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>>5925330
You have two days before your team sets out with the caravan to get your supplies in order and use the village resources to make sure your knowledge base and plans are as coherent and complete as possible. You also want to check on in team Yudai and Yuzuki in particular to verify that there isn’t any bad blood between you and that Yuzuki is fine after Naoki crushed her last night.

Speaking of last night, you feel slightly nauseous. You were expecting to be hungover like you’ve heard adults complain about in the past, but since you’re a fluid aficionado who drinks a lot of water and takes cold showers, you’re fine beyond some green in the gills.

You exit the Nakagawa inn feeling only slightly queasy and set out to handle your business.

First, supplies.

You head into town and use your formidable genin resources to buy some rations, enough for 9 days. You have reason to suspect that the caravan you’ll be escorting will be feeding you, but just in case you wind up treading off the beaten path you want to be prepared. You’ll split it between Naoki and Masami if they don’t bring their own for whatever reason. You get a survival kit as well in case you need to camp. You’ve been trained well enough to live off the land if you need to, but there’s no reason things can’t be easy and comfortable.

You consider buying water for a millisecond before your raw contempt for that idea causes you to nearly sneer at the merchant selling it. Water was everywhere, it was free, and if you had the mind to you could summon it yourself. That being said, summoning it yourself wasn’t always a good use of your time if you needed it, so you need to investigate a means of carrying some with you. You’re about to buy a large gourd to store it in until you realize that would both be heavy as fuck and Hotaru told you she was going to use her sealing jutsu to make you some kind of special container. You put that on hold until you talk to her.

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>>5925334
You buy a detailed map of the Land of Fire so you can chart what you’re actually doing. You note that Konohagakure and a lot of landmarks that are otherwise known to you are totally absent. Well, it is the HIDDEN leaf village, after all. Seems a bit stupid considering that the village is visible for miles around is a well-known city state that tons of merchants visit on a regular basis. It does, however, make you briefly ponder all the other locations on this map that might be unlisted. Looking at your map, you see that you’ll be sticking to the Hokage’s province for most of your journey to the north before abruptly making a sharp west-northwest turn, heading out of the Hokage’s province towards a place called Takefu village mostly equidistant from both the Land of Iron and the Land of Rice Paddies, though clearly closer to the Land of Iron. There are enough alternate paths that your caravan can easily divert. As far as major stops, Sunlight Inn Town and a location subtly marked as simply “Temple” leap out at you. You’ll be heading north to Sunlight Inn Town, then northeast to this mystery temple, and from there north-east again until you hit a crossroads and sharply turn west towards the aforementioned village. As for the caravan’s goals there, you don’t know yet.

You wrap up the map and tuck it away.

You would only need to begin making decisions once you knew more, so the next thing on the docket was to learn more about the bandit group, the Lords of Fire.

—

“Sure, I know about the Lords of Fire.” Says Inoichi Yamanaka as tends to a rose bush in the back of the Yamanaka flower shop. “There’s a lot to say, some of which is classified. A recent group. That should be obvious, since they haven’t been dealt with yet.”

A snip from the cutters he’s using sends a petal drifting to the floor to rest at your feet.

“Rumors surround them.” He continues “Some people living in the area see them as ‘steal from the rich, give to the poor’ types. That said, they’re less of a bandit group and more of a rebel faction. They haunt the woods near the border of the Land of Iron, which you probably recognize as the only modern, relevant country that still primarily uses samurai as their military force instead of ninja. Dissidents who don’t like the village system sometimes flock to the area, it’s not too uncommon for groups to spring up from that. The Land of Iron denies any involvement, but RUMORS have it that they tend to arm these little militias. Not a major problem, and even if it were, it’s our diplomatic policy to not call attention to it.”

Another snip from Inoichi’s cutters, another petal drifts to the ground.

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>>5925335
“Hmm…” He says, before giving you a coy look “If I had to give you advice, I’d say two things. First, that these people just hate ninja on principle. The opportunists among them will probably be willing to surrender if you outclass them enough, but there are probably some diehards who would rather be martyred than negotiate. And… Well, the timing of this group is concerning. The Fire Daimyo just recently disbanded his personal guard of samurai to replace them with a permanent cadre of ninja bodyguards, which has brought an end to whatever vestigial remnants of prestige that samurai held in this country. Not too long later, the Lords of Fire spring up. A real coincidence. If I knew anything about that it’d be classified for a genin, but I’d be really wanting to tell you more. Understand?”

“Yes sir, I understand.” You say.

“Good.”

“Speaking of the Fire Daimyo’s former samurai bodyguard though, and for totally unrelated reasons, what can you tell me about them?”

The man smiles at you. “Well, they weren’t integrated into our intelligence stream, so not much. Four of them. Not much of note, really. To be frank, the reason they were disbanded in favor of ninja is probably because they’re just not the right tool for the job anymore, especially with the relationship between the village and the Land of Fire being tighter than it's ever been now. Replacing them symbolically guarantees our continued position as the unopposed military of the Land of Fire, both in literal terms and philosophical terms. If I were them, though? I might be a little upset about it.”

You take that all in. So, most likely, the Lords of Fire are an anti-ninja rebel group, possibly controlled by discarded samurai. That does beg a question though. “Sir?”

“Yes?”

“Why is this a C-rank? If I recall correctly, D-ranks feature no legitimate threat of violence, C-ranks feature potential violence against non-ninja, and-”

“Well, there you have it.” He says “Samurai aren’t ninja.”

“With respect, that’s stupid. If they were the daimyo’s bodyguard they not only use chakra, but are probably really strong. How in the world would interfering with them be anything less than A-rank?”

“I agree with you, but let me paint you a picture: Yours isn’t the only ninja team the village has. If you’re expected to only handle civilian bandits, that’s likely all you’ll have to handle. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other forces in motion to handle the harder parts, but that’s beyond the scope of your mission and your clearance.”

“Got it.”

“Good. Now, unless you want to buy something, I need to get this finished.” He says, waving you off firmly but politely.

“You sell poison?” You ask.

“Hah! No, that’s not our clan’s thing. It’s just a flower shop.”

You nod, then turn to leave, noticing a young blonde girl scurrying out of sight and beyond some bushes as you do so.

“Don’t mind Ino.” He says. “She’s just shy.”

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>>5925337
It’s now later in the day and you’re hanging out in the village’s foreign quarter. Not ‘foreign’ in the sense that people from other cultures actually live here, but foreign in the sense that this is generally where merchants who aren’t officially affiliated with the village stay temporarily.

It doesn’t take you long before you see a blonde boy standing next to a row of carts, brushing a donkey. You approach him.

“Akimitsu.” You state flatly, still disliking this guy somewhat for reasons you don’t fully understand “I have questions.”

With a startled jump, the boy sheepishly turns to you, smiling lightly. “Y-yes, Otomo?”

“What, exactly, is the purpose of this caravan?”

“We’ll be dropping off finished goods from the village artisans along our way and at Takefu village. From Takefu, we’ll be picking up quality ores and other mined goods, some rough gems if we’re lucky. It’s near the Land of Iron, and it’s called the Land of Iron for good reason.”

“Why are you expecting problems from the Lords of Fire?”

“Do we need a reason to be concerned about bandits?” He says. He seems to be telling the truth, as far as he knows it.

“Alright… How flexible is your route? If we need to-”

“The routes are not flexible.” He says, cutting you off “Not flexible at all. We have specific contracts that need to be filled along the way. We can’t miss them.”

“But you just said you didn’t know precisely what you were picking up from Takefu? And you’ve been in the village for a month!”

“I do know precisely what we’re picking up: Iron ore. We just hope there’s something more once we get there. And I also know precisely what we’re dropping off at each step of the journey. We’re under contract. We have to meet our quotas.”

“Okay. What are we dropping off?”

“At the Sunlight Inn Town, we’re dropping off spun goods. Clothes, carpets, and also processed foodstuffs now that you mention it. From there, we need to go to the Fire Temple. They’re expecting, again, processed foodstuffs as well as pottery and assortments of herbs. They burn a lot of incense there. After that, Takefu.”

“So, what you mean to say is that, so long as we make those three stops, your route IS flexible?”

“Well… Not flexible in the sense that we want to be late. I suppose we could take a detour if it were absolutely necessary, but we’d probably have to make concessions. It’s the food in particular that’s time sensitive. If we’re late, and mind you, we’re already late, they won’t starve, but it won’t be as fresh, they’ll be upset, and we’ll need to cut them some discounts to keep their business. We’re already late enough because the Hokage made us wait to cut the escort contract.”

It’s weird to hear someone complain about the will of the Hokage like it’s an annoyance.

>>5925338
>Anything else you want to ask Akimitsu while you have him here?
>It’s getting late, once you’re done talking to him you’ll be going home and starting your next day, where you’ll check in on Yuzuki. Tomorrow will be your last day of getting ready. Since that will also probably be a long post, feel free to reiterate things you want so I don’t gloss over you.

>>5925340
>How fast can the caravan move per day, how fast in the need to outrun something?
>How many carts in the caravan
>What's the expected time frame, in days? 3 days to sunlight inn town, 6 days to the next, ect ect.
>Do you have any procedures in place already for attack? If not are you capable of obeying them?
>While I understand that none of the product being damaged is ideal, and intended, What are the margins on these trips.

I want to ask the last one so we can calculate roughly which items are going to be fine to sacrifice in the event we need to.
If asked to pick between "10000 gp statue cart" and "2p cabbages cart" , it'd be nice to know.

>Naoki been round lately?

>>5925340
>>5925392
+1 support. Akimitsu needs to know that the more he tells us, the better we can protect him.

>>5925340
>>5925392+1

>>5925392
+1

>>5925340
Tomorrow can we make sure Naoki has a compartment in his prosthetic to keep a vial of water or something?

Emergency water source of jutsu and also just generally a good idea to at least have a little water on hand in case of emergency.
Please god let us do the Water Spike Punch on a disgraced samurai. Working name for the move is "Piercing Hurricane Fist" please suggest better ones fellow anons

>>5925340
Possible samurai enemies? Hmm. I think it'd be a good idea to grab some Explosive tags, then. Things we can activate extremely quickly compared to regular jutsu. The tags are water resistant, too! And if you've ever gone dynamite fishing, you should know how effectively explosives transfer energy through water.

>>5925392
Don't see a reason to not support this.
>support.

>>5925884
Good idea, I'm bad with names tho.
But don't worry, just need to wait for people to sweat a little to much and get their clothes soaked.
Then its stabby time.

>>5925392
>>5925890
Support

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>>5925340
>>5925392
>>5925635
>>5925699
>>5925884
>>5925890
>>5926050
>>5926514
“How fast can the caravan move?”

