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>>4267338
“Then what strategy do you want to pursue?” Yugito asks.

“If I had an answer to that I’d have started with it,” you counter.

“… I see.”

“Maybe this is a point where we have to stay reactive,” you frown. “Kurotsuchi, you mentioned that Orochimaru is dead?”

“That’s what we’ve heard,” Kurotsuchi replies. “Why?”

“Because if Uchiha Sasuke is now back in play, I think I know what his objective will be,” you declare. “Itachi.”

“Itachi?” Fū repeats. “Is that a person?”

“They’re brothers,” you clarify. “Uchiha Itachi is a member of Akatsuki… and is the man who killed off their clan.”

“Now that’s a name I haven’t heard in a while,” Yugito muses. “Did you know him?”

“He saved my life,” you admit. “And he placed a lot of trust in me. The only other thing I can say is he’s guilty of what that which he’s been accused, just not for the reasons everyone thinks.”

“So how do we make use of that information?” Karin wonders aloud.

“You’re not thinking of saving Uchiha Itachi, are you?” Yugito demands.

You shake your head. “I’m not sure that’s my part to play.”

“The heck does that mean?” Kurotsuchi demands.

>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.
>Sasuke will be going after Akatsuki now. I say we get him onboard with us.
>Konohagakure has wanted Sasuke back and Itachi dead for years, so they’ll already be doing the legwork. Jiraiya may be our way in on that.
>Other?

Got a link to past threads?

>>4267357
http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/qstarchive.html?searchall=Shinobi+Sidestory

>>4267341
>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.

>>4267341
>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.
>Whatever happens, we need to be ready to turn it to be beneficial to us.

>>4267341
>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.

>>4267341
>>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.

>>4267341
>It means we need to follow both their movements, if possible. How their feud plays out may become important.

>>4267341
Will continue tomorrow.

>>4268212
Cool! Thanks for running!

>>4267341
“We should follow both their movements as closely as possible,” you suggest. “However their feud plays out, I think it’s going to be important later on.”

“What makes you think that?” Karin enquires.

You consider your response carefully. “Because either way one of them will be dead, and the survivor will have lost their reason to live.”

“And you want to be the one who determines what the survivor does next?”

You nod curtly. “To a degree. But Sasuke isn’t going to be best buddies with us that easily, and Itachi is… a difficult person in general. At best I can give either one a little push in the right direction.”

“But more important is to keep Akatsuki from capitalizing on the results.”

“How do you mean?” Karin asks.

“If Sasuke wins, Akatsuki will want him,” you explain. “He’ll have proven his potential, and they need the replacements.”

“Well, sounds like you have pretty good handle on things,” Kurotsuchi muses, “so seems like you won’t need the Tsuchikage’s help after all?”

That sounds almost hopeful on her part.

“One moment.”

You return a few moments later with a kunai you retrieved from your room, one with the expected blade design but a different handle. This one is mounted with a thin tube of pale nurizaya, the straight-grained wood taken from a magnolia tree that is often used for specialized storage scabbards for fine swords. Even your Umekiri has one, which you sometimes find yourself placing her into when you don’t intend to fight for a while.

“Here,” you tell Kurotsuchi, handing her the tool. “Hold on to this. I haven’t marked it with the hiraishin, but the tang has a sealing tag wrapped around it.”

“What’s it for?” she asks.

“If you flow your chakra through it I’ll be able to sense it,” you tell her. “I’ll expect you at the teahouse where we met.”

“You didn’t mark it with hiraishin?” Kurotsuchi muses. “Knowing my grandfather it’s better that way, but still… it’d be way easier.”

“That’s about what I figured,” you agree. “But unless things change this is the best we can do. Keep me informed if you can, but I’ll be keeping busy anyway so don’t push your luck with the Tsuchikage. Okay?”

“Agreed.”
>1/2

>>4269236
“She seems nice,” Fū muses after you put Kurotsuchi back where she was before.

“She’ll turn on us if she’s ordered,” Yugito contends.

You shrug. “You’re both probably right.”

That seems to be a satisfactory answer to them, so you’re left to decide your next move in peace. There are only a few options for who you can go to now… you know where Gaara and Temari are, and you know that you can count on them to do what they can. You also know that you have a… contact… in Konohagakure that doesn’t strictly follow the Hokage’s orders and who probably doesn’t pay any more attention to the Council. The trouble is you don’t know where to actually find Jiraiya, you only know who he chooses to keep contact with. In his own village this amounts to Tsunade, Naruto, and Kakashi, and you also know that one of his back-channel contacts in Sunagakure is Elder Chiyo.

Then you have your friends in the smaller villages, particularly Hoshigakure and Kusagakure, who arguably owe you. Putting them on the case may cast a fairly wide net, and is enabled by your existing hiraishin network. You may even be able to get the wandering survivors of Roran and the daimyō of This and or That to agree to help you find either Sasuke or Itachi.

Or… you could just wait until one of the Uchiha kills the other, as you believe is Itachi-han’s intention.

>Sunagakure gets you closer to Konohagakure without being DIRECTLY involved with them. That’s a good place to start.
>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.
>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.
>Wait until Itachi-han sends you the signal.

>>4269248
>>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.
Honestly just because I'm curious

>>4269248
>>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.
I am still curious how Jiraiya is dealing with another sage in the world

>>4269248
>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.
>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.

>>4269248
>>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.

>>4269248
>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.

>>4269248
>>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.

>>4269248
>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.

>>4269248
>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.

>>4269248
>>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.

Nobody but Naori really cares about the smaller nations. Let’s make use of that.

>>4269248
>Konohagakure, in particular Jiraiya-sensei, are the key here. As much as Danzō sets your hairs on end you HAVE to start there.

>>4269248
>The smaller nations present a continent-spanning network that are willing to help. Time for a whirlwind tour.

>>4269248
>1d6, high roll
>best three of four

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4269829

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4269829

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4269829

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4269829

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>>4269829
You settle on a plan of action before going to bed that night, and in the morning you teleport to Hoshigakure. Your hiraishin marking here is in the sitting room of the Hoshikage residence, written on a paper tag, and you’ve brought a replacement… this one is marked onto another special kunai with a nurizaya hilt, which you suspend from a thin cord to one side of the entryway.

“I see you’re doing some redecorating.”

You turn to face violet-haired Natsuhi, who you left as the new Hoshikage after her predecessor’s very much timely death. “It’s been a while, Natsuhi-han.”

“That it has, Naori-han,” she agrees. “Please, sit.”

“Thank you,” you bow politely, taking a seat on a square cushion on the tatami floor. “Sorry it’s been a while, but things have been hectic on my end. How are things with your village?”

“The Fūma clan have all integrated quite well,” she informs you, “and we’ve established a more formal academy… of sorts.”

“It’d be pretty small,” you muse.

She nods in agreement. “But enough to teach our children the basics of medicines and poisons, puppet design, and chakra threads for those with the talent for it. Our shinobi programs have completely pivoted away from the Star training.”

“That’s good to hear,” you smile. “And has the village been doing well since then?”

“It has,” Natsuhi smiles. “We’re not wealthy of course, but we get a wider variety of requests now. The one rough spot has been the girl you brought here two years ago, Tayuya.”

“Is that so?” you frown. “What’s the problem?”

“She’s…” Natsuhi struggles to find a diplomatic way of saying it. “She’s probably the most difficult person I’ve ever met. She spends most of her free time avoiding everyone else, and when she doesn’t have that choice she’s rude, confrontational, and extraordinarily stubborn.”

“Then I’ll make you a deal,” you offer. “I’ll talk to her, and in exchange can you do something for me?”

“Depends on the request,” Natsuhi-han admits, “but I can try.”

“I need information on Uchiha Sasuke, and his brother Itachi,” you explain. “The former is a missing genin from Konohagakure, who used to train under Orochimaru, and the latter is a member of Akatsuki.”

“I can do that,” she agrees readily. “If that’s all you want, information isn’t a big deal.”

“I’ll also have Kusagakure and some other contacts in the smaller nations keeping their ears open,” you explain.

“Then I’m happy to offer Hoshigakure’s help.”
>1/2

>>4270010
Keeping to your word, you leave the Hoshikage residence after having tea with Natsuhi. Your aim is to find Tayuya, who according to everything you heard from Natsuhi-han and the few villagers you stop to speak to tends to spend a lot of time just outside the village, in the forest.

“Kuchiyose: Isoka!”

“What’s up?” Isoka chirps happily. “This is Hoshigakure, isn’t it?”

“That’s right,” you nod. “I want you to help me find someone. She’ll be out in the forest, by herself.”

“Gimme a few minutes,” Isoka replies before zipping off, weaving between the trees.

A few minutes later, just as she said, Isoka returns. “I found her, I think. Red hair, scary look on her face?”

“Sounds right,” you agree. “Where?”

…

“That’s close enough!”

You step out onto a wide branch, in a tree near to the one in which Tayuya is standing. “Tayuya.”

She stares at you. “Raishō Naori, now that’s a surprise. The hell are you here for?”

“Checking in,” you offer, “and asking the Hoshikage for a favor. I hear things haven’t been going too smoothly between you and her?”

“The whole village treats me like a freak,” she grumbles. “Even the Fūma.”

“Why the Fūma?” you ask. “Is it because you worked for Orochimaru?”

“Nailed it,” she snorts derisively. “I can’t tell if it’s jealousy that I got a curse mark or hate from when I was an enforcer. Maybe a bit of both.”

“Point is, no one’s ever really given me a chance.”

You jump over to her branch, and take a seat next to her. After a moment she sits as well.

“I’ve been having a similar experience,” you admit. “From having been in Akatsuki for so long.”

“That so?”

You nod curtly. “It took even my friends a while to start trusting me again.”

“But eventually things started getting better, bit by bit,” you declare.

“That’s great and all,” Tayuya grumbles, “but they gave you a chance.”
>2/3

>>4270187
“That’s right,” you admit. “Kagerō-han will probably give you the same kinda chance. The two of you aren’t unalike.”

“Fūma Kagerō?” Tayuya asks. “Yeah, right.”

“Have you given her a chance?”

Tayuya thinks on this for a moment. “Maybe not… I dunno.”

“Talk to her,” you encourage Tayuya. “You just need someplace to start, you know?”

After a moment, she nods curtly. “Sure. We’ll try it your way.”

>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?
>Excuse yourself, head to Kusagakure next.
>Other?

>>4270275
>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?

>>4270275
>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?

>>4270275
>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?
in this order

>>4270275
>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?

>>4270275
>>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?

>>4270275
>So I heard the Hoshikage’s opinions… how do YOU think things have been going?
>I need your help, Tayuya. If Orochimaru really IS dead, what happens to his organization?

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>>4270275
“So, I heard from the Hoshikage...” you muse, “but I wanna know what you think. Where does Hoshigakure stand at the moment?”

“I think they’re fools for abandoning their kinjutsu,” Tayuya admits. “They’re doing fine for now as doctors, and doing small-time missions, but there are times when those skills just aren’t enough.”

