- Location
- Lake superior, Minoc
That is the stupidest fucking thing I've heard in some time... Just wow. Naruto's seems always good for new surprises in dumb shit.
Tome of the Orange Sky (Naruto/MGLN)
That is the stupidest fucking thing I've heard in some time... Just wow. Naruto's seems always good for new surprises in dumb shit.
- Location
- none of your business
Wait......wouldn't all the shittons of Byakugan be frozen pretty quick? sounds like a recipe for the things being worthless
I think that was the point, it is so people don't have to ask what the fuck happened to all the fucking magic eye balls. You can say that they were all lost in interplanetary space and are frozen so they are worthless even if you could get them.
Chapter 32 - Rebels No More, Intent Training
"So," Mei said. "You don't like most of our plans, and admittedly you have good reasons. We don't think your plans are really that workable either for different reasons."
"Except for your 'last resort' plan that you won't provide details of," Ao added. "Which you seem fairly confident in despite not sharing details."
"There are good reasons for that," the old man said, gesturing to Naruto. "The main one being that while Naruto can contact his people to ask for help, and they're likely to agree to try to keep needless deaths down, how they help can be...variable." It was obvious that the other two were only half accepting this explanation, so the old man continued. "Uzushio existed long before Konoha, never really participating in the 'wandering clans' era as we know it, and when Konoha was founded aid was asked for. Part of that was a concern about an enemy deciding to poison the water supply before it could be properly secured, so the Uzumaki built a shrine to Suijin that, when properly tended, constantly flows with clean water. If the shrine falls into disrepair then favor is lost and the water stops flowing."
"Surely you jest," Mei said. "They were famed for their seals and likely just slapped one down. We're horribly out of touch and we still heard rumors that only when an Uzumaki returned to take care of your 'shrine' that the water started flowing again."
"It took years of repairing and rebuilding the shrine before that happened, and only when the work was complete did the water start to flow again. The village also took care of the shrine with no Uzumaki to tend to it for several years before drunken vandals damaged the tamagaki. Water stopped flowing within seconds of the destruction, and only when a new, civilian-purchased and produced tamagaki was finally put in place did the water start to flow again."
"That does match what I recall hearing about the shrine," Ao said, before Mei could retort. "It was seen as the height of stupidity to allow a vandal to tarnish a Suijin shrine to begin with, and that it stopped the flow of water just seemed to prove it."
Mei blinked, looking at Ao for a moment, before frowning as she turned back to the old man. "Well then, I hadn't expected corroboration on that story, but it's only a single example."
The old man nodded. "True. Then there's the time that the Three Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist went rogue and were rampaging through the Land of Fire. They were using a stolen set of seals to hide themselves, and Kiri asked for Konoha's help in approaching Uzushio for aid as they were the experts in seals. Surely you know what happened to turn the three swords into five, and then not long after into seven as two more swords were obtained from Uzushio?"
"...I have to admit to not having heard that story."
"I have," Ao said, leaning back. "The first Three Swordsmen wielded Kabutowari, Kiba, and Shibuki. It is said that Shibuki's wielder was dragged off by the other two, who had stolen seals that allowed them to hide by absorbing chakra that might otherwise be used to give them away. A month after aid was asked for, Shibuki's wielder stumbled back into Kiri, alone, and seemingly without their sword, babbling as if insane. When the seal on the scroll that had been found glued to their back was finally broken it was discovered that there were two additional swords present. Nobody knows where Hiramekarei and Samehada came from, or where the two missing swordsmen went, but both swords are able to absorb chakra in ways that defy expectations and both swordsmen were abusing seals that could absorb chakra."
"...what?"
"The original treaty that Kiri and Uzushio would never fight was signed within four months, and two more...normal swords were provided by Uzushio to bring the number up to seven. Uzushio flatly refused to take the other two swords 'back', citing that they would always belong to Kiri."
"More recently," the old man said after a minute of silence. "They decided that the best way to prevent tailed beasts from being unleashed on Konoha unexpectedly was to kill the tailed beasts, leaving the now-former jinchuriki alive, and bind the remains to a couple of genin. Requesting their aid, no matter how good the cause, is to invoke a wildcard that could take any number of potential actions."
Mei gulped. "I see. But at the same time it's likely our best option for success."
"Indeed. I've also used a communication relay with my monkey summons back through Konoha to check with Yagura, and he both approved bringing Uzushio aid in and promised that he won't participate in the defense of the village should Uzushio show up...though he also knows some of the old stories and expressed concern as well. I assured him that so long as the stated goals include the village continuing to exist then those from Uzushio are unlikely to cause significant damage to it."
This...did not seem to be enough assurance for any of the rebels listening in, but they also didn't seem to want to voice their concerns. It would take another day and a half of discussion for agreement to 'contact Uzushio' to happen, and Naruto was made to pretend that it would take at least a day to get a response back.
Obito looked at the tree in the hideout, eyes narrowed. The flower was wilting, the stem looking like it would crumble at any time, and the bark was starting to flake off. Just this morning the body of Hashirama's clone had fallen off, having rotted away from the inside, and the first sign of trouble had actually been that the artificial humans had started to degrade. A dozen had just fallen over dead early this morning, but the first ones with problems had come up over a month ago. How any of this was possible was another question entirely, unless there was some upkeep process that Madara had forgotten to mention?
It would be entirely like an Uchiha to assume that things would've taken less than a decade and thus also assume that the one running the plan wouldn't need to know how to maintain things like the tree. Of course, it would also be just like an Uchiha to assume that a plant didn't need maintenance...and Obito had never been all that good at keeping his houseplants alive to begin with. Then there was the statue, sitting on the tree and that supposedly helped keep it alive. It looked okay, but perhaps there was something wrong with it? He knew even less about how to take care of it, but it was ancient compared to the tree that Madara had grown, so...
There were definitely too many variables here, but the loss of the disposable army and the means to replenish it wasn't a good thing. Nor was the fact that a number of facilities in the immediate area were likely to become unstable as the roots of the tree stopped supporting them, meaning that everything had to be pulled out. And this after finding out that the Mizukage had broken free of the controlling genjutsu, something that Obito wasn't confident in re-applying as it had been difficult enough to get to stick the first time, while also needing to find where the reborn Uzushiogakure had hidden three of the tailed beasts.
Far, far too many kunai had been thrown into the plan recently.
"Do you have everything you need for an early-morning assault on Kiri?" Old Man Hiruzen asked. He couldn't be 'Old Man Hokage' anymore and didn't want to be called 'Old Man Sarutobi' so had recently insisted on being referred to as Hiruzen. He seemed...exasperated at best at Naruto's version of that.
"Yep," Naruto replied. "Summoning stone in the right place to launch the attack from as well."
"You'll need to be seen here in the camp as well, so that nobody suspects that you're involved."
"I know."
"And do ensure that things are...bizarre enough for your family's heritage. We've played things up enough to essentially require it."