“The speed a donkey walks while pulling a cart? They’re sturdy animals but they’re not going to win a race. If you sprinted nonstop straight to Takefu you’d be there in just under 24 hours. If you walked in a straight line, it’d be more like a week. Since we’ll be taking roads that aren’t straight, sleeping, stopping for food, resting, and trading, it’ll be just over three weeks to get there. Roughly a week between each actual stop. There will be smaller towns and villages along the way though.”

“Well, what if we need to outrun something?”

“If we need to outrun something we’re fucked.”

“What do you mean, ‘we’re fucked’, doesn’t that kind of thing happen?”

“No, it doesn’t.” He says, tapping his manifest impatiently. “Bandits are rare, especially in these parts. You haven’t seen much of the world, I know, but as a rule the forests aren’t full of ravening cutthroats. They know that if they make a nuisance of themselves too blatantly they’ll be wiped out, so most crime activity is done by extortionists in towns, gangs who can maintain plausible deniability and grease the right palms. Bandits only attack caravans in shithole countries, or if they’re being backed by missing-nin, or are nomadic enough to be long gone before a response happens.”

“Well, man!” You say, throwing up your hands in exasperation. “What did you even hire us for!”

“Because these types are the type to rob us! We don’t normally need to hire protection, in this case we absolutely do. When we enter their sphere of influence, they’ll do something. When you do this for long enough, you can hear the rumors and taste it on the wind. They’ve essentially conquered the village we’re heading to, so if we don’t have protection they’ll probably tell us that at least half of our goods are being confiscated to fund their revolution as a ‘tax’. And then they’ll tell us to fuck off. Our margins are too tight to withstand that. In this business you have to spend money to make money. The more money you spend, the more money you make, and when you make excess money you spend it all so you can expand operations. We’re not liquid, and we’re not a major venture, so taking a major blow to pay off extortion will set us back years.”

“So, rather than protecting you from getting ambushed by highwaymen, we’re going to be your muscle that will prevent the people who have conquered the village from subverting your deal.”

“If you want to put it like that. Yes. But groups like this aren’t always unified, they always have more standard robbers swimming behind them. It’s just a questionable region, something out of the ordinary could happen.”

“I understand. Do you have any procedures if you get attacked? And are there goods you want protected more than others?”

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>>5927047
“If we get attacked, we have no recourse but to capitulate to their demands, be robbed, and then hire ninja to solve it to try and recover some of our losses later. In this case, we’re hiring you in advance because it’s inevitable. If we’re robbed, we’re coming to a complete stop and getting under the wagons until you handle it. That’s all we can do, we’re too slow to run, too weak to fight. As for carts, we have six, plus a larger one we live out of. The carts with food are less valuable than the ones with other goods. Two mules, six donkeys for six carts, each cart is covered with a tarp and is going to have between 80 and 150 pounds of merchandise. The bigger cart has personal effects, supplies, overflow goods, and has the two mules pulling it. We try not to just sit in it since it’s a waste of energy for our donkeys to pull people when we can walk.”

“How many are in our party?”

“Me, my parents, my uncle and his wife, my two cousins. And another guy outside the family who works for us. Eight. Plus you and your team, that’ll be another four. So we’ll be a dozen strong.”

“I see, I see… Seems like a low amount of weight for the donkeys, can’t they carry more than that?”

“Not long distance, not uphill. The grade of the terrain trends upwards as we head northwest away from the coast. Too much weight and they’ll be under strain.”

“Got it. Has Naoki been around?”

That question throws him off, and he’s shunted out of his element and into a less confident demeanor. “Um. No.” He says, breaking eye contact and turning a weird color. “Why? Has he said something?”

“No? Just asking. How do you guys know each other anyway, you go way back?”

“... Yes.”

That was a little strange, you think, saying your goodbyes. There’s not a whole lot more relevance that you’re really going to get here without being absurdly pedantic, so you give Akimitsu a curt farewell before heading on your way.

While you were talking to him it occurred to you that you should probably pick up some explosive tags and dinner on your way back, so you do just that.

—

The following morning you’re soaking your feet in the fake hot spring behind the inn, attempting to drink some coffee. You’ve never had it before. It’s not like it’s bad, but you can’t help but think it’s overrated. People must just like it out of tradition or something.

“Young man.” Hotaru says, coming outside. You’ve learned that she can’t resist bothering you if you look peaceful in the spring.

“Is the container you said you’d make ready?”

“Someone’s feeling direct! Yes, I said I’d make it and I did.” She says, handing you a bamboo container. It looked like something that might be commercially available in a store, if it weren’t covered in painted seals. Seals that you don’t really know the meaning of.

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>>5927050
“How does it work?”

“You open it.”

You open it. It’s full of water. You give her a questioning look.

“Pour it out.”

You begin pouring it out into the shallow pool. It just keeps pouring. And pouring. And pouring. Eventually you stop on your own with no real clue how much longer it’s supposed to take. “How much water does this thing contain? How come we haven’t solved world thirst?”

Hotaru smiles, and then walks over to the nearby tool shed, opening the door. Inside is a large barrel, around 40 gallons, with the same marks as the bamboo container. “Weapon summoning is a common first step for ninja who learn fuinjutsu. You can render material into a pattern of raw chakra, sealed within a scroll. Unfortunately, sealing water inside a scroll would be… Unwieldy. So, the interior of this barrel is linked to the interior of the water container.”

“Why do we use plumbing at all, if it’s so easy?”

“Because, young man, seals aren’t perpetual, and the jutsu is a waste of time and chakra for this purpose when water is easily summoned and manipulated through ninjutsu.” She says, bluntly. “Use will cause the seals to fade, and when they fade too much, the jutsu will cease. As such, it’s a cludgy technique and I’ll have to maintain it between missions until you either learn high level sealing jutsu yourself or decide you’re confident enough with generating your own water that you don’t need it.”

“You’re implying that I’m in the wrong for wanting this.”

“Yes. Well, it’s a question every ninjutsu user has at some point: Wouldn’t it be best if I carried some of my specialty with me? With the elemental releases it’s common for people with a preference for the more tangible ones to be even more likely to think such things. People with wind techniques don’t need to worry about having air, users of lightning and fire find it more intuitive to not worry about where it’s coming from and don’t seek to bottle lightning or fire, but people who use water or earth often think of scenarios where they won’t have access to it.”

“Most wind, fire, and lightning jutsus I’ve heard of don’t require a medium. Most of the water and earth ones do. Earth even more so.” You state, flatly.

“Wind does require a medium in many of their jutsus, air is simply omnipresent so it's less relevant. And it’s easier to release chakra directly as a fire or lightning because chakra already exists in a comparable state as energy, at least, as the human mind intuits it, straining against the limits of creativity. Water and earth are the outliers, true.”

“So if that’s the case, I’m better off having access to it?”

“Perhaps.”

“Then why imply otherwise?”

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>>5927051
“Because-” She starts, shutting the door of the shed “-I said ‘perhaps’ and not some other word. I said I’d make you a container because you wanted one, and so I did. Going forward, I invite you to consider the deeper mysteries of chakra and the elements in more detail and come to your own conclusions. Gaining personal knowledge from your own experience and insight will yield greater rewards than just following formulaic instruction. And besides, the world is complicated. Easy, broadly applicable answers are scarce. There are many competing variables to consider, there will always be scenarios where one way is better than some other way, and I might be wrong to dictate what should and should not work for you when you and I have different needs. You’ll get great use out of it, or you won’t. It’s fine either way.”

—

You’re tracking down Katsuro.

Finding any particular member of their team would probably be more likely if you went straight to the Yoshinaga house, but that’s a path that seems fraught with danger. Yuzuki might turn out to be all pissed off, and Yudai himself might be kind of pissed off. It could also easily be totally chill and fine, but you couldn’t know for sure and think that it would be best not to find out by committing full force.

Katsuro isn’t hard to find, especially now that you know his family owns a bodega. Assuming he isn’t all that far from the Aburame clan quarter, and that it’s in an area you’ve never seen before (Or else you would already know where it is.), that narrows things down significantly.

Eventually you see it: A little corner store in a residential zone with a humble sign above the door that reads “KaneMart”.

You enter. It’s a small place, basically just one long aisle that consists of snacks, over-the-counter pharmaceuticals, some convenience store basics, and in the rear there’s two small refrigerators, one for beer and one for ice cream.

Katsuro himself is sitting behind the counter reading a magazine. He’s got a whole stack sitting next to him. This one is entitled “Excellent Housecraft”. As the door opens a bell rings letting him know that you just entered. At first, he moves automatically to set his magazine down, but upon realizing who it is he not only decides to keep reading but he plants one of his feet firmly on the counter, reclines back in the chair he’s sitting in and says “‘Suh dude.”

You approach him, peering down at what he’s reading. From this angle you can see that it’s an article about how to design and decorate a room to give it a sensual but cozy atmosphere. “Hey man. I wanted to follow up on that episode from the other night.”

Katsuro dramatically licks a finger and uses it to turn a page. “Not sure it’s really my place to air Yuzuki’s dirty laundry.”

“I’m not looking to hear about her dirty laundry, I just want to know everything is cool. That I don’t need to suspect that we might be in the initial stages of some kind of weird feud.”

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>>5927052
Katsuro licks a finger and turns a page again, which you now know to be totally performative because there’s no way he actually finished reading whatever he was looking at yet. “You’ve got nothing to worry about, man.”

“Katsuro, if I’m being honest, you’re pissing me off a little bit by deliberately not taking me seriously."

He gives you a wry grin and slaps down his magazine before taking his foot off the counter, squaring his shoulders with you and facing you properly. “Fine! But as I said, you’ve got nothing to worry about. Yuzuki is a little more complicated than you think she is. I should know, I see her every day.”

“So… What’s her deal? Why did she seem so pissed off, and now that she’s lost to Naoki, how is she feeling?”

“Hmm… Alright. Listen, it’s not like she’s an open book. We don’t exactly sit down and talk about our feelings. But you know me! Katsuro KNOWS a woman’s heart!” He says, snickering a little about his own audaciousness. Still, he gets a little more serious and leans forward. “This is something that Yuna told me. Their dad is divorced. Yuzuki is just young enough that she doesn’t really remember her mom. Their dad went through a big depression over it, completely withdrawn, probably for several years. That’s all I know about their background because I’m not nosy, but being a smart boy, I can piece together how that all works out.”

“And how does it all work out?” You ask.