“You’re not using the curse mark,” you observe, “I’d know it if you were.”

“That’s just it!” Tayuya insists. “Natsuhi has the Kujaku Myōhō if she ever needs it, I have the curse mark if I ever need it, Kagerō has the Utakata technique. But if nobody else ever gets to learn those techniques then nobody else will have them if they need them!”

“Don’t get me wrong, the archery, poison, and chakra thread techniques are all pretty neat,” she admits, “and Hoshi-nin can hold their own in a fair fight. But you and me… we’ve seen some pretty un-fair shit, and you know it!”

“Your Sound Four got beaten by a bunch...” you begin. “Okay, so Chōji used a kinjutsu. And I keep forgetting that the Eight Gates are a kinjutsu too, so technically Rock Lee used one. Shikamaru had a hiden technique of the Nara clan… and Gaara was still a jinchūriki at the time… and Neji has a dōjutsu… and even if it’s kinda lame the Inuzuka clan’s techniques are all hiden…”

“I guess I see your point, but none of those techniques are fatal to their users.”

“The three of us are still alive,” Tayuya counters.

“Barely!” you insist. “Kagerō-han is still recovering from when she used Utakata, Natsuhi-han will probably never recover fully from her training and the Star is gone anyway, and even though I’m a sage I have no way to give anyone natural energy without killing them.”

“So what technique do you suggest Hoshigakure use?”

“I don’t know!” Tayuya snaps. “I… haven’t thought about it that far, cause I can’t convince anyone that it’s needed in the first place.”

You sigh deeply. “I’ll talk with Natsuhi-han again, because you do have a point… a village without an ace in the hole won’t last long. I’ll think of something that can fill that role for Hoshigakure.”

“In the mean time, I need to ask you something about Orochimaru’s organization. Have you heard the rumors about his death?”

After a moment, Tayuya nods curtly. “Good riddance. Why?”

“I’m interested in tracking down Uchiha Sasuke,” you explain. “And I’m curious about what his first move might be after killing Orochimaru. So I want you to tell me what you think might happen to his organization in the immediate aftermath of his death.”

“You want to know what options Sasuke would have to choose from?” Tayuya realizes. “That’s… perilously close to clever of you."
>1/2

>>4271221
“Orochimaru’s pawns and puppets mostly don’t know about each other,” Tayuya explains to you, “and very few of them ever actually get to see him. So he could’ve been dead for years and most of his people wouldn’t know it.”

“Who would know?”

“At one point?” she muses. “Me and the rest of the Sound Four, Kimimaro, Sasuke, Guren, and Kabuto. That’s it.”

“Four dead, two beyond easy contact, that leaves Kabuto,” you consider what you already know. “So let’s start with what Kabuto would do.”

“Bah!” Tayuya scoffs at the notion of Kabuto being important. “He’s a coward, living and working comfortably in his master’s shadow. He doesn’t have the balls to involve himself with Sasuke one way or the other, and I doubt someone capable of offing Orochimaru would mistake Kabuto for someone worth keeping.”

“So Kabuto’s a non-factor in your judgment?”

“Always was, always will be.”

“You may not know Sasuke,” you consider the next line of questioning carefully, “but Orochimaru probably trained him similarly to how he handled you and your former comrades. Safe assumption?”

“Orochimaru only knows one way of doing things,” Tayuya agrees. “So yeah, probably.”

“What would you do in his position?”

“I’d start by releasing some of Orochimaru’s more useful test subjects,” Tayuya suggests. “Form a team of four, including myself, based on who I thought I could use.”

“Any likely candidates?”

Tayuya shakes her head. “Only one I can think of, and I don’t know where he’d be kept anymore… the guy whose kekkei genkai helped Orochimaru design our curse seals. Total psychopath, only Kimimaro could ever control him.”

“A sharingan could go a long way there,” you muse. “Any other ideas?”

Tayuya shakes her head again. “No, sorry.”

…

You talk with Tayuya a little while longer, but eventually excuse yourself to go bring her concerns up with Natsuhi. You do however leave with one suggestion: that Tayuya try talking with Kagerō-han, broaching the subject by dropping your name. If Kagerō knows that you sent her, she may be more willing to speak openly with Tayuya, and that openness will probably be good for both of them.
>2/3

>>4271255
True to your word you return to Natsuhi, who offers you an early lunch.

“I talked with Tayuya,” you explain. “Sent her to Kagerō. I think the two of them have a lot in common, so it’s a first step at least.”

“I also know what was bugging her.”

“Is that so?” Natsuhi-han asks. “And what would that be?”

“She thinks you were too quick to abandon all kinjutsu,” you explain, “as a concept. And I tend to agree with her.”

“I’m surprised,” Natsuhi admits. “Raishō-san, you were instrumental in stopping the Star training.”

“Because it was killing your children,” you explain. “An ace in the hole is no good for emergencies if learning it causes an emergency.”

“So what would you propose?” Natsuhi asks you. “I’ll listen to you of course.”

“The Eight Gates method has some merit,” you admit. “Doesn’t seem dangerous to learn, won’t kill you by using the first two gates… but beyond that and the backlash gets progressively worse, and having a whole village using it, even a small one, could be dangerous. That much power can be intoxicating.”

“I’ll see if I can’t come up with a sealing method that can block a specific gate. Doing that should disable use of any of the higher gates if I understand the technique correctly. Trouble is I’d have to learn it first.”

“I figured that you would have learned something like that,” Natsuhi tells you, looking you over suspiciously. “Surely you’ve considered it if it’s so powerful?”

“It’s less powerful than Sage Mode, given what I’ve seen of it,” you explain, “and my chakra has three parts to it instead of two.”

“Meaning half again as much strain,” Natsuhi-han realizes. “I think I see the problem.”

“I might be able to get away with it for a few seconds at a time,” you shrug, “but I’d have to be desperate to try.”

You say your thanks to Natsuhi-han, promising to stop back in at some point whether she has news or not, before considering your next move.

>Go speak with Ryūzetsu next. Get her started on helping you out.
>Put Temari on the trail of the survivors of Roran… nomads might hear more than others.
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.
>Other?

>>4271282
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.
If doing it in sage mode causes half-again as much strain, then i'd hope it gives us half-again as much power too.

>>4271282
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.

>>4271282
>you actually need to go to konoha

>>4271282
>>Put Temari on the trail of the survivors of Roran… nomads might hear more than others.

>>4271282
>>Go speak with Ryūzetsu next. Get her started on helping you out.

>>4271282
>Put Temari on the trail of the survivors of Roran… nomads might hear more than others.
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.

>>4271285
Naori would understand IC that the Eight Gates increases its user's chakra usage and physical parameters, and that natural energy has to be balanced against that new amount of physical and spiritual energy.

That means the possible results of opening the first gate are:
>The user won't be able to draw enough natural energy to balance it against their heightened state, making the two techniques incompatible
>The "Eight Gates Sage Mode" is five times as strong as Sage Mode with an uncertain physiological backlash more similar to the fifth or sixth gate
>The "Eight Gates Sage Mode" somehow offsets its own backlash by enhancing Naori's natural regeneration factor
>The "Eight Gates Sage Mode" is lethal to the user, either by breaking down the user's own body, burning out their chakra network, or shortening the user's lifespan

>>4271370
Jesus christ.
I wonder if it's possible to do some special training specifically in order to withstand it.

>>4271379
First we have to find out which of these are actually applicable

>>4271397
Well, assuming we don't roll low, the backlash is either equal to the sixth gate, or if we roll high, not actually an issue.

Assuming we roll mediocre, we'd need to train to handle the stress. We could probably do that by both training physically and training to increase the amount of raw chakra flow our body can handle without exploding.

>>4271282
>>Go speak with Ryūzetsu next. Get her started on helping you out.

>>4271282
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.

>>4271282
>You actually need to go to Konoha, speak with both Tsunade-han and Rock Lee.

>>4271398
Wasn't there a technique for doing just that? I could have sworn there was one...

Also, just had a thought: What if we could find a suitable sage path for Rock Lee? This is assuming that he already doesn't have a contract right now. Maybe something with Tigers that would allow him to learn it in a more kinetic way.

>>4271282
You decide to send a shadow clone to leave a message for Ryūzetsu… you don’t want to actually discuss something that important with her by shadow clone however. It would be… less than respectful. Instead you teleport your true body to Konohagakure, to the marking you left just outside Ichiraku ramen.

Lucky for you, a familiar face is sitting at the counter.

“Naruto, come with me!”

Naruto, taken totally off-guard by your sudden appearance, practically chokes on his ramen as you drag him off the stool.

“W-what the hell!?” he sputters. “Hey, what’re you… where’re we goin!? Oi, I was tryin’ to eat...”

“Nope, need your help now,” you insist. “Follow me.”

With that, you drag Naruto up to a nearby rooftop like a big cat dragging prey up into the treetops.

“I need your help with something,” you insist. “I need you to tell me where I can find Rock Lee.”

“He’s out of town!” Naruto insists. “On a mission, he should be back tomorrow. Why are you looking for him?”

“That’s for me to know.”

Naruto frowns. “It sounds really shady when you put it like that… and why did you have to drag me up here?”

“I didn’t want to risk dragging Ayame-han or her father into my own business,” you insist curtly. “They’re good people.”

“And I’m not good people?”

“You’re a shinobi,” you assert, “you worked hard to be involved.”

“Now if you’ll excuse me I need to talk with Tsunade-han. I assume she’s in her office?”

“I… think?” Naruto muses. “But why…”

“Again, not your business,” you insist. “Though… could you do me a favor and apologize to Ayame-han?”

“Sure?”

“Thanks.”

…

You head straight to the Hokage’s office, letting yourself in through one of her windows on the appropriate floor. “Good afternoon, Hokage-han.”
>1/2

>>4273369
Ok, that was a bit rude, we should apologize to him, or just treat him to some ramen

>>4273369
“Naori-kun,” Tsunade-han replies calmly. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“I need to ask you a favor,” you explain. “Or rather, a few different favors. First is I need to talk with Rock Lee when he gets back to the village.”

“I assume you have a reason for that?” she muses. “What would that reason be?”

“I want to know about the Eight Gates technique,” you tell her. “Not even for me, actually. I’m trying to come up with a replacement for the Star training that Hoshigakure used to use. Something safer to learn that would serve as a deterrent.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m the one who took the Star from them.”

“I see,” she nods. “I assume you spoke with Hoshigakure’s leader… Natsuhi-san, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right,” you nod. “It’s a concern many in her village share.”

“I have two issues with your plan,” Tsunade-han admits, resting her chin on her hands, “the first of which is the risk to the Hoshi villagers themselves. How do you plan to address that?”

“Once I know how the technique works I can devise a fūinjutsu that would block the higher Gates from being opened,” you explain. “I could probably do it now, but it would be faster and more efficient if I knew what I was doing. And if you or your council are worried about it, I already have Sage Mode. I don’t need the Eight Gates and I doubt the two can be safely combined given how senjutsu chakra works.”