Naruto snorted. His parents had provided additional ideas for how to manage that well enough, and he'd had clones practicing some of the tricks for the past couple of days.
"I'm disappointed that I can't help with that part," Hinata said, pouting a little. She was equally out of the loop on his additional plans, intentionally so.
The old man shook his head. "Better that you be in full fighting shape in case things go wrong." He then pulled out a small packet and handed it over to Naruto. "If possible, these individuals and any who surrender outright should be left alone. Yagura believes that a third of them are rebel spies and all don't believe in the bloodline purges."
Naruto accepted the packet, nodding.
Gonbee sighed as he headed to take his guard position. He was sick and tired of the civil war, but couldn't do much to end it personally. Help the rebels a bit, not turn in the spies he knew of, and work with the elders to try and find a solution. That Yagura had come to his senses recently helped, but not nearly enough.
The sun wasn't quite up enough to provide illumination, but shouting from the on-duty guards had him moving faster. It might be an early-morning raid by the rebels, though they weren't generally stupid enough to openly attack the village. Slip in and out with the aid of those sympathetic to their cause? Sure. Openly attack? Generally that was a couple of clans that caused trouble for both sides.
Lots of squirrels were coming through as the larger alarms started to go off, implying a large force approaching. Annoying, but a useful warning sign, and the smaller animals generally vacated the village as soon as the larger threat was gone when this kind of thing happened. Though the sheer number was a bit odd. Seeing one dodge a kunai that had come from behind it, thrown by one of the more hot-headed shinobi, was odder.
Another being hit and exploding with significant force, leaving a sizable crater for a squirrel, changed the squirrels from 'curiosity and warning sign' to 'direct threat' to those in the area. Others started yelling, but there were already far too many squirrels in the village and more flowing over the walls even now. Gonbee carefully but quickly looked around, eyes wide, picking up other details. Like the fact that a third of the squirrels around him looked like they were animated corpses, or that now that he was paying attention he could tell that every squirrel he could see had what could be an explosive tag tied to their underside.
Most concerningly, they were also very obviously working together, one successfully opening a grate for five others before moving on without passing through the grate.
"SHINOBI OF KIRIGAKURE," suddenly rang over the village, the voice unfamiliar. Most of the squirrels Gonbee could see paused at this, and the exceptions he noticed were dodging attacks. "SURRENDER AND YOU WILL BE SPARED."
Gonbee wanted to ask who they were surrendering to, but that declaration seemed to be the trigger for all of the squirrels he could see to suddenly produce small blue masks. But not any masks, no, these were the same mask that the Uzushio Anbu once wore, sized for squirrels. A flash of light in the air then almost forcibly dragged his attention that way...to show that there were humans flying towards the village wearing the same masks. And ignoring kunai thrown at them. For good reason, apparently, as those that struck just bounced off of them.
A moment later the squirrels changed tactics entirely, running at everyone. Gonbee tried to keep them off, but quickly realized that multiple were in places he couldn't reach, each potentially having an explosive tag ready to activate. That thought was enough for him to drop the kunai he'd pulled out and slowly raise his hands, even as he just as slowly dropped to his knees. There were precious few others he could see doing the same. One of the idiots, he didn't recognize who, apparently had run out of chances as one of the tags on a squirrel latched to his back lit up...and the squirrel vanished in a puff of smoke.
That made no sense, because the summoning squirrels only really functioned as messengers.
The tag itself remained though, and a moment later the shinobi was engulfed in a burst of light...that then faded, leaving him seemingly unharmed. Similar bursts of light indicated others that were likely similarly affected, but what was the purpose?
"Bastards are using cheap tricks," the shinobi yelled, darting towards a nearby building. "They're using decoy tags!" He obviously tried to jump up to run up the building with surface-sticking, possibly to get a better view, only he didn't jump nearly as high as you'd expect...and his feet didn't stick to the building. Instead his eyes went wide as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain that no proper shinobi should've felt with their chakra reinforcing them...
And that's when Gonbee realized the truth of what had happened. The shinobi no longer had control of his chakra, but without it having been drained or obviously locked away. Instead the man still felt the energy, but had no control over it...conscious or subconscious, if the lack of automatic reinforcement was any indication. The implications of that were terrifying on their own...more so when considering that there were multiple squirrels with tags strapped to them attached to everyone. Gonbee included.
Every flash of light signifying a tag activating was one less person capable of using chakra and one more effective civilian in the village. Against a properly prepared enemy with full use of their own chakra you'd be hard pressed to be noticed fighting back without chakra of your own, and at the rate shinobi were falling to the tags it was likely that a troop of academy students would be able to take over the village soon enough, let alone the rebels.
Assuming, of course, that the Uzushio Anbu left a village to be taken over.
"Mei Terumi?" one of Naruto's clones asked a moment after it had body-flickered into the middle of the group.
"...yes?" Mei answered, sounding very unsure of herself with the apparent Uzu Anbu that had just appeared in their midst. They'd just barely gotten started on preparing to head to take Kirigakure.
"Who do you trust to hold the keys to a prisoner seal?"
"What?"
"Those that would still be capable of being a threat were tagged with a prisoner seal." A set of three scrolls was produced. "These are copies of the operating instructions, but a corresponding key seal needs to be applied to anyone who would be able to control the prisoner seals."
There was blinking, before she looked at Ao. He shrugged. "You're the one that we all trusted with leadership."
"But..." she said, frowning, turning back to the clone. "You...how many people did you place seals on?"
The clone tilted its head, as if thinking. In reality it was sending a message to ask. After a moment it got an answer. "Thirty or so, I believe. No more than forty."
"...there are far, far more than forty loyalist shinobi."
"There were far more loyalist shinobi. Those that received the seal are those who surrendered. The rest are alive, but are unlikely to ever be shinobi again. Without chakra they're just moderately fit civilians, and unlike draining or sealing away someone's chakra it's a lot more difficult to reverse the removal of the ability to control chakra at all."
As the implications of that hit those listening in there were obvious looks of shock. Mei gulped. "You removed their ability to control chakra?"
"Well, yes and no, depending on how you define 'chakra' in the first place. It's all far more complicated than anything you've likely come across, and depending on your definitions you could say that they no longer have the ability to generate chakra. Except that the traditional view of that would also involve them being dead, but since they aren't dead that obviously isn't accurate. What could be called a precursor energy to chakra still exists within them, but they have no control over it."
From the expressions on many of the faces of the rebels, they were probably wondering if asking for Uzushio to help had been the wrong decision. To most shinobi, losing your chakra was a fate far, far worse than death. Sparing lives through giving such a fate was apparently not something they'd considered.
Yagura snorted as he watched the 'rebels' enter the village, escorted by one of the Uzushio Anbu. Having the loyalists lose their ability to use chakra was...unexpected, but in some ways worth it to see the looks on the faces of the incoming group as they realized that squirrels were guarding the prisoners. Granted, this was only funny because he'd already come to terms with it, but he was accepting any amusement he could get.