“Well, you see, Yudai is an intense guy. If he was coping and withdrawn after his wife left, he probably wasn’t a good dad. Probably threw himself into training because that’s where the man gets his strength from. And if you’re a little girl and you want to feel a sense of belonging with your family, you probably become very interested in what your dad is doing. Maybe you can only spend time with him in the dojo. Maybe he’s a little angry and violent, but the two of you form a bond through it. Maybe you learn that, to you, love is when two people square off in a fight. Fighting becomes friendship. Friendship becomes fighting. And the more abrasive you are, the more your dad smiles and rubs your hair and tells you that you’re a good girl.” He lets that hang for a second and then sighs. “It’s not exactly a melodramatic thing, I just think she learned how to socialize in odd circumstances. Most of it is just how she learned to be. Keep in mind too, she skipped the first three years of academy, never really had friends outside of being a ninja. She just didn’t develop normally; she thinks being aggressive and acting like a barbarian is the default.”

“Alright… But that’s in the past. What’s going on in the present?”

>>5927059
“Well, that part wasn’t the dirty laundry, this part is: She’s… You know, at that age. I think she’s interested in Naoki, didn’t know how to express it, feels like she’d be treated like a little girl unless she proved herself, and got his attention in the only way she really knew how. And it didn’t work, and now she’s all depressed about it. But, you know what dude, sometimes that’s just the way the cookie crumbles.” He finishes, picking his magazine back up and relaxing his posture back into his chair. “She’ll get over it. Honestly, it was a lesson she needed to learn. She’s really sheltered, her worldview is based on an old man’s protective shell of bravado. That shit didn’t work out for him and his wife, and it won’t work for Yuzuki either. The earlier she learns that the better... Though I wouldn’t say that to her directly out of fear of being shanked. I know she’ll be fine; she just needs to sort it out. I’ll be there when she’s ready. As I said, it’s all good.”

“Hmm… Alright.” You say, satisfied, dropping the topic. “You look like you're at home here.”

“Yeah man, I’m the king of my own little castle.”

“Is the money good?”

“What money?” He says, gesturing lazily to how empty the place is “We don’t make money here. Besides, taking pay for manning the counter would be counter intuitive. Since we own it, it’d be like taking money out of my own pocket to pay myself with. I don’t need to work here, it’s just something I do to give mom and dad a break and give myself a few hours to just chill and relax. Being a clerk isn’t such a shitty job when you’re working for yourself, you know. It’s slow, and I can just sit here and vibe out.”

“Can I sit here and vibe out?”

“If you buy something.”

You buy a bag of chips and join Katsuro behind the counter just standing there and taking in the ambience. You listen to him turn the page of his magazine, the sound of chips crunching in your mouth, the soft hum of the refrigerators in the back, and the whir of a small little fan Katsuro has for himself. You feel very domestic. “Katsuro, we’re going on a C-rank mission tomorrow. Escort. Akimitsu’s caravan, up north.”

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>>5927062
“That’s funny. We’ve got a mission next week. Also C-rank. Up north as well, we’re supposed to comb through cave systems for smuggled and stolen weapons and supplies. Talk to some locals too, convince them to share some information about it with us.”

“Lords of Fire?”

“You know it.”

“It’s obviously related.” You say, stating the obvious. “I’ve been told from several different sources with varying levels of explicitness that the village is about to drop on them like a hammer.”

“... What’s your route?”

“Sunlight Inn Town, Fire Temple, northeast, then west to Takefu.”

“Alright. We’ll be around. We won’t be chained to civilians like you are, so we can probably clear distance in a day that’d take you a week. I’ll make a point of steering our team into yours at some point.”

“Cool.”

>You’ve covered everything you wanted to cover, the next post will be you leaving.
>Feel free to tack on any REALLY last-minute stuff you want covered before you leave, and generally what your mood is going to be as you set off.
>Since you are going to set off in the next post, what are you going to be doing? It’s going to be a lot of walking, a lot of time to fill. What do you want to think about, who do you want to talk to, what do you want to practice, etc.

>>5927067
Their route is;
“Sunlight Inn Town,
Fire Temple,
northeast,
then west to Takefu.”

ours
At the Sunlight Inn Town,
the Fire Temple.
Takefu.

If they leave a week later where will we meet, assuming no one runs into complications?

Sunlight Inn Town right? Wonder if we can find any actives to do while we're there, they probably have a brochure or something places don't just keep a name like that if its not impressive, right?

If and only if they need backup, that's our plan and where we'll be, though using the Caravan as bait to cover / exploit for their search may not be a bad idea, since it's likely to be an attractive target, and blatantly obvious to any scouts. Though this may already be the "plan" though shadowing us may be really boring and slow, and tipping their hand risks a properly deployed planned ambush, which would put us up shit creek very easily.

I'd assume that as deliveries are made the Wagons will be load balanced or otherwise have reserve volume for emergency contracts or perishables locally resupplied as we go. So we probably won't get much faster, and logistics aren't our jobs anyway so there's not much we can do.

>Feel free to tack on any REALLY last-minute stuff you want covered before you leave

Weather report, and if rain is likely, we may not need to rely on the seal as much if there is standing water we can gather, though that goes both ways.

>>5927067
>Expected weather, potential contacts in the villages we go to

>Practice contingencies with team, make sure that there is not hesitation and people can rely on each other. Also learn how to avoid and protect VIPs.

>Think about how likely it is we will kill someone today. And that this may be the first time for our friends as well. How do we deal with that, how can we put the mission first.

>Talk to the traders as you go. It's important that ALL of them are on the same page with us. And also it can help show us what we are fighting for in a way. Maybe also ask about girls and why they are so confusing. The guy's dad and uncle are here, and they have women in their lives, they can definitely tell us how their minds work. Masami and Yuzuki are weird.

>>5927067
A little embarrassed I didn't even think that could have been a "sticking gum in the hair of the girl you like" situation. This sets up a great character arc start for her though, maybe she'll learn to be less of a freak and might have a chance with Naoki in a couple years or something.

The real question is do we tell Naoki about this, and even if we do does it change anything about the situation for him?

>While we walk get some Taijutsu pointers from Naoki (slip in the bit about the crush if other anons think we should)

>While we walk, and have a water supply, we should practice controlling the shape of the water as it exits the bamboo. Just focus on making it into a water quarterstaff for now basically.

It's a long term investment but if we give it enough time we might be able to develop our own Water Style: Water Slicing Blade (Naruto: Mission: Protect the Waterfall Village. For reference.) But seeing as that is a Hiden Technique we may just have to settle for our own take on it. All this talk of Samurai has me thinking about swordsmanship.

>>5927067
>>5927207
support

>>5927067
>Expected weather, potential contacts in the villages we go to
>Practice contingencies with team, make sure that there is not hesitation and people can rely on each other. Also learn how to avoid and protect VIPs.

>Think about how likely it is we will kill someone today. And that this may be the first time for our friends as well. How do we deal with that, how can we put the mission first.

>>5927211
>The real question is do we tell Naoki about this, and even if we do does it change anything about the situation for him?
I think It’d be a bad idea to tell him it’s best to let this develop naturally if it does telling him might just make things worse honestly

>>5927211
>>5927341
Pretty sure Naoki is gay anons. Sounds like he had a thing with Akimitsu before.

>>5928177
I’m aware he probably is but telling him won’t help anything he’ll probably tell her to fuck off which is just going to hurt her and cause her to lash out I don’t really see how any good can come from telling naoki about this right now

>>5928177
If Naoki is gay then why hasn't he hit on us yet? Are we not pretty enough? What the fuck, Naoki

>>5928444
Probably because he is either not interested in us, or wants to keep private and business apart and we are very much in the "business" side of things.
But yea, lets not be a gossip. Leave it be and let them figure it out, nor not.

>>5928177
Not likely, his buddy is the one that's gay and he turned him down.

Okay guys, we're gonna have to travel and get samurai swords

>>5929355
Why?

>>5929355
... I second the other anon.
Why?

Bumping in hope for an update soon.

For conversation, what do we think our current power level is in comparison with Anime/Manga characters. Who is the upper limit of who we can match up against? (in your opinions)

>>5930799
Sorry, I've been struck down with the flu for the last 3 days. I'm starting to a feel better so I'll try and get it out tonight just for you.
No promises though, I'm still a little delirious and I'm not gonna push through if thinking too hard starts making me nauseous.
I really want to at least hit a rhythm where I'm posting once every 2-3 days at minimum, but it's easy to let things slide by because there's always something that comes up.
I think I need to get my post size down so they're not all 2+ hour projects, but as you can probably tell I don't have a whole lot of restraint. If I pushed out shorter posts I'd find it a lot easier to put them out more often, but goddamn, I always feel like there's so much ground to cover.

>>5930845
Why the fuck is my ID different.
Test blue.

>>5930845
No need to rush anything especially if you feel sick, just hearing that you aim for 2-3 day turn around is enough to ease my thoughts that the quest got iced.

Also a side note but I love the giant updates, really meaty and gives plenty of stuff to discuss with other anons when waiting or the update. Do your thing and let loose if that's what you want, I don't think anyone here will complain about the length.

>>5929398
>>5929426
Is recovering our sister's blade / the one that killed her? Not something to aspire to do, the bloodied blade that was in Mother's Shrine to Izumi may well have been it (Thread #1 >>5793568), I wonder if she took it with her when she left.

Either that, or its hanging out in a ANBU or Root vault somewhere, it could be useful as a focus if we try and commune with Izumi in the future, or otherwise give us something to hold at night.

>>5930921
Thats not a Samurai sword, given it was owned by Ninja. And also, not really? Facing our mother is a death sentence at this stage.

>>5925330
test

>>5930845
I like the long posts tho, I mean yea things are cut down in hectic scenarios like with the rice demon, but still.
An update every few days is fine by me, but don't stress if you've been under the weather. I do appreciate the update tho Blue.

>>5930799
Not a clue. Best I can give you is that we easily have one of the scarier teams of our class/year.
Naoki is scary
We are scary
Mazami isn't a monster but ain't exactly a pushover. I do wonder how far the crab magic goes tho or if she'll have to diversity further into other "specialist" jutsu.
But just imagine, for example, I she could poof a pair of crab claws into existence. Good luck going into melee against someone with four arms, one of which can snip you in half and another being a sledgehammer.
I am curious har far into the crab theme she will go to keep up with us and Naoki

>>5931000
>I do wonder how far the crab magic goes tho
Look into the feats of jiraiya and orochimaru. They are the two biggest users of summoning and it's weird applications.

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>>5927067
>>5927193
>>5927207
>>5927211
>>5927291
>>5927310
>>5927341
>>5928177
>>5928243
>>5928444
>>5928543
>>5929354
>>5929355
>>5929398
>>5929426
>>5930799
>>5930862
>>5930921
>>5930973
>>5930989
>>5931000
>>5931754
Day of reckoning!