“That answers my second question,” Tsunade admits, “which was going to be about ensuring that Hoshigakure couldn’t send some sort of suicide team to use the Eight Gates against us.”

“An allied third party could apply the seal,” you suggest. “Assuming your council thinks so little of Hoshigakure.”

“That can be negotiated,” Tsunade sighs. “And your other favors?”

>I need to speak with Jiraiya.
>We need to talk about Sasuke and Itachi.
>Other?

>>4273404
>I need to speak with Jiraiya.

>>4273404
>I need to talk to jiraiya

>>4273404
>I need to speak with Jiraiya.

>>4273404
>I need to speak with Jiraiya.

>>4273404
>>I need to speak with Jiraiya.


I mean, we also need to talk about Sasuke, but Tsunade doesn't really have any more pull in that than we do right now.

Also, I hope we aren't planning on just quietly going along with Itachi's plan to commit suicide by little brother to atone for his sins. Feels very out of character for us to be ok with just letting him duck the responsibility of everything else he's laid at our feet. Yknow, like the whole Tobi thing.

>>4273404
>I need to speak with Jiraiya.

>>4273615
Offering Itachi similar way to get out like Sasori would be nice as I agree that Naori wouldn't be fine with Itachi killing himself. But Naori same time sees that the feud is something she shouldn't participate or get involved with outside of what Itachi had asked.

>>4273626
Agreed, it's partially a family matter that was resolved long before she came into it, after all he has done and set up, Itachi is only waiting for the last page

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>>4273404
“I need to speak to Jiraiya-sensei,” you declare flatly. “I was hoping you could put me in touch with him.”

“What do you need to talk with him about?” Tsunade-han asks you, narrowing her eyes slightly. “It must be something you can’t talk with me about.”

“Oh, you know,” you muse, “just sage stuff.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Look,” you lower your voice slightly, understanding by now that she’s not going to let you off without a better explanation than that. “It’s a sensitive subject, and I don’t want to put you in a position where you either have to sell me out or lie to your elder council. Jiraiya-sensei seems like a total goofball, and my summons don’t like him, but the important thing right now is that he doesn’t have a political position to compromise.”

“Does this have something to do with Orochimaru’s death?” Tsunade guesses.

“It may tangentially,” you admit. “Don’t ask me anything more than that, I really don’t want to have to lie to you.”

After considering your account of yourself for a few moments, Tsunade nods curtly. “Jiraiya isn’t here at the moment. I’ll tell him you came looking though… how should I contact you?”

“Through Sunagakure,” you reply. “Unless your council has relaxed since we last time our‘coordination’ was raised?”

“They haven’t,” Tsunade-han grumbles. “Very well. I’ll contact the Kazekage when Jiraiya returns.”

…

That leaves you the rest of the day to go to Kusagakure, where you climb out onto the roof of Hozuki castle to find Ryūzetsu sitting quietly by herself, watching the inmates in the courtyard far below.

“What brings you here?” she asks without turning to look.

You sit down on the tiles next to her. “Partly business. Could Kusagakure keep its ears open for anything about Uchiha Sasuke or Uchiha Itachi?”

“Itachi, as in the one in Akatsuki?” she wonders aloud. “I could have that done. I’m sure my faction still feels a debt of gratitude, so it should be easy enough.”

“That’s good,” you muse, “I’d hate for it to be a problem.”

“And Sasuke-kun would be his… little brother?” Ryūzetsu continues. “If I’m remembering the reports correctly?”

“Yup.”

“Which one are you worried about?” she asks you, sparing you a sidelong glance.
>1/2

>>4273909
“Both,” you admit. “Whichever one of them survives will be devastated, and the other will be dead. Neither can ‘win’.”

“And you want to stop that from happening?” she wonders.

“I don’t know,” you admit, “I’m not even sure it’s my place to know. But at very least, I should be the one to handle the aftermath.”

“Why?”

“I made a promise.”

After a moment Ryūzetsu nods in agreement. “Okay, I’ll put it to the council.”

“… something bothering you?”

Ryūzetsu goes back to staring at the prisoners. “Why do you ask?”

“People don’t usually do stuff like sit on the rooftop by themselves and stare for no reason,” you muse.

“I’m grateful to you,” she eventually replies. “Have I ever told you that?”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know that,” she insists. “But I just wanted to make sure you know before I start complaining.”

“By all means,” you gesture for her to continue.

“I’ve… been getting a bit lonely here,” she admits, “pent-up. Even if I used a shadow clone to be in two places at once there’s nothing near enough to Hozuki castle to be worth the effort. Sometimes I feel as much like a prisoner as the actual prisoners.”

>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.
>Let’s do something interesting. Suna or Konoha, your pick.
>Show me what you do for fun here. If I know that, maybe I can help make Hozuki castle more tolerable for you.
>Other?

>>4274005
>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.
>I'll leave a piece of paper with you afterwards. You can come visit any time.

>>4274005
>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.
>I'll leave a piece of paper with you afterwards. You can come visit any time.

>>4274005
>>Let’s do something interesting. Suna or Konoha, your pick.

>>4274005
>>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.

>>4274005
>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.
>For a later date, Suna or Konoha, your pick. I can make things happen.

>>4274005
>>Let’s do something interesting. Suna or Konoha, your pick.

>>4274005
>>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.

>>4274005
>Come with me. I’ll introduce you to some people at my hideout.

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>>4274005
“Make a shadow clone and come with me,” you insist, nudging her shoulder gently with your fist. “You can recover the memories from a shadow clone, right?”

“I’ve never really tried it,” Ryūzetsu admits.

You create a single shadow clone. “Then I’ll leave my clone here and we’ll talk for a while. You can send your clone with me.”

“Where are you going?”

“Back to my hideout,” you explain. “Or one of them, at least.”

“Using Hiraishin?” she wonders aloud. “I’ve wondered what that was like.”

“It takes a lot of practice,” you admit with a chuckle, “so I’m not too annoyed that I use it this way so often.”

“What, to warp people around for the sake of convenience?”

“Exactly,” you nod. “If I had to do this for people I didn’t consider my friends, I’d absolutely hate it.”

…

“Who’s this!?” an unusually spent-looking Fū greets you cheerfully at the hideout in the Land of Hot Water. “A new friend of yours?”

“Not ‘new’ anymore,” you shrug. “Wash up before dinner.”

“Kay!”

Fū shoots off like an arrow for the bath room, followed by an absolutely exhausted Karin.

“… literally how?” she grumbles at Fū’s impossible exuberance. “Help me understand.”

“I’d have to understand it myself first,” you muse. “You too. Showers, the both of you. You can explain what you were doing over food.”

“Sounds good,” Karin replies, trudging off after Fū.

“Friends of yours?” Ryūzetsu asks.

You nod. “The redhead’s Karin, a distant cousin of mine or something like that. Fū’s a pseudo-jinchūriki… Akatsuki got her about a year and a half ago. When they did I resealed part of her tailed beast inside her. It kept her alive.”

“I see,” Ryūzetsu frowns. “I always assumed you Akatsuki were up to something you weren’t telling the rest of us about.”

“That was it,” you admit. “How it should be done and why… those were always points of contention. I only thought I'd had the last word.”
>1/2

>>4274904
“You call this a hideout?” Ryūzetsu muses as you walk her past the lily garden to the pre-fabricated room with the kitchen equipment in it.

“I get that a lot,” you admit, picking some herbs from a pot sitting next to the edge of the veranda. “In here, I’ll be fixing dinner real quick.”

“Dinner?” Ryūzetsu repeats.

You nod curtly. “It’s my turn.”

…

You end up making a simple meal of pasta in a light peanut sauce, with thin-sliced pork seasoned with a little onions and rosemary, and steamed vegetables. Over that meal you make the basic introductions, getting them out of the way so that you can talk for real.

“So I can’t help but notice,” Yugito-han muses, “that all of your friends are female.”

“Yes, and?” you ask.

“So, are you...” she asks. “You know.”

“Gay?” you fill in the blank. Fū cocks her head at you, and Karin momentarily stops eating.

“Yeah, that,” Yugito-han admits.

“When you were my age, how many of your friends were girls?” you ask.

“… most of them?” Yugito-han replies.

“I had three friends who were guys,” you tell her. “One died on our first mission, the second was crippled on that mission and we don’t see each other as often as we used to. He stayed behind in Amegakure. The third, who I considered a friend, was Shikamaru.”

“You mean...”

“The one who stabbed me in the back when we were fighting Hidan and Kakuzu, yeah,” you nod curtly. “As for the rest of you I consider Karin family, Fū is more like a little sister to me than a friend, and you, Yugito-han, are technically my prisoner.”

“So what you’re saying is you have terrible luck with men,” Ryūzetsu suggests.

“Something like that,” you agree. “It… might also be a little harder for me.”

“Why?” Yugito wonders.

“I was raised in a house of courtesans,” you explain. “The only men around were the patrons. So yeah, maybe I’m a little more conscious around men than most girls my age. Maybe I relax a little easier around other girls.”
>2/3

>>4274927
“… I see,” Yugito eventually replies. “Sorry for bringing it up.”

“That’s just how it is,” you shrug. “I’m not gonna fault you for not knowing something I don’t really talk about.”

“Anyway, how’s dinner?”

“It’s a nice change of pace to eat with other people around,” Ryūzetsu muses.

“Why aren’t there people around when you eat?” Fū asks.

Ryūzetsu shrugs. “I’m a prison warden. The only people around are usually my staff and the prisoners. Sometimes my dinner gets interrupted by a small riot, but other than that it’s a pretty solitary sort of situation.”

“That’s sad,” Fū declares. “What, does no one ever come to visit you?”

“It’s a prison for shinobi,” Ryūzetsu reiterates. “People don’t really just get to go in and out when they feel like it.”

“Except me,” you point out.

“Except her,” Ryūzetsu adds. “Quite frankly even she probably shouldn’t, but her hiraishin makes it easy to overlook.”

>Then let’s fix that. There’s gotta be a way for you to communicate with the outside world.
>There’s a lot to be said for nicer surroundings… like my hideouts, for example.
>There has to be a way to change how your sealing works, to allow you to leave the castle grounds.
>Other?

>>4274931
>>There has to be a way to change how your sealing works, to allow you to leave the castle grounds.

>>4274931
>>Then let’s fix that. There’s gotta be a way for you to communicate with the outside world.

>>4274931
>Then let’s fix that. There’s gotta be a way for you to communicate with the outside world.

>>4274931
>then let's fix that

>>4274931
>Then let’s fix that. There’s gotta be a way for you to communicate with the outside world.

>>4274927
Naori, dodging questions as easily as she does Kunai and established shinobi norms.

Hmm . . . running out of time to get things done.

Naori has yet to really work Sage chakra into her fuinjutsu. She might want to get on that, and maybe come up with a unique sealing technique of her own to do stuff like seal things away beyond normal means. Or do exotic things like restrict or even stabilize the eight gates. Or seal tailed beasts her own way with a better shot at making pseudo-jinchuuriki. That'd really hose Tobi.