The obvious Konoha shinobi in the group seemed less surprised, possibly because as a group they were more accustomed to Uzushio's...quirks, if only due to likely having more frequent interaction with them since they'd reappeared. Or in the former Hokage's case, a large number of interaction points over his lifetime. The blond was the only one that didn't look surprised at all...and he was wearing an Uzushio forehead protector in addition to a Konoha one. Not to mention was one of two that had animal ears and a tail, which meant he was probably well used to Uzushio antics.
Shaking his head, Yagura adjusted his hooked club on his back before jumping down, taking the rebels by surprise. Several of them jumped into place to defend against the attack he wasn't making.
"You still have your chakra," Terumi noted with a frown. "And I see no signs that you have a prisoner seal."
"Because I'm not a threat," Yagura said. "And have been helping to keep the idiots in line while waiting for your arrival."
"That and you're a horrible mess that we don't dare touch," one of the Uzushio Anbu noted. "Partially-bonded with Isobu. We aren't confident that we could safely remove your ability to use chakra or anchor a prisoner seal onto you right now."
"...how did you know about Isobu?"
"We have our ways."
Raising an eyebrow, he decided to ignore that, returning his focus to the group that had just arrived. "Regardless of why they left me alone, I don't think your people will trust me remaining as Mizukage, but a more...peaceful transition of power would likely help. If only because I know where all the paperwork is kept. I also need more time to work with my children, who have been made to deny that they have a bloodline at all and have blamed their pink eyes on my jinchuriki status."
"You don't look anywhere near old enough to have kids," the blond Konoha-nin said.
Yagura sighed. "Yes, that's another side effect of the bloodline, but there are other things they need to start learning that they've been ignoring." Like how to control the family's bloodlust. He'd been under mind control when the lessons should've started and he'd been unable to find the family scrolls explaining things. Probably destroyed to prevent the information that they had a bloodline from leaking with the purges, but he didn't recall being the one to do it.
The girl with cat ears lightly smacked the boy for the comment, but said nothing further, obviously aiming to leave things with the locals. She also kept glancing at the squirrels and looking torn between an exasperated sigh and giggling.
"Is there anything else you feel you need assistance from Konoha for?" The Third Hokage asked.
"Or Uzushio," one of Uzushio's Anbu asked. "At least once the 'rebels' have finished taking over guarding the prisoners?"
"...I don't think so," Yagura admitted. "Beyond signing any mission paperwork to indicate that I'm happy with your service. Any treaties or other such agreements will need to be handled by my replacement."
It only took a few minutes to sign off on things, and then the Konoha group vanished. First the younger group, then the Third Hokage, and the latter was the only one that obviously used a technique to vanish. A summoning-like one, which had likely been a signal to have a summon reverse-summon him out of the village.
"You know," Yagura said. "I had heard that the two newly-promoted chunin were on a team that dressed as maids and had a 'vanish right out of their seats' trick. Seeing them vanish without any obvious means to do so is another matter entirely though."
"They could have been clones," Ao said, frowning. "But I was certain they weren't, and that didn't leave enough chakra behind for a dispelled clone. I saw enough of that with the Uzumaki over the past week to recognize it."
"Which fits with all their other insanity," Terumi grumbled. "As best we can tell, one of them just kind of appeared on the outer islands, then a few minutes later the rest of the group was there. Not a single lookout saw them approach, no boats, nobody running across the water." She then gestured at the remaining Uzushio Anbu. "They're all the same. Not a single person saw them arriving, then suddenly they're engaging here."
...apparently Konoha and Uzushio were far more competent when it came to stealth than they were known for. Which made sense for Uzushio, honestly, given that until very recently they weren't known to exist anymore at all.
"So is anyone else a bit terrified of the combined implications here?" Ao asked, looking around. "Multiple villages with teams that can just appear in other nations, one of which has the ability to apparently permanently remove a shinobi's ability to use chakra?"
"I was trying to repress that horror," Terumi admitted. "But you had to bring it up outright."
"The seal that can remove someone's ability to use chakra is technically a failed seal," one of the Uzushio Anbu volunteered. "Or a simplified version of a failed seal, anyway. Instead of granting a combined-chakra bloodline ability it shredded the ability to use chakra at all."
Yagura processed that, then turned to Terumi. "If you aren't willing to do everything in your power to ally with Konoha then you may not be fit to lead."
"There's no way in hell I want to fight them," the woman agreed.
"It's sadly unlikely that we'll be able to scare others into wanting to be allies like that," Shisui said after getting the verbal report on the mission and post-departure talk the clones had relayed back to Naruto. "Kirigakure is the only other major hidden village that had a regular history with Uzushio."
"I happen to agree," Old Man Hiruzen said. "The whole plan only worked as well as it did because it played against every expectation the defenders had as well. They were used to using abnormal animal movement as a warning sign instead of suspecting it to be the attack, the animal in question was considered to be largely useless for attack purposes with the only related summon clan being messengers, and who would normally be scared of a swarm of frightened squirrels barreling past them? Once word of this spreads, and it will, other villages will be far less likely to be taken so easily."
"We're the only other major village it could be tried on. Everyone else has too much 'dead space' around their villages. Finding a way in and flooding the village with animals would be better in those cases, taking them from inside in a way they aren't expecting. There are minor villages that could be taken down with the tactic, but I can't see it being the best solution for any of them at this point and the element of surprise is lost."
"Good thing the Uzumaki are known for never using the same surprise plan twice," Naruto said with a grin.
For some reason both Shisui and the old man flinched at that, though Shisui's was far less pronounced.
"Regardless," Shisui said. "You did well and may have gotten us another ally, one that could well be more reliable than Suna as well, but I am curious about this comment regarding Yagura and Isobu, which I'm told refers to the three-tails, merging?"
"Ah," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "Turns out that killing Shukaku and Kurama caused the rest of the tailed beasts to destabilize. Eventually there won't be any, but they're unraveling from both ends of the chain. Which apparently means bonding to their current hosts in a slower process than was used to bind remains to Hinata and I. Hopefully safer, too, because Hinata might have been just barely young enough..."
"...I think that's going into a black file until such a time as there are no tailed beasts left."
"It's in two already," the old man said. "Jiraiya reported the same thing previously."
"Ah. Guess I need another clone to read through those."
Ino looked at the waiver she'd been given. "Didn't we sign one of these for the second stage?"
"Yes," Naruto-sensei answered. "Anyone below jounin level is required to sign them whenever they expect to be inside the fence, and there's repeated proposals to build a second fence around the current one to designate an additional safe zone from things that can reach over the fence."
"...seriously?"
Hinata-sensei pulled a kunai out of a pouch and threw it in the general direction of the fence, only for a tree limb to drop over the fence from the other side to swat it out of the air. The limb then moved around a bit, as though looking for something larger, before more slowly retracting back behind the fence itself. "Yes."