The squad loaded for bear as you head for the village’s north-eastern gate, you particularly so, you think, as you double and triple check your explosive tags, kunai, water canister, and various survival supplies.

You stop by a newsstand as you ear your destination, making a point to check the weather. Sunny today, sunny tomorrow, 70% chance of rain the day after tomorrow. You contemplate how that wil influence your strategy, but you ultimately realize that meteorology isn’t accurate enough to predict the weather three weeks from now, and that’s the time you’re most likely to be attacked.

You were going to be on the road for awhile. There would have to be constructive things for you to do. You look to Hotaru and ask “I had some ideas in mind for contingencies we could practice with the caravan, like-”

“Absolutely not.” She says, cutting you off without even looking at you.

“Why? We should be as ready as possible in case something happens.”

“Otomo…” She says, trailing off as she gathers her thoughts. “People like this pay ninja to solve their problems, and for peace of mind. They’re not hiring us to be instructors, or leaders. They’re paying us to protect them if they get attacked, nothing else. They are not paying us to teach them anything, or tell them to do anything. You are serving their will. They will not serve yours.”

That’s a complicated topic. You begin searching for a rebuttal when Naoki offers one for you.

“Sensei, that’s-” He starts.

“Hotaru.”

“Hotaru, our job will be easier if we exert our influence to make it easier. Practicing a drill for what we’ll do if something happens could literally save their lives. That means it’s part of our job.”

“No, it’s not. There are several reasons you do not make requests of your employers. I will illuminate several. First, you are a tool. The hammer does not instruct the smith. Second, you are a professional. Setting up conditions where your job is easier projects that your confidence in your abilities is also conditional. You will not display that sentiment in front of civilians. Third, you do not have the authority. Our relationship with the people of this land is contingent on the fact that we are servants to their will, and not the other way around. Presuming to ask anything of them is to presume that you have power over them. You do not. Fourth, in principle, a ninja is neither seen nor heard. Ideally they will never have to even think about the fact that you exist. You have accepted the job. It will be done. That’s it.”

“I can already see exceptions to everything you just said. We can’t be unseen or unheard if we’re walking alongside them for weeks straight.” Masami states, perking up at the sound of a debate.

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>>5931848
“True, but that’s why you will work extra hard to project confidence, dignity, and servility while you are with them, young lady.”

“It’ll be harder to do that after-” She starts, but Naoki jabs an elbow into her ribcage to silence her. No doubt he assumed she was going to say something about getting shitfaced with Akimitsu the other night, which was not a good idea.

You finish approaching the caravan. You see the 7 carts already lined up outside the gate, Kumamoto clansmen arrayed around it.

Hotaru walks up to a stout, older man with a mustache and offers him a curt bow. The three of you bow as well as she says “I hope we didn’t keep you waiting.”

“Not at all.” Says Akimitsu’s (Presumed) dad as he glances at his watch, seeing that you are quite literally exactly 15 minutes early to the agreed upon time. “We were just finishing up so we’d be ready for you. If you’d like, I’ll introduce you to everyone?”

“That would be wonderful. Thank you.”

The man beams, and clears his throat. “I’m Kin Kumamoto, and this is my wife, Tsutsuji.”

A slightly plump woman sitting on a nearby cart waves at you. Her hair is a faint purple color.

He continues. “That’s Akimitsu, my son.” He says, pointing at Akimitsu, who’s lurking nearby sheepishly. “And that’s my brother Gin, his wife, Aina, and their two kids, Fumiko and Hana.”

Gin doesn’t really look like Kin at all. He’s a gaunt man with silver blonde hair. Aina is brown-haired, short, and looks young for a woman with two kids. You don’t know which one is Fumiko and which one is Hana, but one looks like a version of their mother roughly your age, and the other one is a version of her mother that’s still a little girl. They giggle and have some private conversation while gesturing at Naoki. Naoki, meanwhile, has an impassive, blank expression.

You know him well enough to realize that he probably wants to kill everybody here and then himself.

“Lastly, this is Shota Aoki. He’s part of the family through sweat, not blood.” He says, gesturing to the last member of the party. Despite his unfortunate name, Shota is tall as hell, looks strong as hell, and is also clearly in his 50s. He pointedly ignores you as he fusses with some ropes that seem to prevent the goods from moving around.

“A charming group you have.” Hotaru remarks, politely.

“Yes, well, you haven’t met the donkeys! And who are your students?”

“Teammates. Otomo Mizutani, Masami Igarashi, and-”

“Oh, I already know Naoki!” Kin says, slapping Naoki on the shoulder. “Him and my son go way back! His arm looks better every time I see it, but it couldn’t get much worse than it was the first time I saw it, ha!”

Naoki has a forced smile, concealed behind his mask. “I remember.” He forces out, an almost imperceptible growl of repressed rage hiding in his voice.

“Well, anyway.” Kin says, quickly shaking hands with you and Masami. “It’s nice to meet you. But we ought to be going, hmm?”

“I think that would be wise.” Hotaru agrees with a nod.

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>>5931849
The twelve of you set off. You’re trying to project an aura of confidence like Hotaru said you should, but you can’t help but feel slightly intimidated. It’s hard to pin down why. You’re probably feeling a bit shy. That, combined with the fact that you’re extra-conscious of yourself because of Hotaru’s instructions earlier, have you feeling a little withdrawn.

You stick close to Naoki, who falls back towards the back of the caravan. It makes you feel more at ease to watch and not BE watched right now. Hotaru guides Masami off towards the front.

You glance at Naoki. He glances at you, and sighs.

“When I had my accident, I was playing out here in the woods. These people are the ones who found me. I would have died without them. Still, it’s awkward. I’ve gone from being some dead kid they scraped off the floor to being the one who’s supposed to protect them. It’s bizarre. I told you I try to keep my worlds separate, but… Well, it’s probably not a coincidence we’re here. I bet they requested me. It makes me kind of angry, if I’m being honest.”

“I bet.” You say. “When we have time and some privacy we can practice some taijutsu? It’ll get your mind off it. I’m sure the weirdness of the situation will fade with time.”

—

The weirdness does not fade with time, at least, not within the frame of the first day. Naoki seems really on edge, and the two of you spend the first four hours walking in silence. Sometime around noon the caravan comes to a stop, and you eat lunch. When you’re done eating lunch, everyone just sort of lazes around for an extra two hours, bantering, talking about the weather, playing music, etcetera.

Akimitsu is keeping his distance, but Hana (Who you now know is Gin’s older daughter.) is really pestering your team. She starts with Naoki, trying to talk to him about music. He more or less refuses. She then starts trying to talk to Masami about fashion, but Masami doesn’t know shit about fashion and Hana quickly gives up. Now she’s trying to talk to you.

“So, like, what’s your deal?”

“My deal?”

“Like, I know Naoki is a fighter, Masami is, like, the girl of your team, right?”

“Being a girl isn’t a team role.”

“Right?”

“... What?”

“Whatever. So, like, what’s your deal?”

>Like, what’s your deal?

>When you’re done with this riveting philosophical inquiry into your nature as a human being, who are you generally spending your time with? Hotaru eventually tells the three of you to make sure you stay somewhat spread out, one to the front, one in the middle, and one in the back.
>Kin and his wife are generally at the front of the caravan.
>Gin and his wife are generally at the back of the caravan.
>The kids and Shota Aoki are generally in the middle of the caravan, though individuals tend to break off and wander away randomly.

>You notice Naoki is avoiding Akimitsu for some reason.

>>5931850

>Summon a sensor sphere.
>"This."

Gives her a flashy thing so she's satisfied she got to see ninja shit and also lets us check the surroundings for anything while we are at this lull.

>"I noticed you're staying away from Akimitsu, I don't like him either. Let's stick Masami with him, I'll take lead at the front and you can hang around the rear since you're probably the fastest anyways."

>>5931854>>5931850
I support the sensor sphere.

While that is perfectly foot in mouth for otomo to say, we know that they are friends.

>Ask Naoki why he is avoiding His friend directly, even if we understand it.

>>5931850
I second >>5931854 and his sensor sphere.

I propose we take the centre of the caravan, partially because its kind of our job to coordinate the team (so we need to be able to communicate with both of them), let Masami take front to spare Naoki whatevers bothering him and in case something would happen a massive crab popping in out of nowhere is one hell of an impediment.

Am I the only one getting obvious red flags from this Shota fellow? It just feels... Well, obvious. An extended family, plus some other guy, goes into bandit infested land... Well if he is one of them bandits the accidental sensor sphere might pick something up.

We should also ask this Hana person what her deal is in return, its only fair since we showed her ours. And now I'm confused.

>>5931850
>>Gin and his wife are generally at the back of the caravan.

Should we use the sensor sphere, can we do it discretely? We were just told not to make our presence felt by our sensei, and having an enemy tracker makes it look like we're anticipating danger.

>>5932085
We're very evidently just showing off for a civilian who wants a show.

It's not scare mongering. It's just keeping them content

>>5931850
>"I'm afraid that's classified information. But if you really want to know something about me, I can dance extremely well."
Opsec. If a civilian is ever captured or acts against our interests, we don't want them giving away the secrets of our agents.
>Hang out in the middle of the caravan, where your sensor abilities can be put to best use and your slower reactions are less likely to get you killed.

>>5932085
I dont think a random chick would have the faintest clue about what out sensor sphere is other then "Like, pretty cool you know?"
Hell I doubt most of the other teams would have the faintest of clue of what its supposed to be, to them it probably looks like ammunition to shoot at them or something.

>>5931850
>Like, what’s your deal?
I'm a ninja. I do ninjutsu. Pray that you don't have to see it, and don't stick around to watch if you do.
>Who are you generally spending your time with?
We will be catching up with our team frequently, I don't feel the need to go out of our way to group up. We have a penchant for getting distracted too, so I think it would be best for us to take the middle instead of a point position, perhaps we can get a gauge of our employers. This Shota is an enigma we don't want to have to worry about.

>>5932289
Please don't scare the clients pretty niece.
Also that sounds really edgy. *really* edgy.

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>>5931850
>>5931854
>>5931907
>>5932074
>>5932082
>>5932085
>>5932090
>>5932093
>>5932115
>>5932289
>>5933018
You give Hana the ‘ol showman’s eyebrow quirk. “You want to know my deal?”

“Yeah?”

“Alright…” You allow yourself some hesitation to build up some suspense. “... Check this out.”

You summon a sensing water sphere in all of its spherical glory. It sits inert in your hand.

“What’s that?” She asks.

“This is the Sensing Water Sphere jutsu.”

“What’s the Sensing Water Sphere jutsu?”

“It’s a sphere of water that can sense.”

“Sense what?”