She could reverse summon again to work on it in the Shrike Forest. Also could perfect sage mode gates without worrying about running out of natural energy while practicing.

And were we ever going to summon Yahiko, even just to talk? Might want to take some time to prep other Edo Tensei summons as well.

So much to do, so little time. Thank goodness for shadow clones.

>>4274931
>1d6, high roll
>taking the best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4275267

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4275267

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4275267

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4275267

>>4275267
“There has to be some way to help you...” you muse, before abruptly coming to an answer. “The rings?”

You find yourself being stared at. “What?”

“What rings?” Ryūzetsu asks.

“Akatsuki used a set of ten rings to communicate remotely,” you clarify. “If I can replicate them using fūinjutsu formulae and programmed genjutsu then anyone possessing one could communicate over a long distance.”

“What were the limits?” Yugito asks anxiously.

“If they had limits I never found them,” you admit. “I always thought that the Rinnegan was key to their operation, but that might not be the case. And even if it is true a sufficiently advanced sharingan may be able to duplicate that role in their creation.”

“And if that works?” Karin muses. “What would it be like in practice?”

“Usually the focal point was the statue that we used to seal tailed beasts,” you explain, “so when each user activated their ring they would see those surroundings. Each participant would be visible, but… kind of ghost-like, I guess would be the phrase I’d use.”

“It’d be a good way to contact a limited number of people without the risk of teleporting.”

“And if one were to fall into the wrong hands?” Yugito-han enquires. “What then?”

“I’d have to disable it,” you reply. “Either that or teleport to it… which if that were an option would preclude using it in lieu of hiraishin for contacting people like Tsunade-han.”

“Sounds as if you have you work cut out for you,” Ryūzetsu muses.

“If it helps a friend I’m happy to do it,” you insist. “And if it helps me sharpen my skills in the mean time all the better.”

…

After dessert, you catch up on the memories made in the mean time by your shadow clone in Kusagakure. Turns out she and Ryūzetsu were interrupted by a minor outbreak of violence, which you stuck around just long enough to watch her quell almost single-handedly.

Her plea to you was for more stimulation in her own working environment, not unlike what you created for yourself in your hideouts. You could probably help her set up a culinary garden on the grounds of the old keep, where her office and quarters are, overlooking the prison yard.
>1/2

>>4275456
The next day you return to Konohagakure, and pass the time in a garden center until you get word that Rock Lee has returned. In that time you buy several crates of culinary herbs, tomato and cucumber plants, and a few small fruit trees, which you teleport to Hozuki Castle as a gift for Ryūzetsu. You’re in the middle of examining pre-fabricated greenhouses when a runner finds you.

“Ma’am, Team Guy has returned and are waiting at the Hokage residence,” the chūnin informs you curtly.

“Thank you,” you reply calmly, excusing yourself from the garden center and sprinting across a series of rooftops to reach the Hokage office.

…

“Hokage-sama, what is this?” Lee demands when you put in your appearance.

“This is the person who wished to speak with you, Lee,” Tsunade-han. “Raishō-san?”

“You remember a mission just about two years ago now?” you ask. “The one in Hoshigakure?”

“That was the small village where everyone wore masks,” Lee recalls, and quite correctly too. “Yes, I believe I do.”

“Hoshigakure used their ‘star’ as part of a training regimen,” you recount for the sake of context. “You remember that as well?”

“It had a high fatality rate?” he answers. “I believe I can recall that detail as well. Why do you ask?”

“Because I want to help them replace that technique with one that’s effective, but not lethal to learn,” you finally explain. “I believe the Eight Gates method would be ideal.”

“Now hang on a minute!” Guy interrupts. “That technique can be just as deadly to use!”

“If you open all eight Gates,” you counter. “I’m only talking about the first gate, maybe the second. That would be a trump card for their village, same as Takigakure has their ‘hero water’ for example.”

“And how would you...”

“We’ve already been through this, Guy-san,” Tsunade-han interrupts. “If you’ll allow Raishō-san to explain it will go much quicker.”

“I would need to learn up to the Third Gate,” you continue, “so that I could devise a fūinjutsu that would limit a user to the first two gates. This would make it easier for the five Kage to allow such training to exist, since it wouldn’t reach the level of presenting a dire threat to their own villages.”

“I think it’s a solid plan that’s worth considering,” Tsunade adds. “And it would meaningfully strengthen the position of one of our smaller strategic allies. But I won’t insist that you agree to it.”

“Since by definition the fūinjutsu I design could work on either of you,” you explain.
>2/3

>>4275565
“If it helps only three people will know how to perform it,” you continue. “Tsuna-han, myself, and the Hoshikage, Natsuhi.”

“Do you believe this is the right thing to do?” Lee asks, causing Neji and Tenten, who have so far remained quiet, to stare at him in surprise.

>I believe so. And if it puts you at ease, only I’d be fast enough and skilled enough at fūinjutsu to apply it AFTER you’ve released beyond the Third Gate.
>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.
>Use your own judgment of what’s right and wrong. If you refuse I can still do this work on my own, just much, MUCH slower.
>Other?

>>4275579
>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.

>>4275579
>>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.

>>4275579
>>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.

>>4275579
>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.
>And if I can get the Eight Gates to play nice while I'm in sage mode, you, Rock Lee, just might be able to use ninjustu like everyone else. Well, provided you have or find a summon to form a contract with that HAS a sage path.

>>4276594
Nope, not how it works

>>4275579
>>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.

Fair’s fair I suppose. This is kinda big favor we’re asking.

>>4275579
>I think so, and I’m willing to show you the technique I devise for blocking the Third Gate so you can create a suitable counter to it using taijutsu.

>>4275579
“Yes, I do,” you confirm. “And I also believe the right thing to do would be to demonstrate the sealing method I devise so that you can create a counter for it based on taijutsu.”

“You would do that?” he asks.

You nod curtly. “If I were to fight against you I probably wouldn’t use it anyway. I already have the strongest ‘juinjutsu’ as it is.”

“Hiraishin,” Tsunade-han muses. “I’ve heard it described that way too.”

“Wait, you don’t mean the Fourth’s technique?” Guy wonders. “This girl knows that? How?”

Neji, Lee, and Tenten, who were all previously staring at Tsunade in confusion before turning to Guy when he spoke, now all turn to you in unison.

“Hey… what’s with that look?” you muse.

“What’s this ‘Hiraishin’ thing?” Tenten asks. “And why’ve I never heard of it?”

“It’s a space-time technique that allows its user to teleport themselves and anything they’re in contact with instantly to any location where they’ve previously left a formula marking,” Tsunade explains. “Regardless of distance. It’s an S-rank technique created by the Second Hokage, who also created the shadow clone technique Naruto is so fond of along with the Edo Tensei technique.”

“But how?” Guy repeats. “I thought it was recorded in the seal of scrolls so that nobody could just learn it casually.”

“I had an opportunity to examine the formula used by the Fourth,” you explain, “then used the Second’s formula to understand how it was improved upon. Combined with my own knowledge and skill at sealing I was able to recreate the technique.”

“How is a teleportation technique like a curse?” Lee asks, still hung up on your comparison.

“Because once she marks someone with it directly,” Neji explains, “that person is essentially marked for death. Even using the Byakugan to defend myself… if she marked me it would mean she could kill me at any time, from anywhere, in an instant.”

“That being said,” you interrupt, “I’ll still show you the sealing technique once I’ve created it. A guy like you at least deserves the courtesy of a fighting chance, regardless of whether you help me or not.”

Lee considers what you’ve said for a moment. “Then I agree to your request. But be warned, the Eight Gates method is not one which can be easily learned on a whim. It takes years of hard work and perseverance to master.”

“But I can tell that you are one who will be up to the challenge!”
>1d6, DC 12 (Hard-Very Hard)
>taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4276857
RNGesus be with us

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4276857
DC 12 HOOOOOOO boy

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4276857

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>>4276857
You meet Lee in a small training field near the edge of the village, another clearing in the woods like all the rest. He has a headband tied around his forehead, marked with the kanji reading “nintai” or “perseverance”.

“Now then!” he declares, seemingly excited to have a student. “The first thing you must know is the locations of the Eight Gates within the body! The locations of the first two, the Gate of Opening and the Gate of Rest, are located within the left and right sides of the brain. They limit the flow of chakra within the body.”

“Opening the Gate of Opening removes one’s mental inhibitions, and opening the Gate of Rest allows the body to recover more quickly.”

A mental block, huh? Located within the brain…

“Can I see you use it, please?” you ask politely.

Lee obliges you, demonstrating his technique. So that’s where it’s located.

“Sorry to tell you this,” Lee replies, “but it will not be as simple as having seen me use it once, no matter how closely you observe...”

Concentrating on the chakra flow within your body, you force the Gate of Opening to open with a shout of exertion. The force of the chakra being released pushes the grasses outwards and shakes the limbs of the nearby trees, as Lee stares at you in total disbelief.

“H-how is it that you can do it so easily!?” Lee demands.

You test it out, throwing a few punches and comparing the results to sage mode. “It’s actually less chakra than I’m used to handling in Sage Mode. And I don’t think they’re compatible after all… I wouldn’t be able to mass enough natural energy to match this.”

“The Third Gate?”

“It’s located at the base of the throat,” Lee replies, still visibly stunned.

“Now that you can mention it...” you muse, “I can feel where it should be. It’s… a strange sensation.”

“Yeah,” Lee agrees, still staring blankly.

>That should be enough to work with. Thank you for helping me, Lee-han.
>Show me the Third Gate, just to be certain that I understand what I’m doing.
>Other?

>>4276902
>show me the third gate
Dont take it too hard, sage mode needs another level of consciousness in regards to Chakra flow, I had the hard work already done

>>4276902
>Show me the Third Gate, just to be certain that I understand what I’m doing.

I feel really bad for Lee, we just came and flexed a bit.

>>4276902
>>Show me the Third Gate, just to be certain that I understand what I’m doing.

>>4276902
>Show me the Third Gate, just to be certain that I understand what I’m doing.

>>4276902

>"Lee, for what it's worth, I still had to work my ass off and risk my life for to even get through the basics. It took about what...2 years to get it perfected?"
>"The point is, there's still hard work and effort put into attaining Sage mode and the difficulty curve it's just as difficult as eight gates, if not, even more difficult due to its circumstances."
>"It's why the number of sages in the world can be counted on one hand. The same goes for the number of users of the eight gates who can access all eight gates."

>"Sage mode has its own difficulty curve. Stricter requirements, but the dividend pays with enough hard work and training with better application."

>"I still have to work my ass off to learn new techniques even then...but one of Sage mode's perks is that it lessens the difficulty curve for learning. Sorry about that."

Damn it, Naori. Stop stealing techniques and come up with your own!

>>4276902
>>4276928

Supporting this dialogue.

>>4276928
I can get behind this too. Supporting!