All of a sudden Ino was very glad that their entrance gate had been around the other side of the training ground...and this time she actually read the waiver properly to see what it covered. Or warned about. Which was amazingly little, it was just a waiver against death, dismemberment, or other serious injury while inside of the training ground. With limits on how long the waiver was good for.
"Why does this last for the better part of a month?" Sasuke asked, beating Ino to the question.
"Because you three will be camping inside the training ground for the better part of a month," Naruto-sensei answered. "Our sensei was impressed when it only took us two weeks for hunger to get us hunting properly."
"...hunting properly?"
"Leak the smallest bit of killing intent and the prey animals will be gone, but if you can't clear out all but your target then they'll turn on you and are quite deadly. The goal is to be able to keep an absolute lid on your killing intent and only expose the things you want to expose to it."
"And you two aren't going to be helping us?" Kiba asked.
"If we do the work then you probably won't learn the lesson. You'll also be camping alone in different parts of the training ground, each responsible for your own survival. I got to keep Hoshi with me when we did this, so you get to keep Akamaru with you, but that's partially so that Akamaru can train the same way."
"We've already set up your tents," Hinata-sensei added.
"...this is going to suck." Ino declared. Because she was fully certain that it would.
As soon as the waivers were handed over they were all summoned to their individual tents, which contained 'basic instruction scrolls' and limited rations. Ino was happy that she'd eaten a large breakfast as she checked the perimeter of the campsite, finding that there were some basic security seals set up that she was keyed into, before grabbing the scrolls to read them.
Naruto looked over the tower in the middle of the training ground. It was definitely built to last and then some, but that didn't mean that the proper application of jutsu couldn't tear it down. Anko-sensei would be annoyed, but being able to take it down meant that a more modern one could be put back up in its place. Proper running water for the entire structure in particular would probably be welcomed.
"Do you think they realize that we've got clones watching them?" Hinata asked as she marked off items that were being packed up inside the tower.
"Probably not," Naruto replied. "Though when we switch things out for summons overnight they might."
"True. What are we supposed to do with the room full of spare outfits? I think there are things from every hidden village crammed in there."
"Bonus mission payment if we sort it properly, double if it's done so well in a specially-designed storage room."
"Ah, right, forgot about that. Different tags for them, then clones can work on that while we're focusing on the building itself."
"Sounds good to me."
An hour later their clones had emptied the entire building, including removing things that had been strapped onto the outside in various places. Another two hours were needed to get the various roofs off of the levels of the building, and then the proper demolition work could be done. This was made a little harder by the fact that the river actually ran under the tower in an artificial cave, and was frequently used as a 'safer' way in and out when they didn't want to use a couple of the admittedly-cramped tunnels. What really made taking the building down possible was the byakugan being able to see seals that Naruto could then consult with his parents in the Tome about how to disable and, later, replace on the new structure.
Once the seals were disabled and removed the walls practically crumbled, and they worked their way down to the ground. The levels below that weren't going to be removed entirely though, just reworked a little to improve things like the piping in the building and to add another couple of tunnels to get to and from the tower. Much more comfortable to use ones, as they were unlikely to be needed to be easily-collapsed for a war now that the village border was further out than it used to be.
Naruto was hopeful that a combination of tricks, including a wood release 'instant structure' technique, would make this take less time than the three genin needed to get control of their killing intent. Exposing them to killing intent had been easily done on the road, but getting them to stop leaking it was a lot harder.
"Except for your 'last resort' plan that you won't provide details of," Ao added. "Which you seem fairly confident in despite not sharing details."
"There are good reasons for that," the old man said, gesturing to Naruto. "The main one being that while Naruto can contact his people to ask for help, and they're likely to agree to try to keep needless deaths down, how they help can be...variable." It was obvious that the other two were only half accepting this explanation, so the old man continued. "Uzushio existed long before Konoha, never really participating in the 'wandering clans' era as we know it, and when Konoha was founded aid was asked for. Part of that was a concern about an enemy deciding to poison the water supply before it could be properly secured, so the Uzumaki built a shrine to Suijin that, when properly tended, constantly flows with clean water. If the shrine falls into disrepair then favor is lost and the water stops flowing."
"Surely you jest," Mei said. "They were famed for their seals and likely just slapped one down. We're horribly out of touch and we still heard rumors that only when an Uzumaki returned to take care of your 'shrine' that the water started flowing again."
"It took years of repairing and rebuilding the shrine before that happened, and only when the work was complete did the water start to flow again. The village also took care of the shrine with no Uzumaki to tend to it for several years before drunken vandals damaged the tamagaki. Water stopped flowing within seconds of the destruction, and only when a new, civilian-purchased and produced tamagaki was finally put in place did the water start to flow again."
"That does match what I recall hearing about the shrine," Ao said, before Mei could retort. "It was seen as the height of stupidity to allow a vandal to tarnish a Suijin shrine to begin with, and that it stopped the flow of water just seemed to prove it."
Mei blinked, looking at Ao for a moment, before frowning as she turned back to the old man. "Well then, I hadn't expected corroboration on that story, but it's only a single example."
The old man nodded. "True. Then there's the time that the Three Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist went rogue and were rampaging through the Land of Fire. They were using a stolen set of seals to hide themselves, and Kiri asked for Konoha's help in approaching Uzushio for aid as they were the experts in seals. Surely you know what happened to turn the three swords into five, and then not long after into seven as two more swords were obtained from Uzushio?"
"...I have to admit to not having heard that story."
"I have," Ao said, leaning back. "The first Three Swordsmen wielded Kabutowari, Kiba, and Shibuki. It is said that Shibuki's wielder was dragged off by the other two, who had stolen seals that allowed them to hide by absorbing chakra that might otherwise be used to give them away. A month after aid was asked for, Shibuki's wielder stumbled back into Kiri, alone, and seemingly without their sword, babbling as if insane. When the seal on the scroll that had been found glued to their back was finally broken it was discovered that there were two additional swords present. Nobody knows where Hiramekarei and Samehada came from, or where the two missing swordsmen went, but both swords are able to absorb chakra in ways that defy expectations and both swordsmen were abusing seals that could absorb chakra."
"...what?"
"The original treaty that Kiri and Uzushio would never fight was signed within four months, and two more...normal swords were provided by Uzushio to bring the number up to seven. Uzushio flatly refused to take the other two swords 'back', citing that they would always belong to Kiri."
"More recently," the old man said after a minute of silence. "They decided that the best way to prevent tailed beasts from being unleashed on Konoha unexpectedly was to kill the tailed beasts, leaving the now-former jinchuriki alive, and bind the remains to a couple of genin. Requesting their aid, no matter how good the cause, is to invoke a wildcard that could take any number of potential actions."
Mei gulped. "I see. But at the same time it's likely our best option for success."