“Well, it can sense whatever I want! As long as what I wan to sense is some kind of palpable energy signature, and as long as it’s reasonably close.”

“LIke, can I get an example?”

“Like, if I summoned it with the intention to search for heat, I would be able to notice all of the campfires within, like, a hundred meters or so. Easily.”

“And you couldn’t, like, use your eyes?”

“Uh…” You look around and fail to notice any campfires. “No? But I can dance too, now that you mention it.”

Hana has a blank cast to her expression like her soul is trying to drift into the abyss and leave her body behind. She eventually just walks away from you to go talk to her sister instead. She clearly just wasn’t bright enough to understand the finer points of how great this ability was for informing a tactical strategy.

—

You get back to walking after that. Another four, plodding hours of just moseying on up the road. As a ninja you’re meant to be hyper vigilant at all times, especially when outside friendly territory. Still, you were probably more sheltered than most. You had never been outside the village for any reason other than for a mission before.

Naoki and Masami had both implied that they had been outside the village gates before for reasons such as just playing or going on trips. To them, the surrounding forests must appear to be safe extensions of the village from beyond the walls, like the area of heat around a bonfire. That’s certainly how it seemed whenever you looked at them. Masami was up front, pointing out random plants and asking Kin to explain them. Naoki was in the back, and he literally had his eyes closed half the time, a relaxed expression on his face as he took in the sound of nature.

For them, this was clearly a peaceful excursion. For you though? The walls of the village may as well be a bulwark against the very forces of hell itself. A thin line of demarcated security beyond which only the kami knew what casual depravities took place.

Enemy ninja?

Thieves?

Bandits?

Rapists?

Actual, literal demons?

You lived in a world of enemies, it seemed. Why? Maybe you just didn’t trust the world as much as you should. Paranoia didn’t necessarily ooze out of your every pore, but you had a heightened awareness of the fact that, at any time, a kunai could come whistling out of the bushes, and you, or someone you cared for could be dead. Just like that. The world just felt inherently hostile to you.

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>>5936538
And yet these people just walked through the countryside for weeks on end without a care in the world as if there wasn’t unfathomable death and havoc waiting for you out here, away from anyone’s capacity to call for help.

The nature here did have an aesthetic beauty to it. The sun was bright even as it was filtered through a thick canopy of tree leaves. The wind rustled those leaves and rendered the world visible in a pattern of dappled light. The wheel of the cart creaked, and the muted hum of some ignored conversation played out elsewhere in the line. Even the air tasted crisper and cleaner, and the wind that carried the air also carried earthy scents of plant life and soil. The world out here had an altered quality to it at times, like you were moving through the liminal zone that separated the real world from the heightened, poetic form of a painting.

And then you’d blink and that altered quality is gone once again. You’re surrounded by empty earth and the threat of doom and destruction and death. Once again the swaying leaves are drained of beauty and are reduced to soulless vectors through which someone might drive a spike into your throat.

—

Eventually the day comes to a close with sundown. The Kumamoto family briefly swarms the larger cart up front and goes about setting up camp for the night. Not only did a fire need to be started, but the carts staged in an accessible location, the animals tended to and tied up so they wouldn’t just wander off.

But the Kumamoto moved with the practice of ants and it was all done seemingly as soon as it started.

You verify with Masami that she’ll keep an eye on everything while you and Naoki practice some taijutsu, and soon after the two of you find yourselves in a clearing.

Naoki is relaxed enough that he’s stretching, still seeming like he’s enjoying the experience. This would be a good time to talk about some things, you think.

“Hey, Naoki?” You ask.

“Yeah?”

“What’s going on with you and Akimitsu?”

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>>5936545
“Hmm.” He says, sitting down on a stump, seemingly giving up on practicing taijutsu right away. “It’s not exciting news. After the party, I asked him what he thought. He gave me a piece of his mind and let me know that he thinks the lifestyle of a ninja is depraved. He specifically called it ‘A charnel circle of pointless violence.’, after which I told him there was nothing I could do about it, and furthermore the only reason he pretended to have the moral high ground was because he was helpless. Not that I hate peace, but I do hate empty, self-serving platitudes. He’s upset with his own powerlessness, so he’s blaming it on some moral failure of mine rather than the fact that he’s just weak. And you know what, I also told him I thought that if civilians like him could work hard and attain the power of force like we have, the world would probably be even shittier because once all these weak, ‘peaceful’ people can get their way through violence, they’d find that all of a sudden they found the same violence they always bitched about all too justifiable. In other words, they don’t hate violence, they just hate that they can’t wield it for themselves. Anyway… You can imagine that we’re not super happy with each other right now.”

“Is he wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, your argument is that you can’t do anything about it, which you used to wash your hands of the whole issue, and then you just characterized him in the worst possible light to put him down instead of actually considering his point.”

“What do you mean?” He says, standing up, emphasizing himself with striking hand gestures. “He didn’t make a point. He just told me that my lifestyle is depraved, and then got upset that I’m not a ghoul who just agrees with him and does it anyway! I became a ninja because I wanted to make a difference on behalf of our village, a positive one at that, so what right does he or anyone else have to imply that I’m just some kind of roving killer? Why the fuck are YOU a ninja? Did you just wake up and decide it’d be great to participate in endless, meaningless violence? For fun?”

“No. I mean, obviously, no. It’s just that, sometimes I have trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel myself. Take this mission for example. We have rebels who hate ninja, presumably because they see us as killers who have insidiously taken control of their government and maintain hegemony through violence. And our response is that, of course, we’ll kill them. To what end? To prove them right? What future are we even fighting for? What’s the goal of it? And once they’re dead, it’ll never be over. We’ll go home for a couple short weeks and then what? Just a question of who’s next. And if everyone is thinking like that, eventually it’ll be ninja from some other village killing us because WE’RE next. And the wheel just keeps on turning.”

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>>5936549
“There is no wheel! Look, back in the warring clan period, there were constant, massive battles. Eventually things got better. Eventually the constant, massive battles went away, and now even our great wars involve medium sized groups killing each other in the woods. It’s getting better! We’re not gods, we can’t just end violence with waves of our hands, it really is just out of our hands! But every generation that goes by, things do get better. Less war, less famine, more technology, everyone is getting happier. Hell, the Kumamoto clan hasn’t needed to call on ninja for years because the world is becoming such a peaceful place, and yet, one small aberration and all of a sudden we’re having this conversation, acting like we’re trapped in a primitive hellscape once again! I mean, look around you, man! Beauty and peace, as far as the eye can see, and all because shinobi have been fighting to make the world a better place since the dawn of time. Our lives might be too short to see a major change, but history shows us a clear line of progress. If at any point we just cucked out and let our enemies win, we’ll have just flushed all of that progress down the drain. Rendered it pointless, and for what? Blind naivety?”

“I… Don’t think you’re wrong. I just think he isn’t wrong either. Progress is made because we don’t have to just resign ourselves to the world we were born into. Maybe it’s the naive idiots among us who are the ones who have given us what you’ve referred to as progress. Without a bit of naive hope for something better we’d never have gotten this far at all, and going forward we might want more of those people. Not less.”

“You’re the one who told me to duel her!” He says, referring to Yuzuki and implying you’re a hypocrite.

“You had to because it was inevitable. But something being inevitable doesn’t mean it’s good, or that we ought to just accept that we can’t hope for anything better. It might not be inevitable the next time if the two of you just learn from it and grow.”

Naoki throws his hands up in mock defeat. “Alright. Okay. Maybe we all have our parts to play. But I’ll tell you this: There is no amount of ideology, argument, or sophistry that’s going to convince me that I’m in the wrong for thinking that I have an absolute right to destroy my enemies. There’s nothing anyone can say that will convince me to roll over and die. Now, fight me.”

Naoki charges you. He’s not necessarily out for blood, because then training would have no purpose. But he’s definitely deliberately pressing you much harder than he would have otherwise to illustrate a point. A hard fist narrowly misses the side of your head as you duck to the side.

“Exit the wheel of violence then, Otomo.” He says, emphasizing himself with a kick aimed towards your groin, a kick that you narrowly manage to deflect with your own foot. “Why are you engaging in the violence if you don’t like it?”

>>5936551
His wooden arm lashes out like a snake, looking to smack you in the skull before you manage to get an arm up to block it. Even then, it leaves a bruise. “What are you-” He cuts himself short with a grunt that telegraphed another kick, a wide one this time. You’d be just barely fast enough to dodge it if you weren’t deliberately training; you block with your arms, and the impact lifts you off your feet. “-What the fuck are you going to do when someone just wants to hurt you, or your friends? Nothing? Or are you going to hit back?”

Naoki leaves you some breathing room after that, giving you the time you need to actually formulate an offense. You send a jab towards his face. He leans back, allowing you to miss as his arm shoots up, stopping himself short from actually pulverizing your extended elbow. You capitalize on that; failing to strike your elbow has ruined the flow of his movements, and, if only for an instant, he’s imbalanced.

You throw your full body at him, resolving yourself to taking a blow or two so that you can seize him by the collar of his shirt and leverage your bodyweight against him to knock him down. You do take a solid smack to the ribs, but you have a grip on him now.

“You see? We live in the real world.” He says, gripping both of your wrists and wrenching your arms off and away from him. “We can talk in circles forever about notions of philosophy or justice, but sometimes-”

Your knee finds its way to his chest. Hard. Unlike him, you can’t afford to hold back. His grasp immediately slackens and he takes two hard steps back, putting his guard up in earnest for the first time as he makes sure he won’t take a hit like that again.

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>>5936553
He briefly struggles and eventually manages to get some air back into his lungs. “Sometimes…” he rasps out. “Sometimes the world just doesn’t have any higher meaning to it. Sometimes people just fight. There isn’t a scheme to it, there’s not always a moral quandary. Sometimes blows just flow down from the sky like rain, and there’s no reason to talk about it.”

With that, he’s got no more to say. The two of you carry on like that for almost an hour. You don’t manage to hit him again, but he’s also not trying to simply bully you into submission anymore.

It’s ironic, you think. Since he attacked you, you hadn’t said a thing. It was Naoki who did the talking, and it was he himself who talked himself into the purposelessness of it. Regardless, you have an awareness that in some oblique way he’s proven himself wrong.

There was no such thing as pure violence happening in a vacuum. Even in this case, a training exercise, one of the purest expressions of fighting that could be imagined, there was still a higher meaning to the combat. There was always something to be learned, and every strike was just a smaller part of a greater whole: A fight, a battle, a war, the reason for the war, the battle, the fight, and the reason behind every strike.

Every blow was illuminating, an expression of a higher order that hovered just beyond the edge of conscious thought, but was nevertheless omnipresent. You can’t help but imagine that somewhere out of sight someone or something was watching you with great interest.