>>4276942
You mean like her kekkei genkai Chakra flow sword and combination lightning strike techniques which wrecked kakuzu?

>>4276928
>>4276902
Support.

>Don't feel like your efforts were wasted, Lee. I can only do this because i too, have already persevered. We're the same in that regard.

>>4276902
>Show me the Third Gate, just to be certain that I understand what I’m doing.

Base of the throat, huh? Are they based on chakras like the throat chakra?

>>4276902
“Lee-han.”

“What is it?”

“Look at me.”

Rock Lee does as you insist, and you meet his eyes with a firm gaze. “Listen, it took me a long time to learn to handle senjutsu… I’m still learning, actually. But that effort made me unusually quick to grasp the Eight Gates.”

“Try not to let it get you down.”

“Even so,” Lee admits, “it is somewhat dismaying to see something which took me a year to understand learned in less than one minute. So tell me, if you learned the method behind the Eight Gates because you were already a Sage, would I be able to become a sage in the same amount of time?”

“No,” you reply promptly.

“And why would that be?” Lee demands. “I work ten times as hard as any chūnin.”

“Some techniques can’t be learned that way,” you reply. “What do you know about the sage arts?”

“Guy-sensei explained to us that a sage exists in a state beyond the normal human limits,” Lee tells you, “and that the power they are granted rivals that of the higher Gates.”

“A sage must become one with the energy of the world, energy without becomes energy within,” you explain. “The danger in becoming a sage is all up-front… once mastered, its use no longer carries any risk. But fail in the training and you die.”

“I am ready for that sort of risk!” Lee declares.

“I don’t doubt it,” you reply. “But if you can’t use ninjutsu there’s no way you can learn senjutsu, and no amount of hard work can change that. No matter how hard the wind blows, the mountain will never yield to it.”

“That is easy for the mountain to say.”

“And hard for the wind to accept,” you counter. “The fact that I’m a sage doesn’t somehow invalidate your own accomplishments, so I suggest you learn to stop judging yourself based on what others can do.”

After glaring for a few seconds, Lee nods curtly. “You are correct, of course. I apologize for my outburst.”

“Now,” you sigh, “walk me through the Third Gate.”

>1d6, best three of four
>will return tomorrow

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4277727

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4277727

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4277727

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4277727

>>4277727
As it turns out the Third Gate works exactly the way you expected it to, and that gives you all the information you’ll need to create a fūinjutsu that blocks the release of that gate. You already know the mechanism you’d use to place that seal in the middle of a fight, and so you can show Lee what you intend to do.

“The best way to deliver a seal to that spot,” you tell Lee, “would be a modification of a Northern Mantis-style grab to the throat. It has several sets dedicated to frontal chokes.”

“So the ideal way to combat such an approach would be based on wrestling forms,” Lee decides. “Specifically using arm lock techniques and kicks in tandem.”

“That wouldn’t be my style,” you admit, “but then again neither is Northern Mantis.”

“How would you defend against such an attack?”

“I would probably use my left elbow as a stop hit,” you explain, “reposition into hira-seigan to set the appropriate spacing, and avoid making the same mistake a second time.”

“Mistake?” Lee repeats.

You nod curtly. “Are you familiar with the concept of maai?”

“Of course,” he replies. “It’s a concept in kenjutsu, a distance of about two meters.”

“A sword has greater reach,” you continue. “When I am at ittoma, middle range, you would consider me at tōma, long range. When you are at ittoma, middle range, I would consider you at chikama, short range. When you are at chikama, proper kenjutsu is nearly impossible.”

“A master of kenjutsu must be a master of spacing, maai,” you declare. “I must find the correct spacing to strike you without ceding my advantage of reach nor giving you too much time to respond.”

“So between kenjutsu and unarmed taijutsu of equal skill, with no lapses in concentration or awareness, kenjutsu should always win?”

You nod again. “But since I know I’m only human, I’ve learned to fight inside my normal chikama, and outside my normal tōma, where mastery of kenjutsu would be of no use.”

“That is why you would consider having your sword-arm grabbed to have been caused by a mistake,” Lee realizes. “Because under ordinary circumstances you would not have allowed that to happen. It would mean that you attacked from too far away.”

“Exactly.”

“I see now that you are an extremely diligent and studious fighter,” Lee bows politely, a gesture you are somewhat slow to return due to your surprise. “I mistook you for the type who never had to work hard, but hearing you talk about kenjutsu changed my mind.”

“Thanks,” you muse. “Now if only your village elders would change their minds...”
>1/2

>>4278821
When you return to Hoshigakure, it’s with a small, handwritten scroll that you set on Natsuhi-han’s desk.

“What is this?” she asks curiously.

“My notes on the Eight Gates,” you declare. “And a training regimen suggested by a current user. I’m told that for normal people to learn it is a long process, where there’s no substitute for diligence and perseverance.”

“You don’t intend to teach it yourself, do you?” she asks.

You shake your head. “No. I learned it almost instantly, but for a normal person it takes months of practice. I’ll check in as often as I can, and I’ll return to you once I have the fūinjutsu designed to limit it to the first two gates, but I can’t devote the time required to be here every day for who knows how long.”

“This is the best I can do.”

“And the rest will have to come down to the skill and dedication of Hoshigakure’s shinobi,” Natsuhi-han muses. “Then it won’t be a problem, we’ll begin first thing tomorrow. Thank you, Raishō-san. Again.”

…

Several days later, you receive news from the northeastern border of the Land of Fire: there’s been a massive explosion, far beyond the realm of what normal shinobi are capable. Shinobi from Konohagakure have been sent to investigate, as well as a team from Yūgakure… for what little that’s worth by now after years of under-funding and lack of practical experience.

“What do you think?” Karin asks.

“It may well be Deidara’s work,” you admit. “His explosive techniques are city-killers… I’d be interested in knowing why he felt it necessary to use a blast the size people are talking about.”

>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.
>I’ll collect a small team and investigate. Fū, Karin, you guard Yugito.
>I doubt bringing Yugito along will pose a significant problem, and we can’t keep her here forever.
>Other?

>>4278876
>>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.

>>4278876
>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.
>If I need reinforcements, I can just send a shadow clone to collect you.

>>4278876
>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.

>>4278876
>>I’ll collect a small team and investigate. Fū, Karin, you guard Yugito.

>>4278876
>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.
>If I need reinforcements, I can just send a shadow clone to collect you.

>>4278876
>I’ll go alone. I can’t place Yugito’s security at ANY risk over this.

>>4278876
“I’ll go alone,” you declare, “as reconnaissance. If I need backup or if I can confirm it’s not a security risk I’ll return here using hiraishin.”

Yugito seems somewhat disappointed not to be going along with you, but no one complains.

…

The site you’d heard news of isn’t far, especially not for Nyoka’s wings, and soon you find yourself in a high circular orbit around a scar on the world itself. In a wide valley between two low ranges of mountains, there was once a forest. Now, for what you’d estimate is a ten kilometer radius, there’s nothing. This explosion must have been visible for dozens of miles. There’s no way that anyone near the center of the blast could have survived it, nor is there likely to be any evidence of them… just bare earth in a wide, dish-like crater.

“Here,” you tell Nyoka. “Please bring us down near the blast center.”

“Of course,” Nyoka replies calmly. “It has been a long time since this one has seen such devastation. What is it you hope to find?”

“Any evidence,” you muse.
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4279824

We need to bring Yugito with us somewhere. Cabin fever is serious business to avoid.

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4279824

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4279824

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4279824

>>4279844
>>4279863
>>4279864
Damn. Near perfect.

>>4279824
That's some explosion. Since we're Northeast of the Land of Fire I am decently sure it's not the "Ten continuous minutes of explosions" technique...but this is still pretty spooky.

>>4279824
There’s little left in the way of identifiable features to examine, but you do find one spot with something interesting.

“What is it?” Nyoka asks, landing next to you on the bare dirt.

“Look here,” you encourage her.

“Smaller craters?”

“Exactly,” you nod. “Earth was excavated by these explosions, then pushed back downward by the larger blast… but only just.”

“Interesting,” she muses. “This one sees the issue. If these smaller craters were not obliterated then the larger blast lacked any real pressure.”

“I thought it looked strange from above,” you admit. “There should be a wide ring of trees blasted outwards from the cleared scar at the center, at least another ten kilometers.. But there’s not.”

“It wasn’t an explosion so much as everything within this circle was vaporized.”

“Do you know the most likely culprit?”

You nod. “Deidara. These smaller craters are consistent with landmines… the wider blast may have been caused by a cloud of dust-sized bombs.”

“Dust-sized?” Nyoka muses. “You must forgive this one’s skepticism.”

“Deidara used clay as a medium for explosive-nature chakra,” you inform her, “so using clay dust as a medium could produce widespread damage like this. There’d be no single pressure wave, and no heat at the center to cause melting of the surface layers of the terrain. The micro-explosions simply peeled the topsoil away.”

“Is this Deidara still alive?”

You frown, examining what little there’s still left for you to see. “The smaller explosives were planted first… he was fighting against someone that forced him to use a technique that I never knew about.”

“It may have been a suicide attack, but I have no way of knowing that.”

“Have you any way of knowing who this Deidara-chan was fighting, Naori-dono?”

You shake your head. “Not me, Nyoka-han. I need you to switch with Isoka-han.”

“This one agrees,” Nyoka bows her head politely before disappearing in a burst of smoke. You’re already weaving the seals.

“Kuchiyose: Isoka!”

The little shrike does an excited loop, before she catches sight of the devastation and nearly drops from the air in shock. “What the hell happened here?”
>1/2

>>4280882
“Akatsuki happened. I need you to search for any traces of chakra,” you explain. “I want to know what happened here, who was present, and who won and who lost.”

“Then I’ll take a look around,” Isoka replies before zig-zagging off through the air.

First she hovers around the smaller craters for a few minutes, then she flits through where the forest would have been for several more minutes, then she dives down to the bottom of one crater, then into the next.

Then she returns to you.

“There were three here,” she reports. “All three were really strong… the bomber, his partner, and the challenger. The bomber’s chakra’s everywhere obviously, but it seems his partner was the one who planted the mines that left those big holes.”

“Can you tell me anything about the partner?”

She nods once. “He left no tunnels between the mines. No sign at all of digging, even with earth release.”

“And the challenger?”

“I sense a lot of lightning-nature chakra,” she adds, “and I can smell one of the snake clan. And a big one too.”

“Sasuke,” you realize. “How did this end?”

“There’s no chakra to suggest that the bomber survived,” Isoka informs you. “There’s traces of chakra in the ground showing that his partner fled, alive. The snake and summoner didn’t leave the blast zone.”

“Can you tell if they survived?” you ask.

She shakes her head. “There’s no evidence that they’re alive, and none that they’re dead. But there’s a chance that the summoner was reverse-summoned, or they used some similar trick.”

>If Sasuke escaped there’s no way Deidara didn’t wound him. We should search near the blast zone.
>Sasuke likely recruited teammates from among Orochimaru’s subjects. They may be in the nearby town.
>If we could contact Konoha’s shinobi, they may have more specific intel to add to what we know.
>Other?