"Indeed. I've also used a communication relay with my monkey summons back through Konoha to check with Yagura, and he both approved bringing Uzushio aid in and promised that he won't participate in the defense of the village should Uzushio show up...though he also knows some of the old stories and expressed concern as well. I assured him that so long as the stated goals include the village continuing to exist then those from Uzushio are unlikely to cause significant damage to it."
This...did not seem to be enough assurance for any of the rebels listening in, but they also didn't seem to want to voice their concerns. It would take another day and a half of discussion for agreement to 'contact Uzushio' to happen, and Naruto was made to pretend that it would take at least a day to get a response back.
Obito looked at the tree in the hideout, eyes narrowed. The flower was wilting, the stem looking like it would crumble at any time, and the bark was starting to flake off. Just this morning the body of Hashirama's clone had fallen off, having rotted away from the inside, and the first sign of trouble had actually been that the artificial humans had started to degrade. A dozen had just fallen over dead early this morning, but the first ones with problems had come up over a month ago. How any of this was possible was another question entirely, unless there was some upkeep process that Madara had forgotten to mention?
It would be entirely like an Uchiha to assume that things would've taken less than a decade and thus also assume that the one running the plan wouldn't need to know how to maintain things like the tree. Of course, it would also be just like an Uchiha to assume that a plant didn't need maintenance...and Obito had never been all that good at keeping his houseplants alive to begin with. Then there was the statue, sitting on the tree and that supposedly helped keep it alive. It looked okay, but perhaps there was something wrong with it? He knew even less about how to take care of it, but it was ancient compared to the tree that Madara had grown, so...
There were definitely too many variables here, but the loss of the disposable army and the means to replenish it wasn't a good thing. Nor was the fact that a number of facilities in the immediate area were likely to become unstable as the roots of the tree stopped supporting them, meaning that everything had to be pulled out. And this after finding out that the Mizukage had broken free of the controlling genjutsu, something that Obito wasn't confident in re-applying as it had been difficult enough to get to stick the first time, while also needing to find where the reborn Uzushiogakure had hidden three of the tailed beasts.
Far, far too many kunai had been thrown into the plan recently.
"Do you have everything you need for an early-morning assault on Kiri?" Old Man Hiruzen asked. He couldn't be 'Old Man Hokage' anymore and didn't want to be called 'Old Man Sarutobi' so had recently insisted on being referred to as Hiruzen. He seemed...exasperated at best at Naruto's version of that.
"Yep," Naruto replied. "Summoning stone in the right place to launch the attack from as well."
"You'll need to be seen here in the camp as well, so that nobody suspects that you're involved."
"I know."
"And do ensure that things are...bizarre enough for your family's heritage. We've played things up enough to essentially require it."
Naruto snorted. His parents had provided additional ideas for how to manage that well enough, and he'd had clones practicing some of the tricks for the past couple of days.
"I'm disappointed that I can't help with that part," Hinata said, pouting a little. She was equally out of the loop on his additional plans, intentionally so.
The old man shook his head. "Better that you be in full fighting shape in case things go wrong." He then pulled out a small packet and handed it over to Naruto. "If possible, these individuals and any who surrender outright should be left alone. Yagura believes that a third of them are rebel spies and all don't believe in the bloodline purges."
Naruto accepted the packet, nodding.
Gonbee sighed as he headed to take his guard position. He was sick and tired of the civil war, but couldn't do much to end it personally. Help the rebels a bit, not turn in the spies he knew of, and work with the elders to try and find a solution. That Yagura had come to his senses recently helped, but not nearly enough.
The sun wasn't quite up enough to provide illumination, but shouting from the on-duty guards had him moving faster. It might be an early-morning raid by the rebels, though they weren't generally stupid enough to openly attack the village. Slip in and out with the aid of those sympathetic to their cause? Sure. Openly attack? Generally that was a couple of clans that caused trouble for both sides.
Lots of squirrels were coming through as the larger alarms started to go off, implying a large force approaching. Annoying, but a useful warning sign, and the smaller animals generally vacated the village as soon as the larger threat was gone when this kind of thing happened. Though the sheer number was a bit odd. Seeing one dodge a kunai that had come from behind it, thrown by one of the more hot-headed shinobi, was odder.
Another being hit and exploding with significant force, leaving a sizable crater for a squirrel, changed the squirrels from 'curiosity and warning sign' to 'direct threat' to those in the area. Others started yelling, but there were already far too many squirrels in the village and more flowing over the walls even now. Gonbee carefully but quickly looked around, eyes wide, picking up other details. Like the fact that a third of the squirrels around him looked like they were animated corpses, or that now that he was paying attention he could tell that every squirrel he could see had what could be an explosive tag tied to their underside.
Most concerningly, they were also very obviously working together, one successfully opening a grate for five others before moving on without passing through the grate.
"SHINOBI OF KIRIGAKURE," suddenly rang over the village, the voice unfamiliar. Most of the squirrels Gonbee could see paused at this, and the exceptions he noticed were dodging attacks. "SURRENDER AND YOU WILL BE SPARED."
Gonbee wanted to ask who they were surrendering to, but that declaration seemed to be the trigger for all of the squirrels he could see to suddenly produce small blue masks. But not any masks, no, these were the same mask that the Uzushio Anbu once wore, sized for squirrels. A flash of light in the air then almost forcibly dragged his attention that way...to show that there were humans flying towards the village wearing the same masks. And ignoring kunai thrown at them. For good reason, apparently, as those that struck just bounced off of them.
A moment later the squirrels changed tactics entirely, running at everyone. Gonbee tried to keep them off, but quickly realized that multiple were in places he couldn't reach, each potentially having an explosive tag ready to activate. That thought was enough for him to drop the kunai he'd pulled out and slowly raise his hands, even as he just as slowly dropped to his knees. There were precious few others he could see doing the same. One of the idiots, he didn't recognize who, apparently had run out of chances as one of the tags on a squirrel latched to his back lit up...and the squirrel vanished in a puff of smoke.
That made no sense, because the summoning squirrels only really functioned as messengers.
The tag itself remained though, and a moment later the shinobi was engulfed in a burst of light...that then faded, leaving him seemingly unharmed. Similar bursts of light indicated others that were likely similarly affected, but what was the purpose?
"Bastards are using cheap tricks," the shinobi yelled, darting towards a nearby building. "They're using decoy tags!" He obviously tried to jump up to run up the building with surface-sticking, possibly to get a better view, only he didn't jump nearly as high as you'd expect...and his feet didn't stick to the building. Instead his eyes went wide as he fell to the ground, groaning in pain that no proper shinobi should've felt with their chakra reinforcing them...
And that's when Gonbee realized the truth of what had happened. The shinobi no longer had control of his chakra, but without it having been drained or obviously locked away. Instead the man still felt the energy, but had no control over it...conscious or subconscious, if the lack of automatic reinforcement was any indication. The implications of that were terrifying on their own...more so when considering that there were multiple squirrels with tags strapped to them attached to everyone. Gonbee included.
