sealing research was performed.
XP Award: 15 + 3 (brevity) XP
FP Award: -2 (used) + 1 (winning social encounter with Mio) + 1 (refresh) = 0
Jin reached into his bag and slowly drew forth a scroll, placing it on the table between them. "This is the ninjutsu taught to me by my uncle, taught to him by his father, taught to him by his sister. It is a secret of my family. Therefore, it is yours to take."
This was the Water Element Taijutsu enhancement, yes? Can we have a broad description of what it does now that it's in our possession? We don't need the actual mechanics yet, but more information on what it does would be helpful.
As a result, Hazō has turned over a six-month supply of raw gemstones. The Gōketsu will not be rich off of this trade deal alone, but it is a nice level of insurance against another economic disaster. Combined with the massive cash infusion from the Tower for the iron ore deal, it nearly puts the Gōketsu back to the heights they had before the bank run (when they could literally print money). The roads initiative has resumed with the new cash.
[X]Action Plan: Let the Sealing flow
Word Count:<300
Buy 1 FP (-10XP)
Sealing:
SC test Rocket Boots with MARS.
Multiple RBs simultaneously
Atypical locations (elbows, palms, etc.)
SC SSA: MS8.1 Anchoring. Full prep
Prime SSA: Reusable Rocket Boots. Full prep
Improve the seal until it challenges stagnation
Aim for six uses, and then boost the bonus as much as possible
Non-SSA SC
Full Prep:
4FSoP
No Prep:
Dampeners (use subsequently)
Substitution
Suction (if genin - check first)
Electrocution
Twin Repulsion
Abort difficult seals. Don't risk failure.
Meet with Mari and Kei to discuss the Mio situation
Hazou fears that she is planning on leaving the Goketsu and leaking their secrets
She plans (or planned) to claim abuse and flee to the KEI
Or perhaps - kill herself
How can we stop this from happening?
This seems like it could cause a civil war between the Clans and the KEI
Could Jin and Haru nudge her away from this?
Should we read her in on Necromancy?
Offscreen
During the next lesson w/ Asuma, discuss the Mio situation.
Create a metallurgy research group to research smelting and improved steels.
Jin:
Don't sign the order.
Thank him and apologize for giving the order
He's family, we want to do right by him.
Ask him to bring things to Hazou right away next time.
______________________________________________________________________
Still needs another scene, but I figured I'd toss this out there while the iron is still hot, so to speak. Ping me here or on Discord if you have suggestions/improvements
I wonder if it would be worth consideration to negotiate with Ino or Shikamaru for an adoption for Mio.
Essentially let her "escape" the Goketsu, on the condition that any clan secrets she has remain classified. Take advantage of friendly clan heads we can mostly trust not to ask her to divulge such info. Present it to her as an opportunity for a fresh start with a new community.
Obviously it would be extremely difficult to present that as anything other than us flushing an unsavoury liability, and would likely push her away from us further, but it does not seem like there is much further away that she could be pushed. Already she has more or less told us that she is only still here to keep her head off the block, so maybe a clean-ish way out would be appealing.
Mari laughs when you ask for paper-style ninjutsu. She says that she scoured Leaf for paper-style ninjutsu a year ago, and has had a couple bounties out with various informants to pass her tips if they get wind of it. Having access to seal-manipulating jutsu would be the perfect complement for a sealmaster clan – but alas, it does not appear to exist in Leaf at all. She wonders if any of Shikigami's family in Mist is still alive…
@eaglejarl@Velorien@Paperclipped, if Hazō were to ask Mari about commissioning a THer to create a paper ninjutsu (something like what's listed below), what would she say?
We could trade with Mist for paper jutsu if they exists. Just need to figure out what to trade with Mist. Plus, this is an opportunity to cement diplomatic ties.