>>4280884
>Sasuke likely recruited teammates from among Orochimaru’s subjects. They may be in the nearby town.
>If we could contact Konoha’s shinobi, they may have more specific intel to add to what we know.

>>4280884
>Sasuke likely recruited teammates from among Orochimaru’s subjects. They may be in the nearby town.

>>4280884
>>Sasuke likely recruited teammates from among Orochimaru’s subjects. They may be in the nearby town

Is Sauce gonna even survive Itachi, Deidara or A without Karin bailing his ass

>>4280884
>Sasuke likely recruited teammates from among Orochimaru’s subjects. They may be in the nearby town.
>If we could contact Konoha’s shinobi, they may have more specific intel to add to what we know.

>>4280909
Yknow, that's a good point...he doesn't have anything close to a medical-nin.

>>4280935
He doesn't, but monster boy has a form of healing that much more unpleasant

>>4280884
>If we could contact Konoha’s shinobi, they may have more specific intel to add to what we know.
>If Sasuke escaped there’s no way Deidara didn’t wound him. We should search near the blast zone.
>Summon karin to heal his dumb ass, just in case we do find him

>>4280884
>>4280958

>>4280884
>1d6, high roll
>taking the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>4282652

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>4282652

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4282652

>>4282652
>11
“Isoka-han, come here for a moment.”

“Kay.”

When Isoka perches for a few moments on your outstretched finger, you place a hiraishin formula marking on one of her long tailfeathers.

“Stay here a moment,” you instruct her, gently prompting her to take off from your finger and hover in place. “I’ll be back in a flash.”

You weave three hand seals in rapid succession, then appear instantly in your Hot Water hideout.

“Karin!” you declare, sprinting into the kitchen and grabbing her by the shoulder. “C’mere a minute.”

“O...”

You flash through the hand seals again, teleporting back to where you left Isoka mere seconds ago.

“...kay,” Karin finishes the thought. “Wait what?”

“We’re on our way to a nearby town,” you declare. “Isoka-han, you mind if I leave that marking on your tailfeather?”

“Not at all,” she muses. “Are you gonna put one on Nyoka-dono too?”

You nod curtly. “I’ll ask her about it another time. Thanks for your help, Isoka-han.”

“Not a problem!”

…

“Can you sense any strong chakra?” you ask Karin upon arrival in the village.

She nods curtly, eyes shut in the middle of a crowded market where the locals are still talking about the lightshow they saw earlier in the day. “I can. There were several… this way.”

Karin leads you out of town, to a clearing by a small lake, where you find the body of a large snake that’s evidently been burned to death.

“Four shinobi were here,” Karin informs you. “They made no effort to mask their trail coming here and they’re no longer in my sensory range. I think they crossed the lake, then probably started covering their tracks from there.”

“What can you tell me about them?”

“One seems to have arrived here suddenly with the snake,” she tells you. “There was also one whose chakra feels similar to yours in sage mode, but… less so. Weaker, thinner, murkier for lack of a better word.”

“A curse-mark user of some kind,” you realize.
>1/2

>>4282870
“Can you tell how long ago they were...” you begin to ask. “Hang on.”

“Kuchiyose: Isoka!”

“Ready for duty!” Isoka chirps, before realizing that there’s one hell of a big snake in front of you. “Oh wow. All kinds of overcompensation going on today.”

“Can you tell me how long this thing has been dead?” you ask Isoka.

Isoka flits around for a few moments, then returns to perch on your finger. “Since morning.”

“Can you track them?”

Isoka turns to face Karin. “It’s possible. But if they did a good job hiding their trail, it may be too late.”

>Then we’ll give it a try.
>Then we’ll wait for Konoha to arrive. Share what information we have.
>Let’s go home, I don’t even know what I’d do if I CAUGHT Sasuke anyway.
>Other?

>>4282919
>>Then we’ll wait for Konoha to arrive. Share what information we have.

>>4282919
>>Then we’ll give it a try.

>>4282919
>Then we’ll give it a try.
>Get Fu and Yugito to here as reinforcements. If we catch them, having superior numbers is really useful

>>4282919
>Then we’ll give it a try.
>Leave a shadow clone to inform konoha, don't waste any time getting on their trail

>>4282919
>Then we’ll wait for Konoha to arrive. Share what information we have.

>>4282919
>>Then we’ll wait for Konoha to arrive. Share what information we have.

>>4282919
>>Let’s go home, I don’t even know what I’d do if I CAUGHT Sasuke anyway.

>>4282919
>>Then we’ll wait for Konoha to arrive. Share what information we have.

>>4282919
>>Then we’ll give it a try.
>>Leave a shadow clone to inform konoha, don't waste any time getting on their trail

>>4282919
Let's wait for konoha to arrive

>>4282919
Eventually, you shake your head. “It’s not my place to stop them, even if I disagree with them.”

“How do you mean?” Karin asks.

“Regardless of why he did it,” you admit with a weary sigh, “the fact is that Itachi-han helped wipe his entire clan out of existence… men, women, and children alike. And that’s the fact he himself accepts as most relevant.”

“And so he expects his little brother to kill him?” Karin presses.

You shake your head. “It’s their clan, their family, and they haven’t asked me to intervene or mediate or whatever. So until one of those things changes it doesn’t matter whether I agree or not.”

…

It isn’t long at all before the first shinobi from Konoha arrives at the scene, and it’s none other than Hatake Kakashi.

“Kakashi-han,” you greet the man politely. “You’re too late. We both were.”

“This is Karin, one of my companions and a member of my clan.”

Karin bows politely, and Kakashi returns the gesture.

“So this explosion...” Kakashi asks you. “What did we miss?”

“Uchiha Sasuke fought against two Akatsuki here,” you explain, “definitely Deidara-kun and probably Zetsu. It seems like the only one who died was Deidara, though it was close.”

“How do you know that?” Kakashi frowns entirely through inflection.

“Karin?”

“We found traces of their chakra,” Karin confirms, “along with a dead giant snake. If Naori-san’s judgment is that it Uchiha Sasuke was here because of those things, you can be certain that he was here.”

“One of my summons also helped me confirm some of the other evidence,” you add, “which was consistent with Zetsu being here. She’s positive that Zetsu survived, and I believe her. We also found evidence that Sasuke’s put together a team from some of Orochimaru’s former subordinates… they were here to support him.”

After considering what you’ve told him for a few minutes, Kakashi-han nods curtly. “May I ask you something, Naori-san?”

“Of course,” you reply.

“Did you choose not to pursue Sasuke-kun?”
>1/2

>>4284324
You nod in affirmation. “Yes.”

“Why?” Kakashi-han demands. “Uchiha Sasuke is a missing-nin from our village, one which the Hokage is currently trying to find. You had direct evidence and could have chosen to pursue him. But instead I find you here, making no effort.”

“Is that because you don’t consider our village allies?”

“Does your village give me such consideration?” you reply.

“Not always,” Kakashi-han admits. “But you have to admit that your actions until now have shown a general pattern… you’ve been responsible, courteous, and mindful even when we were at crossed purposes. There were times like during the Sora-nin raid when your actions could even be called noble, though most of your assistance came in more roundabout ways.”

“You want to know what’s different about this situation,” you summarize.

Kakashi-han’s eye narrows slightly. “If you don’t mind indulging my curiosity.”

You sigh.

>Do members of your village typically insert themselves into clan or family matters? Because that’s what this is.
>Uchiha Sasuke is a missing ninja, not a member of your village. I’m under no obligations toward him either way.
>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.
>Other?

>>4284334
>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>Do members of your village typically insert themselves into clan or family matters? Because that’s what this is.

Some combination of this.

>>4284334
>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.

>>4284334
>>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.

>>4284334
>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.

>>4284334
>I know more about this situation than you, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-interference. What does that tell you?
>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.

>>4284334
>>Do members of your village typically insert themselves into clan or family matters? Because that’s what this is.
>>If you want to know what's really going on here I suggest that you ask Shimura Danzo about it.

>>4284334
“Seriously… you don’t know as much about the situation as you think you do,” you admit. “On the other hand I know the whole story, and I’ve chosen discretion and non-intervention. So what does that tell you?”

Kakashi stares at you, as though examining you closely. “You refuse to act?”

You offer him a curt nod. “I do.”

“When Konohagakure was under attack you swooped in… literally… to help us,” he continues. “Is the difference that it’s not a threat to innocents?”

“Sure, that’s a difference,” you admit. “But one I wasn’t really considering.”

“Then if it’s not that,” Kakashi continues, “you must not wish to get involved because of who these two young men are.”

“… how well did you know Uchiha Itachi?”

A sigh. He’s close, but closer than you feel comfortable revealing.

“I owe him my life,” you admit. “And he put his trust in me. I can’t share anything about what he trusted me with without breaking that trust.”

“Uchiha Sasuke is my student,” Kakashi-han counters, “and I have responsibilities as his teacher. To our village, and more importantly to him.”

“And does the village share your understanding of those ‘responsibilities’, Kakashi-han?”

“How do you mean?”

“Your council of elders knows what I know,” you insist, your tone just shy of accusatory. “I suspect they haven’t even told Tsuna-han. So if you really want to know what’s going on, ask them.”

“I can’t do that,” Kakashi admits.

“And it might be a bad idea to,” you sigh. “So if you’re not gonna do that, then take it from me… I have my reasons for letting Sasuke go.”

“Naruto isn’t going to like that,” Kakashi grumbles.

“Then don’t tell him,” Karin counters. “Naori’s already explained the situation to you as best she can.”

After a few tense moments, Kakashi-han rolls his eye. “Well, I guess that’s that then. I’ll have some of our own chūnin try to confirm your version of events as best we can, then report it to Tsunade-dono.”

>Stick around and see who else turns up.
>Ask Kakashi if he knows what Jiraiya is doing, or where he is.
>Try to work any information out of Kakashi that you can.
>Other?

>>4286261
>>Stick around and see who else turns up.
>>Ask Kakashi if he knows what Jiraiya is doing, or where he is.

>>4286261
>Stick around and see who else turns up.
>Ask Kakashi if he knows what Jiraiya is doing, or where he is.

>>4286261
>Stick around and see who else turns up.
>Ask Kakashi if he knows what Jiraiya is doing, or where he is.

>>4286261
>ask about jiraiya
After the conversation just now, I doubt we can get any answer but let's try

>>4286261
>Ask Kakashi if he knows what Jiraiya is doing, or where he is.

>>4286261
>1d8
>taking the third roll

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>4286475
Well that is a number I didn't expect to see

Rolled 3 (1d8)

>>4286475

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>4286475

Rolled 5 (1d8)

>>4286475

>>4286475
“Kakashi-han,” you muse quietly. “Can you wait here for a second?”

“I...”

You leave a marked slip of paper on the ground, put your hand on Karin’s shoulder, teleport her back to the hideout, then pick the marked tag back up from in front of Kakashi, who stares at you in surprise.