>You have roughly 6 days more of just walking before you make it to your first stop at the aptly named Sunlight Inn Town. What are you going to do with your next six days?
>Do you have any plans for what you’re going to do when you get there?
>Otomo’s outlook is colored by your general adherence to the Will of Fire and conceptions of benevolent justice, even if he’s also turned out a bit melancholy and alienated. Is there anything you want to add or change about Otomo’s growing moral philosophy? What is your ninja way?

>>5936555
>Do you have anything to add
That the purpose of the will of fire is to uplift your neighbour so that the Neighbour can uplift you. But that's no longer an adequate explanation, as demonstrated with Yuzuki, but you need to uplift them the right way. Not a single act but a continued and focused effort.

And also slightly off the wall, just from the mention of 'spectral observer', I feel like out close connection with death would influence the outlook on life we have. I'm inclined to put forward that being so close to death [And our already natural suicidal ideation], the lives of our team should be placed above the wellbeing of the mission, the mission should be put above our life. after all, we are only alive due to borrowed time that our sister didn't want anyway

>What do you want to do
Mostly just practice our water movement technique. Practice and refine.

>>5936576
Great points +1 to this but also:

>Ask your Sensei if she has any ink or writing materials.

I think it would be good for Otomo to start keeping a journal to keep track of his musings on philosophy like his conversation with Naoki, and other things that wouldn't be harmful if an enemy ninja killed us and pulled it off our body. (Gotta think of the village)

As far as Naoki's cycle of violence question it think it's simple. The cycle of violence is rock paper scissors, you kill my family I kill yours and then back and forth ad infinitum because to stop fighting back means youve lost. As long as there exists people who believe they have been slighted and have no recourse but violence, the cycle will live on. He asked a good question: How do you break the cycle? The only real answer is by resigning yourself to be the loser. But even that only works in the context of the individual, truly a quandary. Hope nobody uses this philosophy to justify destroying the entire leaf village one day, that would be a real kick in the balls.

>>5936595
+1

>>5936595
You know we'd have to write about Masami too. And if she ever got hold of this she'd kill us, or die of blushing.

So lets do it

>>5936555
>You have roughly 6 days more of just walking before you make it to your first stop at the aptly named Sunlight Inn Town. What are you going to do with your next six days?
Meditate on philosophy. Weakness, strength, idealism, realism. The transient, shifting nature of water and time. Think about our place and the place of others. Also practice generating water while we are not under attack, even if it's just cultivating chakra.
>Do you have any plans for what you’re going to do when you get there?
Find out if they know about Will of Fire out in the sticks. See what the character of the fire nation is like.
>Otomo’s outlook is colored by your general adherence to the Will of Fire and conceptions of benevolent justice, even if he’s also turned out a bit melancholy and alienated. Is there anything you want to add or change about Otomo’s growing moral philosophy? What is your ninja way?
We have strength that others don't, like Naoki says. But strength begets use of strength and violence. If at all possible, we must acknowledge and uplift those who are capable of shaping a better future, a future that is not dictated by violence and revenge. A future we cannot shape with bloodstained hands.

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>>5936555
>>5936576
>>5936595
>>5936681
>>5936694
>>5936883
The week drags on without excitement.

It’s not until the third day, when you want to ask Hotaru if she has any paper/ink you can use, that you realize that you have absolutely no clue where she’s at. It’s not until you call out her name that she emerges from the nearby brush and approaches.

“What do you need, young man?” She asks.

You just don't ask questions about where she was or what she was doing, instead cataloging her stealth as another example of what you should aspire to be capable of as you develop. “I was just wondering if you had any paper and writing material. I want to start a journal.”

She quirks her eyebrow at you but does dig into her clothing to produce a notebook and pen. She tears out roughly a dozen of the pages within, tucking them away neatly before handing you what you asked for. “What’s the purpose of the journal?”

“I don’t know how to say it without sounding pompous.”

“So sound pompous.”

“Well, I’ve spent a lot of my life in search of spiritual growth. But I feel as though a lot of those ruminations are easily lost in time, hard to recall even though they’ve helped me move beyond obstacles that have been in my way. So I want to write my ideas down. I could also stand to work on my penmanship.”

“That’s not pompous at all. Just as a taijutsu expert needs to spend long hours in physical training to master their bodily chakra, a ninjutsu expert needs to spend long hours looking inward to master their spiritual chakra.”

“Is this a process that all ninja have gone through?” You ask.

“Yes and no. Every soul is different. Just as every true expert of the martial arts will eventually realize that their body and style are unique, so too will every spiritual expert learn that their way of understanding the kami and their own inner nature is unique. For example, I can’t simply explain to you the things I’ve learned that have helped me along my own journey because our natures are different. Concepts that grant wisdom to me might be irrelevant to you, or worse, they might actively poison your development by sending you down false trails that lead nowhere. There are many among the ninja clans that hold fast to traditions and the expectation that the generations that come after should simply replicate the techniques and ideas of their predecessors to succeed, but nobody who has walked such a generic path to its conclusion has ever achieved true greatness.”

“Is that what I’m after? Greatness?”

“No. Greatness only comes to a rare few, and even then, only as a byproduct… But as I said, I don’t want to spoil your journey.” With that, Hotaru turns to re-enter her silent vigil of the caravan from the woods. Perhaps she’s attempting to show you how a ninja should act, or perhaps she’s merely letting the reins of leadership fall slack so her three students can learn how it feels to get by on their own.

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>>5938208
On your sixth day of traveling, you know you’ll be at Sunlight Inn Town just before nightfall. You spend that day practicing your ninjutsu.

Sometimes you find the limitations of forming a jutsu exhausting. A jutsu does exactly what it is formed to do, no more, no less. Water Spikes Jutsu will always create water spikes, Hiding in Mist will always form mist, and once a jutsu has been formed it’s normally immediately released or maintained to hold onto an unalterable effect until you let it go. Even when it’s not released immediately your ability to change it after the jutsu has been formed is essentially zero.

The Water Control jutsu brings this concept into starker relief than normal. You form the Inu seal. You project your will towards an existing body of water, and then you shove it. You can shove it hard, or soft, you can replicate some telekinetic control, but you can only move the water in one particular way. If you form the jutsu with the intention that the water will go up, it will ONLY go up. If you form the jutsu with the intention that the water will form a sphere and rotate around you in a circle, it will ONLY rotate around you in a circle. Changing your mind requires you to release your control over the jutsu, which inevitably leads to the water splashing on the ground at the speed of gravity, often too fast for you to reassert a new kind of control.

With many long hours of practice, however, you begin to learn of the ways in which you can manipulate jutsu. You may not be able to modify them after they’ve been formed, but you can modify the intent of your jutsu so that the form of it is more pliable to interaction.

Instead of willing the water to float up, you can instead will the water to move with an amplified motion following the urging of your hands.

You push out, and it surges forward. You pull your hands back in, and it surges back.

The Water Control Technique itself isn’t capable of dramatic effects like other jutsu. It’s unlikely that you could ever seriously use it as an attack. But practice with it has opened your mind to the fact that you can apply this knowledge to your other jutsu.

You remember your mother teaching you the water bullet: Yours burst out of your mouth because it was formed without refined intention. Hers beamed out as a laser-thin blast of fluid that shattered a rock with ease.

It wasn’t that she was necessarily using a different, better jutsu… Or maybe at that level of refinement it IS a different jutsu, considering that the intent must have been heavily altered from the way you understand it…

The Water Bullet technique was the most versatile one you had in that regard. Perhaps with different hand seals and different ideations of intent while you form the chakra, you could develop or rediscover new applications for your jutsu, and if the change was dramatic enough and could be replicated consistently, that would warrant consideration is the invention of a new technique.

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>>5938209
Even a jutsu in itself is just a name applied to a specific technique that can be replicated as a rote more than once with the same result. No jutsu requires a name any more than the technique of picking up a pair of chopsticks requires a name.

The kami didn’t care what you called it. The kami only responded to the form of your chakra, and the will you enforce over it as you manipulate it. With that in mind, every jutsu of any elemental nature must have its roots in one core technique. A master jutsu, from which are derived many different facets of power and expression.

And what is the master jutsu? It might be some godlike power, or maybe the master jutsu is the ability for a ninja to simply flex the energy of their own soul, a power which all living creatures were endowed, the master power through which all other power, literal or metaphysical, flowed forth from in great emanating waves.

Your eyebrows raise. That sounded good! You’d better write that down…

—

Sunlight Inn Town rises before you as your party crests a hill. It’ll be sunset soon, so the twelve of you pull up to the eponymous inn and begin making your accommodations while the Kumamotos get their carts stored in a warehouse.

You, Naoki, and Akimitsu get a room together.

Masami, Hana, and Fumiko get a room together.

Kin and Aina get a room.

Gin and Tsutsuki get a room.

Hotaru gets a solo suite.

Shota just sort of wanders off without getting a room for himself.

It’s explained to you by Gin that you’ll be here for the two nights, and then you’ll leave the dawn that follows. Tonight is for sleeping, tomorrow is for trading, and after that you’ll be good to make progress towards the fire temple.

Since you’re still somewhat near the leaf village and in civilization, the chances of you getting attacked are essentially zero, so Hotaru concurs with the Kumamotos that you may as well have some R&R until it’s time to leave, so long as you at least vaguely keep an eye out for problems. That being the case, you, Masami, and Naoki are already making plans to posse up and hang out doing whatever you want.

>Naoki just wants to explore in general, maybe check out some shops.
>Masami is interested in doing actual activities like hitting a gambling parlor.
>You want to do… What?

>You have time to do three things total. You can pick your own thing to do, and you can exert influence on what the other two do because you’re the de facto leader of your team.

>The other youths in the group may or may not join you depending on whether or not they have work to do and whether or not you decide to do stuff they care about. Akimitsu and Naoki still haven’t made up yet and it’s a little awkward.
>Sunlight Inn Town is a small trading settlement that’s sprung up around a travelers inn. It doesn’t have any imaginable amenities like Konoha does, but pretty much any reasonable thing that might exist in a small town with a thriving main street exists here.

>>5938211
For work, we should get a lay of he land.

>Familiarise ourselves with the streeet layouts and nearby features.

Thats all. Mostly I want to spend some time with Masami.
>Go have fun on an arcade with our team. Maybe win a fluffy octopi or crab for her.

>go and find a nice isolated place near a water feature and meditate.

Surprise banger update ahead of schedule, love to see it.

>Day one: Gambling Hall. Gives us two days to lose the sting if we end up losing most of the games.

>Day Two: What >>5938340 said, Naoki wanted to explore so we can do it while working, even make a game out of spotting odd features in town or a race since he's the competitive type.