Every flash of light signifying a tag activating was one less person capable of using chakra and one more effective civilian in the village. Against a properly prepared enemy with full use of their own chakra you'd be hard pressed to be noticed fighting back without chakra of your own, and at the rate shinobi were falling to the tags it was likely that a troop of academy students would be able to take over the village soon enough, let alone the rebels.
Assuming, of course, that the Uzushio Anbu left a village to be taken over.
"Mei Terumi?" one of Naruto's clones asked a moment after it had body-flickered into the middle of the group.
"...yes?" Mei answered, sounding very unsure of herself with the apparent Uzu Anbu that had just appeared in their midst. They'd just barely gotten started on preparing to head to take Kirigakure.
"Who do you trust to hold the keys to a prisoner seal?"
"What?"
"Those that would still be capable of being a threat were tagged with a prisoner seal." A set of three scrolls was produced. "These are copies of the operating instructions, but a corresponding key seal needs to be applied to anyone who would be able to control the prisoner seals."
There was blinking, before she looked at Ao. He shrugged. "You're the one that we all trusted with leadership."
"But..." she said, frowning, turning back to the clone. "You...how many people did you place seals on?"
The clone tilted its head, as if thinking. In reality it was sending a message to ask. After a moment it got an answer. "Thirty or so, I believe. No more than forty."
"...there are far, far more than forty loyalist shinobi."
"There were far more loyalist shinobi. Those that received the seal are those who surrendered. The rest are alive, but are unlikely to ever be shinobi again. Without chakra they're just moderately fit civilians, and unlike draining or sealing away someone's chakra it's a lot more difficult to reverse the removal of the ability to control chakra at all."
As the implications of that hit those listening in there were obvious looks of shock. Mei gulped. "You removed their ability to control chakra?"
"Well, yes and no, depending on how you define 'chakra' in the first place. It's all far more complicated than anything you've likely come across, and depending on your definitions you could say that they no longer have the ability to generate chakra. Except that the traditional view of that would also involve them being dead, but since they aren't dead that obviously isn't accurate. What could be called a precursor energy to chakra still exists within them, but they have no control over it."
From the expressions on many of the faces of the rebels, they were probably wondering if asking for Uzushio to help had been the wrong decision. To most shinobi, losing your chakra was a fate far, far worse than death. Sparing lives through giving such a fate was apparently not something they'd considered.
Yagura snorted as he watched the 'rebels' enter the village, escorted by one of the Uzushio Anbu. Having the loyalists lose their ability to use chakra was...unexpected, but in some ways worth it to see the looks on the faces of the incoming group as they realized that squirrels were guarding the prisoners. Granted, this was only funny because he'd already come to terms with it, but he was accepting any amusement he could get.
The obvious Konoha shinobi in the group seemed less surprised, possibly because as a group they were more accustomed to Uzushio's...quirks, if only due to likely having more frequent interaction with them since they'd reappeared. Or in the former Hokage's case, a large number of interaction points over his lifetime. The blond was the only one that didn't look surprised at all...and he was wearing an Uzushio forehead protector in addition to a Konoha one. Not to mention was one of two that had animal ears and a tail, which meant he was probably well used to Uzushio antics.
Shaking his head, Yagura adjusted his hooked club on his back before jumping down, taking the rebels by surprise. Several of them jumped into place to defend against the attack he wasn't making.
"You still have your chakra," Terumi noted with a frown. "And I see no signs that you have a prisoner seal."
"Because I'm not a threat," Yagura said. "And have been helping to keep the idiots in line while waiting for your arrival."
"That and you're a horrible mess that we don't dare touch," one of the Uzushio Anbu noted. "Partially-bonded with Isobu. We aren't confident that we could safely remove your ability to use chakra or anchor a prisoner seal onto you right now."
"...how did you know about Isobu?"
"We have our ways."
Raising an eyebrow, he decided to ignore that, returning his focus to the group that had just arrived. "Regardless of why they left me alone, I don't think your people will trust me remaining as Mizukage, but a more...peaceful transition of power would likely help. If only because I know where all the paperwork is kept. I also need more time to work with my children, who have been made to deny that they have a bloodline at all and have blamed their pink eyes on my jinchuriki status."
"You don't look anywhere near old enough to have kids," the blond Konoha-nin said.
Yagura sighed. "Yes, that's another side effect of the bloodline, but there are other things they need to start learning that they've been ignoring." Like how to control the family's bloodlust. He'd been under mind control when the lessons should've started and he'd been unable to find the family scrolls explaining things. Probably destroyed to prevent the information that they had a bloodline from leaking with the purges, but he didn't recall being the one to do it.
The girl with cat ears lightly smacked the boy for the comment, but said nothing further, obviously aiming to leave things with the locals. She also kept glancing at the squirrels and looking torn between an exasperated sigh and giggling.
"Is there anything else you feel you need assistance from Konoha for?" The Third Hokage asked.
"Or Uzushio," one of Uzushio's Anbu asked. "At least once the 'rebels' have finished taking over guarding the prisoners?"
"...I don't think so," Yagura admitted. "Beyond signing any mission paperwork to indicate that I'm happy with your service. Any treaties or other such agreements will need to be handled by my replacement."
It only took a few minutes to sign off on things, and then the Konoha group vanished. First the younger group, then the Third Hokage, and the latter was the only one that obviously used a technique to vanish. A summoning-like one, which had likely been a signal to have a summon reverse-summon him out of the village.
"You know," Yagura said. "I had heard that the two newly-promoted chunin were on a team that dressed as maids and had a 'vanish right out of their seats' trick. Seeing them vanish without any obvious means to do so is another matter entirely though."
"They could have been clones," Ao said, frowning. "But I was certain they weren't, and that didn't leave enough chakra behind for a dispelled clone. I saw enough of that with the Uzumaki over the past week to recognize it."
"Which fits with all their other insanity," Terumi grumbled. "As best we can tell, one of them just kind of appeared on the outer islands, then a few minutes later the rest of the group was there. Not a single lookout saw them approach, no boats, nobody running across the water." She then gestured at the remaining Uzushio Anbu. "They're all the same. Not a single person saw them arriving, then suddenly they're engaging here."
...apparently Konoha and Uzushio were far more competent when it came to stealth than they were known for. Which made sense for Uzushio, honestly, given that until very recently they weren't known to exist anymore at all.
"So is anyone else a bit terrified of the combined implications here?" Ao asked, looking around. "Multiple villages with teams that can just appear in other nations, one of which has the ability to apparently permanently remove a shinobi's ability to use chakra?"
"I was trying to repress that horror," Terumi admitted. "But you had to bring it up outright."
"The seal that can remove someone's ability to use chakra is technically a failed seal," one of the Uzushio Anbu volunteered. "Or a simplified version of a failed seal, anyway. Instead of granting a combined-chakra bloodline ability it shredded the ability to use chakra at all."