“… sure,” he completes the thought. “Okay.”

“I wanted to ask, on the quiet,” you continue. “Can you tell me anything about what Jiraiya-sensei has been up to?”

“… I shouldn’t...” he mutters behind the mask.

“… but if you’re going to anyway,” you press, “it should be now, before anyone from your village shows up.”

After a few moments, Kakashi-han inclines his head. “I shouldn’t say this… but he did mention to me before he left that he was going to the Land of Earth.”

“Why?”

“He heard a rumor about a jinchūriki,” Kakashi tells you. “He didn’t tell me anything more than that.”

It takes you a few moments to consider what you should say in response… just a jinchūriki? Does he mean that he’s heard a rumor about Han’s death, or is he chasing rumors about the four-tails jinchūriki, Rōshi?

“Tell me,” you muse, “everything you know about Iwagakure’s two jinchūriki.”

“One of them is dead,” he replies, “according to Sunagakure’s reporting. Which I assume you had a hand in.”

“...”

“… you know what I meant,” he adds.

So that confirms which of the jinchūriki Jiraiya is investigating, though it also raises a serious question… Kurotsuchi hasn’t offered so much as a peep about it. Which means one of two things, either Kurotsuchi hasn’t been told or she’s been told not to say anything about it by her grandfather.

“Kakashi-sensei? Naori-san?”

“Oh, it’s you Hinata,” Kakashi greets the chūnin politely.
>1/2

File: __hyuuga_hinata_naruto_an(...).png (382 KB, 566x800)

382 KB PNG

>>4286674
So, the first of the Konohagakure shinobi has arrived… that means you don’t have much time.

“Hinata-han,” you greet the pale-eyed girl with a polite bow. “I was just about to leave.”

“Wait, why though?” she asks, confused. “I-I mean you came here for the same reasons we did… right?”

“Yeah,” you admit. “But I’m finished here. I was just chatting with Kakashi-han about a few things.”

“Nothing to be concerned with, Hinata-kun,” Kakashi placates her.

“I’ll be in touch,” you assure Kakashi-han. “Think hard about what we discussed.”

“I’ll do that,” he replies grimly.

…

“I can’t believe it!” Yugito slams her palms against the table.

Even Fū is left frowning by the news that Rōshi has likely been taken by Akatsuki without your awareness.

“I really thought Kurotsuchi was gonna play nice with us,” she pouts. “I mean you two are friends, right?”

“I’d like to think so,” you sigh wearily. “But there are a lot of possible explanations for this. She might not have been told, or the Tsuchikage might have done something to stop her from telling us.”

“You can’t say that’d be a surprise,” Karin muses.

Yugito shoots her a sidelong glare. “Clarify that for me.”

“I’m saying the Raikage’s been a stubborn old fool too,” Karin declares. “So the Tsuchikage being a stubborn old fool shouldn’t come as a surprise.”

“Lord A does what he does for the sake of our village and our nation!” Yugito declares.

“To be fair, so did the Tsuchikage?” Fū replies hesitantly.

“And now their second jinchūriki might already be dead!” Karin adds. “Fat lot of good all that patriotism did for this ‘Rōshi’.”

>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
>I’m inclined to believe it’s the Tsuchikage’s meddling. I’ll speak with him personally.
>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.
>Other?

>>4286739
>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

>>4286739
>>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.
this would be a start to get them all at a table, or at least look at the table through a window on the other side of the street ...

>>4286739
>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
Let's get her opinion on what we should do while we're at it.
I don't think stubborn old men in positions of power will cooperate until they're forced to, and no amount of talking will change that.

>>4286754
my hope is they get so scared of everyone else cooperating and them getting left out that they at least approach the table

>>4286739
>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

>>4286754
>>4286756
Have to agree. This isn't a case where Hidden Villages can do things alone.

>>4286739
>>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

>>4286739
>>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

Oh boy is it time to call them all out as whiny shortsighted little babies?

Also that was a cute pic of Hinata.

>>4286739
>>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
>>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

>>4286739
>>I intend to go and ask Kurotsuchi about it myself. I want to hear what she has to say.
>Gaara is right, it’s time the Kages started cooperating like adults. What they need is a mediator.

>>4286739
“It’s long past the time the Kages should’ve started acting like adults,” you decide. “If they can’t do it on their own then they’ll need an intermediary. And I’m not the right person for that.”

“What do you plan to do then?” Yugito presses. “I thought the Kazekage’d already tried that and no one listened to him?”

“That’s because he’s another Kage,” you explain. “It’s common knowledge that a Kage’s first duty has to be to their own nation and village. Even Gaara-han wouldn’t debate that. That’s why we need to have a neutral arbiter who can make the arrangements and oversee the proceedings.”

“Who though?” Fū wonders aloud.

“The only truly neutral party in this corner of the world,” you declare. “The Land of Iron.”

Yugito snorts derisively. “You’re dreaming! How exactly is a former S-rank criminal like you planning to convince the samurai to stick their necks out for you?”

“Okisuke,” you reply calmly.

“Bless you,” Fū nods politely.

“It’s the name of my tutor in the samurai’s hadan techniques,” you explain. “A master of the Sōko-ryū kenjutsu… and a well-connected man.”

“So… a friend?” Fū asks.

“And a potential arbiter,” Karin adds.

You shake your head. “Not exactly.”

…

The trip from the Land of Grass doesn’t take long by air, not when you’re carried aloft on Nyoka’s wide and powerful wings, which allow you to pass straight over the Land of Stone. The wind was always bitterly cold from the moment you started out, and the air thin, but when you land within sight of the Sanrō mountains it doesn’t feel much better at ground level.

“I hate how cold it gets here,” you admit with a shudder. “Thank you as always, Nyoka-han.”

“This one admits… staying here would be most unpleasant,” she replies, “but it was no trouble considering the importance of your objective, Naori-dono.”

The great, resplendent shrike disappears in a burst of smoke, and you begin to pick your way across the snowfields to the small town where you remember Okisuke-sensei’s home being. When you get there, you knock at the door and wait patiently to be allowed inside.
>1/2

>>4287845
Soon after, you find yourself sitting formally across the tatami from your former mentor, Okisuke. He seems remarkably calm and collected, considering the reputation you’ve garnered since you first met.

“You have returned,” he greets you stiffly. “I did not think to see your face again.”

“And I wasn’t sure you’d let me in the door,” you reply. “Though I’m glad you did.”

“What has brought you here?” Okisuke demands brusquely.

You bow deeply. “Okisuke-sensei, the turmoil among the great shinobi nations is growing worse… and I fear Akatsuki is only the catalyst. They’ve stirred up bitterness and the memories of old grievances.”

“The arguments between the hidden villages are a very old matter indeed,” Okisuke agrees.

“And it’s keeping them from unifying against a common problem,” you continue. “The Kazekage’s a good guy, and he’s right to think that the Kages need to start working together, but nobody will listen to him except the Hokage… whose own elder council is undermining her authority on the matter.”

“Danzō,” Okisuke muses quietly. “I should have known.”

You nod curtly. “That’s why I’ve come to you… I know that I can’t serve as an intermediary. But someone has to do it, and it has to be someone who commands respect and whose neutrality is well-known.”

“You wish for me to introduce you to Mifune-dono,” Okisuke guesses.

You nod again. “Yes. That is how the samurai conduct diplomacy, right? Someone else handles the introductions?”

“It used to be the norm,” Okisuke clarifies, “but now it’s more a matter of respect at the highest diplomatic levels. So yes, coming to me was appropriate.”

“Will you help me?” you ask.

After thinking for a moment, he rises to his feet. “Since you know so much about how samurai conduct themselves, you should also know that we value immediacy. When we decide to do something we do it without wasting time.”

“I have decided I will introduce you to Mifune. We will go now.”

“Thank you,” you bow politely, before following Okisuke out into the cold.
>2/3

File: Naori_Post-Akatsuki_5.png (429 KB, 827x1169)

429 KB PNG

>>4287855
Mifune… an old man whose head is wrapped with cloth bandages over his head of grey hair. He carries himself with obvious pride and confidence, although his exterior is totally calm. When you sit before him you can tell by his poise that he is ready to draw his sword and strike at the slightest provocation, but chooses not to make a point of it.

“So you are the girl Okisuke-kun trained in the Sōko-ryū all those years ago,” he muses politely. “Welcome back.”

“It wasn’t that long ago, sir,” Okisuke, who sits just ahead and to the right of you, insists with just a hint of exasperation.

“Two years can seem much longer,” Mifune smiles, “if one packs an exceptional amount of experience into them. Isn’t that right, Raishō-san?”

You bow politely. “You aren’t wrong, Mifune-han.”

“Well now,” he continues. “What has brought you here?”

“I would like you to serve as a neutral host and arbiter,” you declare. “In a meeting between representatives of the five great shinobi nations.”

“And what representatives would that be?” Mifune enquires.

That’s… a good question. A senior jōnin from each would carry a certain amount of weight to it, but if that sort of question is what concerns you the greatest weight would be leant by asking the Kages directly. But while Gaara would likely agree, you’re not sure if Tsunade could, and you have a sneaking suspicion that Mei, A, and Ōnoki would refuse outright.

But for each Kage to send a trusted representative… that would likely be Temari and Kakashi from Suna and Konoha respectively, which is a good start. If Kurotsuchi hears about it she’d probably argue with her grandfather that not sending a representative would play to the Suna-Konoha alliance’s advantage, and offer to come herself. With three of the five either definite or likely, and your presence known, it would likely force Mei to take the issue seriously and send someone. With all four of the other villages committing, it would leave A unable to ignore the meeting.

Three of the five… if you can somehow tip things so that three of the five agreed the other two would be forced to cooperate.

“Ask the Kages to send people they trust,” you suggest. “I can basically predict how Suna and Konoha will respond, and I think I have a handle on what will happen with Iwa. Once three of the five commit the other two will feel pressured to take this seriously as well.”

>But do it secretly. We don’t want Akatsuki thinking that they can play a disruption to their advantage.
>Do it openly. I want Akatsuki to see what I’m trying to do, so I can learn from their response… or lack thereof.
>You’re the one who’s going to be the arbiter. I leave the logistics and information control in your hands.
>Other?

>>4287867
>You’re the one who’s going to be the arbiter. I leave the logistics and information control in your hands.

>>4287867
>You’re the one who’s going to be the arbiter. I leave the logistics and information control in your hands.
>But do it secretly. We don’t want Akatsuki thinking that they can play a disruption to their advantage.

Doing the meeting openly would send a message, but It could also invite too much trouble, especially if Akatsuki sends someone to attack the meeting.

>>4287867
>You’re the one who’s going to be the arbiter. I leave the logistics and information control in your hands.

>>4287867
>I would suggest doing it secretly
>but I leave it at your discretion

>>4287867
>You’re the one who’s going to be the arbiter. I leave the logistics and information control in your hands.