>Day Three: I got nothin, if they have a theater in this town then maybe a group trip to the movies?

Also forgive me for namefagging, I'm rarely home so I figure it's the best way to keep track of who is voting for what instead of constantly referring to my old mobile posts.

>>5938211
Tag along with Masami, See if we can talk to locals and get some pointers of things to check out on first day.
Second day, follow up on any leads we get on things to check out, investigate the vibes.
Third day, tie up loose ends, do some shopping maybe, touch base with caravan before we leave.

>>5938211
>>5938459
+1

>>5938211
>We have more money then sense, and so if Masami wants to gamble I say let's go do some gambling!
But also... "Shota just sort of wanders off without getting a room for himself." Maybe he has a good reason. Probably he has a good reason.
But we're an over-analyzing teen on his first mission and there is a non zero chance he is meeting up with contacts to plan an ambush on our clients. I'd say its our duty to stalk the man and see what dastardly schemes he's up to!

Question.
Do you guys wear your headbands and represent yourselves to the townspeople as ninja, or are you going to take them off and try to blend in more incognito?
Both are valid and have their pros and cons.
Also, there was a slight miscommunication as far as days go. Day 1 is today, which is basically over, Day 2 is the day you'll actually be doing things, and Day 3 you leave right away in the morning because people like taking breaks when the sun peaks before moving on.
I guess it doesn't really change much in the end though.
>>5938791
Kill him in his sleep. Get him before he gets you.
NIGHTMARE
NIGHTMARE
NIGHTMARE
>>5938349
I'm not too concerned about other people using trips, it's no skin off my dick. I like the continuity of getting a feel for who's voting for what, why and what they want over time anyway. All of you could do it and it'd be fine by me, or none of you. This is the one board where namefagging isn't a mockable offense, at least, not in my opinion. And besides, I appreciate the support.

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>>5939357
I see Otomo as a around the neck (Hidan for Ref) or like picture related (be gentle) with the sash hanging from the waist/belt with the plate closer to the hip so we can cut below if we get snagged.

I don't see us as the type to just raw dog a headband on the forehead, too constricting for a free flowing water philosopher.

>>5939357
Don't see Otomo taking it off. Being a ninja is basically all he has, and is the source of his relationships, income and pride. Outside of being a ninja we're nothing, so wear it with pride.
>>5939357
I don't mind him wearing it as a necklace, do we wear a sash? I can't quite remember how we usually dress (other then in dapper all white suits)

Also, yes, yes. Kill him, dew it!
Could we
>Stalk Shota tonight
>Go gamble and bugger around tomorrow
?

>>5939357
>Hang out with Masami, gather info, follow up anything worth checking out. Maybe ask the peasants if they ever think about philosophy?
>Also investigate Shota

>>5939357
Then in that case, I just want to play in the arcade with our team.

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>>5938211
>>5938340
>>5938349
>>5938459
>>5938488
>>5938791
>>5939376
>>5939466
>>5939542
>>5939644
Everyone else is settling down for the night, but you’re suspicious of what Shota is doing. You decide you’re going to go tail him to see whether or not he’s getting up to any funny business. You exit your room and climb up on top of the roof so you can get a vantage on the streets. Akimitsu loudly sighs as he watches you go, and Naoki let’s out a little chuckle.

It was somewhat late so there weren’t too many people on the streets, and Shota had just walked off, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get a bead on him.

You quickly find him, and almost as quickly ascertain that he’s definitely being suspicious; The man is keeping to the alleys and dark areas as much as possible, and keeps shooting looks over his shoulder to make sure he’s not being followed. Of course, civilians don’t normally look up, so following after him on the rooftops isn’t very taxing on your ability to shadow the guy.

You watch as this large, strong guy nearly jumps out of his skin because a cat meows at him, before he quickly speedwalks away in a fidgety, nervous kind of manner.

Dead to rights!

He’s up to something for sure!

You redouble your focus, hovering over him with the laser precision of a hawk watching a mouse that’s going to die within the next few seconds.

You see shota nervously approach a nondescript door, shoot another glance or three over his shoulders to make sure nobody notices him, and then gives the door three quick knocks. A figure you can’t make out from your angle opens the door for him and lets him in, Shota quickly scurrying inside like he’s got something to hide.

The building really is pretty generic. It’s hard to tell if it’s a residence, a business, or what. It’s free standing, so unless the building is connecting to some kind of tunnel system that leads elsewhere Shota isn’t exiting without your knowledge.

You stake it out for a significant period of time. The windows are curtained and seem to emit very little light. Candlelight, if you had to guess.

You don’t know what kind of den of villainy this place is, so you opt against just entering through the front door like Shota did. It would be too direct, it would cause a scene and immediately bring whatever dangerous situation this is to a boiling point.

That in mind, you leap to the roof of the building, grip the ledge, and gently lower yourself down in front of slightly ajar window. Leveraging the window open just a tad more, you slowly, slooooowly peer inside to get a look at what’s going on.

Alright, there’s Shota, he’s in the nude over a half-dressed woman who’s-

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>>5940027
A jolt of abject shock shoots through your body, causing an involuntary spasm in your legs which launches you the fuck off that window immediately. You make an unprepared landing on your back in the dust of the street below, and before you’re even able to get some air back in your lungs you execute a series of pathetic sideways rolls to get your body concealed in the shadow of a closed mango stand before attempting a recovery.

Yeah, that’s either his, uh, lady friend, or he’s at a brothel, you think, hands drifting upwards to rub the filth out of your eyeballs. Were you some kind of voyeur perv now? How would this negatively impact your spiritual purity and development? For shame!

Kami-Sama, why? Why couldn’t he have just been a serial killer or something instead?

Eventually you get your senses about you just enough to hear a husky but identifiably female giggle coming from nearby. You look up and see someone looming over the edge of the rooftop above you, shrouded in darkness, but with the unmistakable silhouette of a woman. You do see the glint of a sword before the figure disappears from view. Your first thoughts are of the women in your life that might feasibly be here, that it might have been Hotaru or Masami, but neither of them sounded like that, nor do either of them carry a long blade like what you saw.

Electrified into action you quickly force a recovery and clamber up the wall to the roof once again, desperate to get some positive identification on whoever that was before she gets away. Your head cranes around rapidly looking for any insight, but the night is quiet.

—

After failing to establish any more information, you’re dejectedly entering the inn.

“Hey!” Says Masami from off to your left somewhere in the lobby, startling you so bad you reflexively reach for a kunai.

You look over at her, and she’s just kind of standing there with a look of evenly mixed concern and annoyance on her face as she studies you. Well, you needed to report what you saw to someone immediately anyway…

“Masami. Good to see you. So, I was at a brothel earlier tonight, trying to track down this woman I saw when, actually, let me restart, I was accidentally watching Shota have sex through a window when-” Hold on, why does she look so incredibly pissed off?

You manage to deflect the can of soda that gets thrown at your forehead with extreme force, but unfortunately the can bursts and soaks you in sugary soda water.

“YOU’RE A DUMB ASSHOLE! GROSS, DUMB PERVERT!” She shrieks, running away in a huff.

Well, what the fuck! Why was tonight such a nightmare?!

—

It’s the following morning, and you’ve managed to get Hotaru, Naoki, and Masami together to actually explain what happened last night. Hotaru contemplates it with a stern look, Naoki just thinks it's funny, and Masami accepts that you didn’t ultimately do anything wrong but still seems kind of pissed off for whatever illogical reason Masami normally had for being all pissed off.

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>>5940028
Hotaru purses her lips momentarily before finally telling the three of you “There’s likely foreign ninja in this town. It’s unlikely they’re hostile because Otomo wasn’t attacked, and it’s also unlikely they have anything directly to do with our mission here, but verifying who they are and what they’re up to is now a top priority.”

“So…” Naoki says “We’re not getting the day off?”

Hotaru rolls her eyes at him “You’re getting your ‘day off’, but now it’s a cover story for why you’re going to be wandering all around town looking for leads. I’ll remain near our VIPs, you three are to go investigate. Don’t even think of splitting up, you’ll need to maintain a united front in case something happens. Also-” She says, handing you a paper tag with a symbol on it. “-Rip this if you need to summon me. I will know where you are and come find you immediately. Understood?”

“Yes ma’am.” You respond, taking the paper tag and depositing it in your pocket.

“Good. Go.”

—

The three of you are standing around in front of a gambling parlor. Masami points out that it’s gang-owned, but obviously small-time enough that these people aren’t into anything super nefarious. Probably just gambling and prostitution. Masami insists she’s seen places like this before while on the road, and that they shouldn’t pose anything approaching a threat to you since no gang member in a small town like this was going to seriously have access to chakra. They’d be good people to talk to to get leads. It makes sense to you, and is roughly in line with what you planned on doing anyway with your day. Almost.

The three of you enter. Inside, the front room has a couple circles of people seated playing chinchiro, and a row of pachinko machines that have some people playing, looking slack-jawed and oblivious. Anyone who’s not obliviously playing pachinko stops what they’re doing to stare at the three of you.

You decide to take the lead and walk up to one of the obvious gang guys standing around and say “We need to talk to someone of authority here. We have questions.”

The man smiles at you sharply, staring intently at each of your Konoha protectors in turn. He seems to physically chew on his words while he thinks, before making eye contact with you and saying “Go fuck yourself, kid.”

>What do?

>”Naoki, beat his ass.”
>”Masami, beat his ass.”
>Beat his ass.
>”I am a Hidden Leaf ninja, I’m not playing games with you, and you will respect me or I promise things will get ugly. Fast.”
>Just start fucking destroying his little establishment until this guy realizes he’s not in charge here.
>”How about we play some dice? I’ll wager money, you just need to wager the conviction to answer my questions before one of us loses our patience and knocks your teeth out.”
>Be a little more diplomatic. (Write in.)

>>5940029
>Wager money against conviction, before we are moved to violence through impatience.

>>5940042
Also, god damnit, contain your spaghetti Otomo-Kun. You spend such a time considering your words why are you so bad?

Maybe we should just flex on him?

>Hidden in Mist Jutsu
>Gonna be hard to make money when nobody can see what they're playing. Answer our questions and I'll clear out the mist.

>>5940029
>Leave and come back in half an hour with proper adult disguise jutsus to ask under a different, more authoritative guise. You probably should have done that to begin with.
Honestly. The disguise jutsu is a fundamental for all ninja.

>>5940077
Soft pressure. Nice.

I still want to gamble, but if that fails or we hit a deadlock, I'll change to support it.

>>5940042
>Second.
We have plenty cash, and I don't like going straight for violence.
But hey, betting on an arm wrestling match against Naoki or Something could be fun.