Yagura processed that, then turned to Terumi. "If you aren't willing to do everything in your power to ally with Konoha then you may not be fit to lead."
"There's no way in hell I want to fight them," the woman agreed.
"It's sadly unlikely that we'll be able to scare others into wanting to be allies like that," Shisui said after getting the verbal report on the mission and post-departure talk the clones had relayed back to Naruto. "Kirigakure is the only other major hidden village that had a regular history with Uzushio."
"I happen to agree," Old Man Hiruzen said. "The whole plan only worked as well as it did because it played against every expectation the defenders had as well. They were used to using abnormal animal movement as a warning sign instead of suspecting it to be the attack, the animal in question was considered to be largely useless for attack purposes with the only related summon clan being messengers, and who would normally be scared of a swarm of frightened squirrels barreling past them? Once word of this spreads, and it will, other villages will be far less likely to be taken so easily."
"We're the only other major village it could be tried on. Everyone else has too much 'dead space' around their villages. Finding a way in and flooding the village with animals would be better in those cases, taking them from inside in a way they aren't expecting. There are minor villages that could be taken down with the tactic, but I can't see it being the best solution for any of them at this point and the element of surprise is lost."
"Good thing the Uzumaki are known for never using the same surprise plan twice," Naruto said with a grin.
For some reason both Shisui and the old man flinched at that, though Shisui's was far less pronounced.
"Regardless," Shisui said. "You did well and may have gotten us another ally, one that could well be more reliable than Suna as well, but I am curious about this comment regarding Yagura and Isobu, which I'm told refers to the three-tails, merging?"
"Ah," Naruto said, scratching the back of his head. "Turns out that killing Shukaku and Kurama caused the rest of the tailed beasts to destabilize. Eventually there won't be any, but they're unraveling from both ends of the chain. Which apparently means bonding to their current hosts in a slower process than was used to bind remains to Hinata and I. Hopefully safer, too, because Hinata might have been just barely young enough..."
"...I think that's going into a black file until such a time as there are no tailed beasts left."
"It's in two already," the old man said. "Jiraiya reported the same thing previously."
"Ah. Guess I need another clone to read through those."
Ino looked at the waiver she'd been given. "Didn't we sign one of these for the second stage?"
"Yes," Naruto-sensei answered. "Anyone below jounin level is required to sign them whenever they expect to be inside the fence, and there's repeated proposals to build a second fence around the current one to designate an additional safe zone from things that can reach over the fence."
"...seriously?"
Hinata-sensei pulled a kunai out of a pouch and threw it in the general direction of the fence, only for a tree limb to drop over the fence from the other side to swat it out of the air. The limb then moved around a bit, as though looking for something larger, before more slowly retracting back behind the fence itself. "Yes."
All of a sudden Ino was very glad that their entrance gate had been around the other side of the training ground...and this time she actually read the waiver properly to see what it covered. Or warned about. Which was amazingly little, it was just a waiver against death, dismemberment, or other serious injury while inside of the training ground. With limits on how long the waiver was good for.
"Why does this last for the better part of a month?" Sasuke asked, beating Ino to the question.
"Because you three will be camping inside the training ground for the better part of a month," Naruto-sensei answered. "Our sensei was impressed when it only took us two weeks for hunger to get us hunting properly."
"...hunting properly?"
"Leak the smallest bit of killing intent and the prey animals will be gone, but if you can't clear out all but your target then they'll turn on you and are quite deadly. The goal is to be able to keep an absolute lid on your killing intent and only expose the things you want to expose to it."
"And you two aren't going to be helping us?" Kiba asked.
"If we do the work then you probably won't learn the lesson. You'll also be camping alone in different parts of the training ground, each responsible for your own survival. I got to keep Hoshi with me when we did this, so you get to keep Akamaru with you, but that's partially so that Akamaru can train the same way."
"We've already set up your tents," Hinata-sensei added.
"...this is going to suck." Ino declared. Because she was fully certain that it would.
As soon as the waivers were handed over they were all summoned to their individual tents, which contained 'basic instruction scrolls' and limited rations. Ino was happy that she'd eaten a large breakfast as she checked the perimeter of the campsite, finding that there were some basic security seals set up that she was keyed into, before grabbing the scrolls to read them.
Naruto looked over the tower in the middle of the training ground. It was definitely built to last and then some, but that didn't mean that the proper application of jutsu couldn't tear it down. Anko-sensei would be annoyed, but being able to take it down meant that a more modern one could be put back up in its place. Proper running water for the entire structure in particular would probably be welcomed.
"Do you think they realize that we've got clones watching them?" Hinata asked as she marked off items that were being packed up inside the tower.
"Probably not," Naruto replied. "Though when we switch things out for summons overnight they might."
"True. What are we supposed to do with the room full of spare outfits? I think there are things from every hidden village crammed in there."
"Bonus mission payment if we sort it properly, double if it's done so well in a specially-designed storage room."
"Ah, right, forgot about that. Different tags for them, then clones can work on that while we're focusing on the building itself."
"Sounds good to me."
An hour later their clones had emptied the entire building, including removing things that had been strapped onto the outside in various places. Another two hours were needed to get the various roofs off of the levels of the building, and then the proper demolition work could be done. This was made a little harder by the fact that the river actually ran under the tower in an artificial cave, and was frequently used as a 'safer' way in and out when they didn't want to use a couple of the admittedly-cramped tunnels. What really made taking the building down possible was the byakugan being able to see seals that Naruto could then consult with his parents in the Tome about how to disable and, later, replace on the new structure.
Once the seals were disabled and removed the walls practically crumbled, and they worked their way down to the ground. The levels below that weren't going to be removed entirely though, just reworked a little to improve things like the piping in the building and to add another couple of tunnels to get to and from the tower. Much more comfortable to use ones, as they were unlikely to be needed to be easily-collapsed for a war now that the village border was further out than it used to be.
Naruto was hopeful that a combination of tricks, including a wood release 'instant structure' technique, would make this take less time than the three genin needed to get control of their killing intent. Exposing them to killing intent had been easily done on the road, but getting them to stop leaking it was a lot harder.
Avetho
Ghost-Piloting a BioMech from the Final Eon
- Location
- The KBC Void that contains Laniakea Supercluster
Not to mention that they would likely burn up in reentry without a Chakra network hooked into them to maybe do something somewhere in the ballpark of resisting the heat of 1500'C plasma, like how small meteorites light up the night sky briefly in the high atmosphere and become a part of our atmosphere. Then for the ones that somehow enter a stable orbit, by the time they are retrieved the blood in the blood vessels has frozen, the water crystallizing into ice and tearing the eye to shreds.
Anyways, I think it would be really interesting for Naruto and Hinata to explore more about how the Byakugan works and what more it could do, if they can improve their own.