>>4287867
“You’re going to be the arbiter, so I’ll leave the details at your discretion,” you decide. “But it’d be a real shame if Akatsuki tried to attack the meeting.”

“Very well,” Mifune agrees with a nod. “Quiet it is.”

“Will you be staying until the dignitaries arrive?”

You shake your head. “No need.”

You hand him a sealing tag marked with a hiraishin formula. “Place this tag in the room you intend to hold the meeting in. I’ll return at the same time every day until the details are sorted… say, noon?”

“That will work nicely,” Mifune bows politely as he takes the tag.

…

In four days, on the eleventh of November, you teleport yourself into a meeting hall in the Land of Iron where Okisuke is waiting with tea.

“Today is the day,” he declares. “All four delegates are supposed to arrive this afternoon… the first is already here.”

“Who is it?” you ask. “And from which village?”

“Temari, from Sunagakure,” Okisuke informs you. “You can expect Kurotsuchi from Iwagakure within the hour, she’s already on her way from the inn where she’s arranged to stay. I do not know who the others will be.”

Temari and Kurotsuchi are brought in together.

“Hey Naori-san,” Kurotsuchi greets you coolly.

Temari glances at Kurotsuchi. “I see you two know each other already.”

“Yup!” Kurotsuchi replies cheerfully.

“Since I was a genin,” you agree. “Good to see you both. You’re here… covertly, right?”

“Gaara hasn’t even told Kankuro,” Temari shrugs. “Only two people in our village know I’m here.”

“Same with old man Ōnoki,” Kurotsuchi nods along, “though I think it’s more a function of embarrassment that his own granddaughter browbeat him into agreeing with this whole thing?”

“That sounds plausible,” Temari grumbles.

It’s only a matter of thirty minutes or so before the next arrival… from Kumogakure, in fact.

“Hey, Darui here,” he greets you all, remarkably relaxed considering the circumstances. “From Kumogakure. What’s up? Who are you all?”
>1/?

>>4289423
“I’m Temari, from Sunagakure,” Temari greets the newcomer calmly.

Kurotsuchi nods curtly. “Kurotsuchi, Iwa.”

“And I’m Naori,” you introduce yourself with a curt bow. “Formerly Akatsuki...”

You stop for a moment. “Hey wait, don’t I...”

“Yeah, I was warned about you,” Darui frowns, interrupting your train of thought as he sets his folding cleaver blade in an alcove next to Temari’s small fan and sword, Kurotsuchi’s weapon pouch, and Umekiri-maru.

“What is that supposed to mean?” Temari glares sharply at him.

“I’m just sayin’ the boss told us about her,” Darui shrugs. “Relax.”

Then he turns to you. “You are the one holding Yugito-sensei hostage, right?”

“I mean, I wouldn’t call her a hostage...” you reply carefully.

“Yeah, I’ve seen that chick!” Kurotsuchi protests. “She’s… okay, maybe she’s a prisoner but it’s not like what you’re implying!”

“Sure, whatever,” Darui shrugs again. “Hostage, prisoner, guest… whatever keeps her alive and healthy, so far as I’m concerned.”

You’re about to say something when another newcomer knocks at the frame to this room’s sole set of doors. “Um… is this the right room?”

“You’re...” you frown for a moment. “Chōjūrō, right?”

The familiar boy, with his blue hair and goggle-like glasses, nods curtly. “Hey, wait.. aren’t you...”

“Yeah, I fought you and Terumi-han with Sasori-senpai,” you recall. “Like I was gonna say, Darui-han, we’ve met too.”

“Hey...” Darui murmurs for a moment. “Yeah, I think I do remember you. You were on that bait team for the Hot Water Daimyō.”

“What do you mean, bait?” Temari demands.

“It’s fine,” you interrupt. “Seriously, Kumo didn’t do anything wrong on that mission.”

“We did make a mistake,” Darui admits lazily, settling into a chair at the long table in the middle of the room. “We… kinda assumed a daimyō would… you know.”

“Not be a total jerk?” Kurotsuchi smirks.

“Yeah,” Darui nods. “That.”

“Why would you assume that?” Chōjūrō asks, before stopping himself abruptly.

“… you didn’t hear me say that.”
>2/3

>>4289547
Chōjūrō’s arrival, the arrival of a new face, throws everything into chaos. Where once you were at least on the same page as Temari and Kurotsuchi, even if their proverbial fur was up with each other, Darui’s arrival added a new volatility into the mix. And now, just as you were starting to make some inroads with Darui, Chōjūrō shows up.

“Look,” you declare calmly, taking your own seat. “Let’s just try to keep calm and professional about all this. Let’s not start off the first meeting between the five Kages’… representatives… on the wrong foot.”

“Okay?”

After a moment, Temari nods curtly. “Sorry. Guess I’m just a little on edge, that’s all.”

Then she bows politely, first to Kurotsuchi, then to Darui. “Please don’t take it personally.”

“Well...” Kurotsuchi muses, evidently a bit nervous by the abrupt show of manners. “I… guess I can’t blame you. I kinda feel the same around the rest of you, ya know?”

“This is somethin’ you’ll learn to appreciate about me,” Darui replies calmly, leaning back in his chair. “But I’m too lazy to hold a grudge. So far as I care we’re cool… least until the boss says we ain’t.”

“That’s good to hear,” you nod appreciatively. “Chōjūrō?”

The representative of Kirigakure watches you carefully, then quietly takes the sword Hiramekarei off his back to set it in the alcove with the rest. “Okay. Besides… if I ruined this, Ao would totally chew me out...”

“What, that loser with the eyepatch?” you muse. “Seriously, why would the Mizukage even… no, forget that. Positive energy from here on. I’m on it.”

“N-no,” he stammers quickly, “you have a point. She says the only reason she keeps Ao around is his ‘BS detector’.”

You suppress a snort of laughter. “Wow, to have the byakugan thought of so lightly… to think of what Hyūga would say.”

“I-I didn’t mean...”

“It’s okay[/i,” you insist with a grin. “I’m teasing you, sword-boy.”

“… oh,” he quickly blushes. “Right. Sorry.”

“So Temari,” you muse, now leaning back in your chair yourself. “Any word on who Konoha’s sending?”

She shakes her head. “The Hokage didn’t tell Gaara at all. So it could be anyone.”

>1d10, taking the second roll

Rolled 10 (1d10)

>>4289615

Rolled 8 (1d10)

>>4289615

I predict whoever Konoha sends is going to feel old.

>>4289615
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>4289667

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>4289667

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>4289667

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>4289667

Oh jeez, what if they sent Shikamaru . . .

>>4289667
Within the next half hour, you learn who Tsunade sent.

You take a series of slow, deep, calming breaths when you realize the she sent Shikamaru of all people… it makes a certain amount of sense that she’d send someone with his sort of meticulous, insightful nature. And you also know that she can’t possibly understand how bad things have gotten between the two of you, since not only was she not there but she can’t read your mind to know how badly it stung.

Temari’s glare sharpens as well as Shikamaru quietly takes his seat.

“Nara Shikamaru,” she declares quietly.

“… yeah,” he replies. “Nara Shikamaru, here to represent Konohagakure.”

Darui meanwhile glances across the table at you. “You okay there?”

“Hm?” you muse, before glancing down to where Darui’s pointing… you’ve clenched your fist so tightly that your own nails have drawn blood.

“It’s nothing,” you insist curtly. “Just need to clip ‘em.”

You quickly unseal a small bandage and wrap your palm with it, then wipe up the few drops on the table.

>Now then, all of us are present and accounted for. Let me begin by explaining the circumstances of this meeting.
>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.
>Other?

>>4289705
>>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
>>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
>>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
>>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.

>>4289705
>I’ll call for Mifune-han. After all, this meeting WAS called under terms of neutral arbitration.
>Address the elephant in the room. You and Shikamaru will HAVE to be professional here, so that’s what you intend to do.

>>4289705
“I’ll fetch Mifune-dono,” you declare sternly. “As our neutral arbitrator he should be the one to oversee these proceedings.”

“That sounds good,” Temari agrees with a curt nod.

Before you walk out of the room, you pause. “Shikamaru.”

There’s a momentary pause before Shikamaru, whom you haven’t turned to face, replies. “What is it?”

“You can breathe easy,” you insist, still refusing to look at him. “When I return I intend to carry myself as a professional. No more, no less.”

There’s another brief pause. “I understand.”

“What’d he do to piss her off?” you hear Kurotsuchi quietly asking Temari before you step out and close the door behind you.

…

When you return with Mifune, Temari and Kurotsuchi are glaring daggers at Shikamaru, who’s stubbornly refusing eye contact. Even Darui now regards the Konoha representative with obvious distaste.

“Well, I see you fine young people have all met one another,” Mifune declares as he takes a seat at the head of the table. “That’s good, very good. I am Mifune, Shōgun of the Land of Iron, and I have been requested by Raishō Naori to serve as an impartial mediator for this gathering. I welcome you to the Land of Iron, and hope that your stay here will be both pleasant and productive.”

“Now, on to the business which brought us here.”

“As Mifune-dono has said, it was by my request that you were invited here,” you begin. “To those of you who are here at the request of your Kages, it is a pleasure to meet you. To those of you who are here at my request… thanks.”

“So why’d you go and call us out here to the snow?” Darui asks calmly.

“Because the Kages haven’t shown themselves to be talkers,” you explain. “Since the Kages won’t come to the table, I figured I could count on three shinobi from three villages to turn out.”

“Which means you could guilt the boss and the Mizukage,” Darui surmises.

“That’s… devious,” Chōjūrō admits.

>I’m here to discuss the safety of the remaining jinchūriki and the ongoing operations of Akatsuki.
>I want to open a dialog… cooperation on security against mutual threats like Akatsuki.
>To begin, Kurotsuchi… when did you find out about Rōshi’s capture and how?
>Other?

>>4290232
>>I’m here to discuss the safety of the remaining jinchūriki and the ongoing operations of Akatsuki.
>To begin, Kurotsuchi… when did you find out about Rōshi’s capture and how?
I feel bad putting her on the spot like this, but this bandaid has to be ripped off and this isolationist thinking of the kages has to stop.
If they think they can deal with akatsuki alone then they are wrong

>>4290232
>>I’m here to discuss the safety of the remaining jinchūriki and the ongoing operations of Akatsuki.
>To begin, Kurotsuchi… when did you find out about Rōshi’s capture and how?

>>4290232
>>I’m here to discuss the safety of the remaining jinchūriki and the ongoing operations of Akatsuki.
>>To begin, Kurotsuchi… when did you find out about Rōshi’s capture and how?

>>4290232
>I want to open a dialog… cooperation on security against mutual threats like Akatsuki.
>To begin, Kurotsuchi… when did you find out about Rōshi’s capture and how?

I thought that it was just a theory that Rōshi has been captured?

>>4290259
But you are correct, the kid gloves have to come off.

>>4290299
If jiraiya and the leaf can hear rumors about roshi, then so can akatsuki, since zetsu and their network are arguably better