Also: Sudden chapter release, that was cool, literally "a moment ago" so thanks CmptrWz I'll get right to reading now
David DeLaney
Verified & Credited Rules Wizard
- Location
- North of Knoxville, indoors, seated comfortably
from several weeks back:
to rein in
--Dave, on Dasher zombie, on Dancer zombie, on Dumdum and Brainstem!
to rein in
--Dave, on Dasher zombie, on Dancer zombie, on Dumdum and Brainstem!
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Fun chapter is fun and amusing. I'd imagine that assault will spread terror throughout the Hidden Villages as the implications sink in.
David DeLaney
Verified & Credited Rules Wizard
- Location
- North of Knoxville, indoors, seated comfortably
just a note: Google thinks nobody else has ever written this sentence fragment
--Dave, that is all. continuing!
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
In all fairness, it is a fairly unique sentence fragment. I don't think I'd seen it anywhere else either.
- Location
- none of your business
Those kinds of jokes only become relevant next month
Quantifiably speaking, I'd say yes
Well, anyone involved in the destruction of Uzushio should be worrying a bit now. That's both a nonlethal attack and utterly terrifying.
Most civilians would be secretly happy about it as well. In this setting, justice usually means the folks doing it end up killing folks like bandits or nin. I could see civilians that aren't involved in that sort of thing want to hire the nonlethal option.
The other thing to think about. If that becomes a common tactic, that person will become a liability. Their villages won't likely kill them. They would need to expend resources guarding them above and beyond normal civilians and also they'd need setting up as civilians. (The former ninja would hold ninja secrets of various sorts and wouldn't be able to guard those secrets properly and more.) None of those former nin likely could survive as civilians.
I can see the other ninja villages hearing about this will be trying to upgrade their village security. It'll be worse when they actually find others that were spying on them in the process.
I loved Obito worrying if he killed the tree due to his poor gardening skills.
Most civilians would be secretly happy about it as well. In this setting, justice usually means the folks doing it end up killing folks like bandits or nin. I could see civilians that aren't involved in that sort of thing want to hire the nonlethal option.
The other thing to think about. If that becomes a common tactic, that person will become a liability. Their villages won't likely kill them. They would need to expend resources guarding them above and beyond normal civilians and also they'd need setting up as civilians. (The former ninja would hold ninja secrets of various sorts and wouldn't be able to guard those secrets properly and more.) None of those former nin likely could survive as civilians.
I can see the other ninja villages hearing about this will be trying to upgrade their village security. It'll be worse when they actually find others that were spying on them in the process.
I loved Obito worrying if he killed the tree due to his poor gardening skills.
Having once been in the path of a squirrel zerg rush, I assure you, a hundred or so squirrels barrelling down an alley towards you is definitely more terrifying than you'd expect.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
To us civilians, yes. To a ninja in Naruto's world? Probably not that worrying. More of an annoyance. That is until you realize the critters can remove your ability to be a ninja.
- Location
- Sydney
Those seals are so overpowered. One touch and boom your no longer capable of being a ninja since no one other than Naruto is capable of fixing your chakra coils. Everyone will live in fear and might try taking that fear out on the villages known to be associated with Uzushio. It is after all possible to avoid it if your wary.
Frankly its so OP that in a more serious fic I would insist the author put some sort of restriction on it. Like your chakra automatically resists such modification so you have to deplete the target reserves first or it takes a time to operate. So you can use it on prisoners but not in the field.
CmptrWz however focuses more on slice of life, worldbuilding and escalation so it should be okay
Actually potential solution to make it less terrifying. We know the net was gifted by the Sage but he made mistakes with his children having better quality nets due to direct inheritance. Did he really manually spread the net to everyone or did he teach his followers the necessary trick. If he did the ninjas might be able to recreate the method in order to fix there members. There might even be forgotten lore which talks about how the Saga did so that could be used as inspiration.
That could easily see the damage become fixable even if it requires a decent medic. And possible spark a new arms race when someone with a bloodlimit does the trick and the person suddenly has the bloodlimit. The elemental bloodlimits certainly might have this happen even if the others don't.
Frankly its so OP that in a more serious fic I would insist the author put some sort of restriction on it. Like your chakra automatically resists such modification so you have to deplete the target reserves first or it takes a time to operate. So you can use it on prisoners but not in the field.
CmptrWz however focuses more on slice of life, worldbuilding and escalation so it should be okay
Actually potential solution to make it less terrifying. We know the net was gifted by the Sage but he made mistakes with his children having better quality nets due to direct inheritance. Did he really manually spread the net to everyone or did he teach his followers the necessary trick. If he did the ninjas might be able to recreate the method in order to fix there members. There might even be forgotten lore which talks about how the Saga did so that could be used as inspiration.
That could easily see the damage become fixable even if it requires a decent medic. And possible spark a new arms race when someone with a bloodlimit does the trick and the person suddenly has the bloodlimit. The elemental bloodlimits certainly might have this happen even if the others don't.
- Location
- united states
I'm still in the dark about if the book does or does not have the sharingan as an option yet. also interesting to see if doujutsu evololving is still possible as well.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Keeping in mind that the seals are so dangerous they can't even be made by the actual ninja? Yeah... Remember that Naruto mentioned that they are only safe to be made or handled by clones, due to the clone not exactly havinga chakra net to be removed. Not even he dares touch them.
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
It doesn't have the Sharingan, because the Sharingan only worked because of the greater God Tree Node System. As the system decays, it is likely that the Uchiha bloodline limit will decay as well.
CnidarianMessiah
Totally not a flying polyp <whistles innocently>
- Location
- Cooling Water Intake
The magic eyeballs are obviously scouring the universe looking for new wielders
"Vecna of Oerth,
You have a vacant slot for an eye
You belong to the Otsusuki Branch Corps"
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Jordisk
<Unverified N00B>
- Location
- Blind Eternities
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
The head was a joke. Vecna lost his Hand and Eye before he became a god for the first time. You use said hand and eye by removing your own hand/eye and attatching Vecna's. So what do you think happened with the "head of Vecna"? A lot of stupid murderhobos lopping off their own heads.Isn't Vecna also missing a hand and a head?
Besides, Vecna has replacements for his hand and eye.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
I was aware that the "Head of Vecna" was a joke magical item. It just baffles me that anyone thought their character would survive being decapitated long enough to mount "the head of Vecna". While also expecting such an Artifact, if real, to not immediately take over their character.
- Location
- Here
A great many players (not characters, players) have wis as their dump stat.
As do a great many people in general.
I am not often surprised by the lack of limits to human stupidity. It is, after all, limitless.
- Location
- Georgia
I believe it originated in a Knights of the Dinner Table comic, with the most munchkiny players fighting over who got the powerful magic item just as they did every other magic item, without stopping to think about whether it was a good idea to try using it. I believe one of the other players(the only girl) frequently tried to stop this kind of stupidity, to little effect, and pointed out the probable result of swapping heads to them.
Make something idiot proof and they'll build a better idiot. Every time somebody sets the bar to a new low for how stupid somebody can be without being brain-dead, thousands of people say, "Hold my beer".