>>5940042
it would be a really good bit if we just started talking like the fucking "Xi Dynasty pussy got me acting unwise" meme.

>>5940096
Agreed, it would be nice to watch Naoki embarrass a full grown man with his freak genetics.

>>5940096
that's legitimately a much better idea than dice.
Lets do it. And it reenforces to him how much we physically overpower him

It's that time of the week. The russian ones make sense if you look up their lyrics in English, FYI. Not that some of these songs aren't a little obscure in what they have to do with the characters.

>Otomo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kAMK1SbYKM

>Izumi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLfYD_Kfqrs

>Masami
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yz-8t31EzfQ

>Naoki
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8hf8HBeFSE

>Hotaru
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxM1tjTvFAc

>Shota
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE

>Kin and Tsutsuji
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE

>Gin and Aina
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tdyU_gW6WE

>Hana
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9f7YyiQx3hI

>Fumiko
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nlSDxvt6JU

>Akimitsu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQsF3pzOc54

Also, I'm gonna need some rolls of 3d6 if you're challenging them to a game.

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Rolled 4, 6, 1 = 11 (3d6)

>>5940215
Rollin.

>>5940215
This is going to be a case of "Keep rolling until you run out of money or questions" kind of scenario.

>>5940242
If you're curious and don't know how chinchiro functions, 4-6-1 is invalid and you'd just reroll for something else, so feel free to reroll until you do get a valid roll.

I'll be rolling against valid rolls in order until you guys decide you're done. I'm fine with you guys psionically knowing your rolls in advance because they're only worth as much as what I roll against them.

You're looking for dubs, trips, a 1-2-3 (An automatic loss.) or a 4-5-6 (An automatic win.). Three unrelated singles is a nothing burger and you just reroll until you have something presentable.

Your score on a double roll is equal to the number that's not the dubs, so if you roll a 6-6-1 for example, the score is a one. if you roll a 2-2-5, the score is a 5. Trips beat all dubs automatically, and also beat any trips that are lower. And you basically go back and forth like that until someone is done playing.

They're gonna be charging you 25,000 Ryo (2,500 USD) each round. After all the jobs you've done, including your fat bonus that one time, you probably have a cool 175,000 Ryo in the bank to work with, though I'd recommend stopping before your destitute.

OR you could just get mad and beat the shit out of somebody, but that's less fun. Uncouth as well!

Rolled 3, 2, 6 = 11 (3d6)

>>5940282
I'm fine to gamble like three times, then suggest moving to an arm wrestle.
Also this is gouging as fuck.

Rolled 3, 6, 5 = 14 (3d6)

>>5940290
Give me a roll.

Rolled 1, 4, 6 = 11 (3d6)

>>5940292
Son of a

Rolled 3, 5, 5 = 13 (3d6)

>>5940295
Doh

Rolled 4, 6, 2 = 12 (3d6)

>>5940297
Yeah, this is what I'm looking for. I can write a short post for this. A 3 is mediocre.
>>5940290
For the sake of brevity I'm moving past that, because frankly even a backwater rube knows that a ninja is just going to fucking win, so they're just going to say no and then you'll be at square one. Though I'll definitely write the "No." you receive into the post.

Still though... Remember going apeshit is always on the table. You could always just remind them that you're above the law and can do whatever the fuck you want.

If you win, what question are you going to ask?

Rolled 6, 6, 5, 1, 4, 5, 3, 2, 2, 2, 3, 4, 6, 3, 1 = 53 (15d6)

>>5940308
I'm just going to roll 15d6 every time for my end and take the first valid set of 3 in the set so I don't need to wait for post timer each time.

>>5940309
>6-6-5
They're going to win the first round with a 5 and your ass is out of 25,000 Ryo.
Very cool.
Writing.

File: Yukimura.png (2.17 MB, 1024x1024)

2.17 MB PNG

>>5940029
>>5940042
>>5940077
>>5940085
>>5940096
>>5940130
>>5940242
“Look.” You say, placatively. “I know this is a gambling house. Why don’t we gamble for it? I’ll wager money, you wager answering my questions.”

“What do you have in mind?” The man says, smirking at you.

“Arm wrestling. My friend here-”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because you’ve got magic powers. You think I’m fucking stupid? I bet this guy’s some kind of uh… Some kind of super gorilla. I’m not falling for this fucking crap.”

“Fine! Dice then. But if you’re going to veto my suggestion, I’ll tell you this: If you answer my questions with genie bullshit to try and make me into a rube, I’m just going to have my super gorilla friend beat the hell out of you. Is that clear?”

The man smiles at you. This time it’s not a sneer of dislike, but a smile of mutually established respect. “All right, kid.” He says. “And for the record, I’m sorry I told you to go fuck yourself. It’s our business to not just fold when someone makes demands, dig?”


The man walks into the back, has a brief discussion with someone, and then a woman wearing a suit walks out. She eyes you up and down, and says “I’ll be watching to make sure you don’t cheat.”

With that, you and the man sit down. The other chinchiro players clear out a spot for you. First, he introduces himself. “I’m Yukimura. Because it’s just the two of us, we’re just going to roll off without a bank. Real simple: You put up 25,000 Ryo, I put up answering whatever you ask. If I don’t fucking know the answer to your question, I’ll just let you ask another question, or I’ll make it my business to find out ASAP. Deal?”

“Alright.”

“Okay.” Yukimura says, handing you a bowl with three dice in it. You give the bowl and the dice a quick once over to verify that there’s nothing fucky going on with them, before nodding and setting them down.

Masami leans over and whispers the rules in your ear, which is good because you have absolutely no clue what the hell you’re doing.

In a 1v1 without a bank, the rules are simple: Each of you roll, and compare the quality of your dice together. That’s it. Masami knows what dice are good and what dice aren’t, so you’re not going to get bamboozled.

You roll.

4, 6, 1.

You look to Masami. She shakes her head and says that you need to reroll until you get a pair, a trio, a 1-2-3, or a 4-5-6. Easy.

You roll again.

3, 2, 6.

3, 6, 5.

1, 4, 6. “Kami-Sama…” you mutter.

3, 5, 5.

Masami whispers in your ear that that score is a 3, and so he needs to roll a 1-2-3, or doubles with a value of a score of a 1 or 2 for you to win. Which is, ultimately, mediocre.

Yukimura gives your dice a smug glance, before taking the bowl off of you and rolling himself.

6, 6, 5.

Masami is about to whisper in your ear that you lost, but you wave her off because you understand the game now.

“Weh-hell! 25,000 big ones, please!” Yukimura asks, extending his hand.

You grimace and hand him the money.

>>5940332
>3d6 until you get a valid roll.
>Alternatively, get butthurt and do something hardcore. (Write in.)

Rolled 4, 1, 3 = 8 (3d6)

I'm not crying this is just my Chakra coming out.

Rolled 6, 2, 2 = 10 (3d6)

Fuck..

Rolled 3, 1, 1, 2, 6, 2, 5, 1, 5, 3, 4, 5, 3, 5, 3 = 49 (15d6)

>>5940337
A 6 is bretty good.

>>5940339
3, 1, 1.
Yukimura gets a 3.
>What question are you asking?

>>5940340
>What other Ninja have been wandering around here? If you don't know what one looks like, [describe the girl], she's one.

File: Burning Money.png (1.57 MB, 1024x1024)

1.57 MB PNG

>>5940334
>>5940336
>>5940351
“What other ninja have been wandering around here? I want everything you’ve got, but specifically there’s a female. She has a voice that could be described as husky, maybe raspy, and she carries a katana.”

“Oof. Yeah, I know who you’re talking about, and I know why you’re here now too. Yeah, we met the two you’re looking for. Kiri-Nin. Now, we’re not traitors, so I’ll tell you for free that they insisted they had papers from the Hokage saying they were good to be around here. Though… Honestly, we didn’t bother to verify their shit, dig? None of our business so long as they gave us plausible deniability. Anyway… There’s two of ‘em. The leader is a guy with light blue hair and an eyepatch. Light blue eyes too. He carried a sword, and, uh, he was wearing a robe. White. A white robe over blue. Had some bandages visible on his chest. Didn’t give me a name.”

Yukimura takes swig from a beer that’s sitting within arms reach before continuing. “The other one, a girl. Young, but maybe a year, maybe a couple years older than you. I ain’t, you know, one of THOSE kinds of guys, so let’s just say she’s going to be a beautiful woman when she comes of age, catch my drift? Black hair, ponytail, purple kinda eyes, also had a sword, dressed a bit like a whore if you pardon the expression, but damn! Not like the lovely lady we have here.” He says, gesturing to Masami. “She had these hair accessories, looked like something that should belong on a fish. Fins or some shit… And yeah, she had a raspy voice… Her and the guy were asking about…” He smiles at you. “Well, that’s a whole other topic! We still playing?”

>You still playing?
>If so, 3d6, you know the drill.
>... Beat his ass?

>Technically, you have enough information to go on already to find an avenue that doesn’t require spending fuckloads of money, if you have a good idea of what to do next.

>>5940356
>"Naoki? Remind me again, is withholding information about the plans of potential nin-enemies considered treason? or colluding? Doesnt it also grant us the right to an interrogation by any means?"
>Let him keep the money he originally won.

Carrot meet Stick.

>>5940356
>I've got the answers I need, but the game seems fun. Drop the bluff down if it's for pleasure, or you can tell me where to get such nice dice and we'll be on our way. If the info turns out to be important, you can expect us back.

I don't see a reason to keep spending, we've got our lead. If we really need to know, the team leader can go and threaten them.

>>5940372
We can drop this question down then.

>"Where they asking about anything important?"
and let him dig his own grave there. If it isn't important, then we have no reason to play. If it is, then it's easy to follow your lead and say "collusion"

>>5940372
seconded

File: Harumi Mizutani.jpg (292 KB, 1024x1024)

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>>5940372
>>5940377
>>5940391
“Were they asking about anything important?” You ask.

“I ain’t see no dice rolling, do I?”

“Naoki? Remind me again, is withholding information about the plans of potential nin-enemies considered treason? Or colluding? Doesn't it also grant us the right to an interrogation by any means?”

“Well, we can already do whatever the hell we want.” Naoki says, cracking his knuckles. “But I do think our actions would be considered more reasonable in the report if we had a good reason. Leaning on a potential traitor weasel sounds good on paper.”

“Now, hold on just a fucking second! I already went and told you they said they had papers! We’re well within our rights to take that at face value! But fine, look, they were asking about some traitor they were looking for. Traitor to both of our villages. Apparently some cunt betrayed their village, joined ours, and then betrayed ours again anyway. Since all these fucking villages want this bitch dead, apparently, they worked out a deal with the Konoha to send some people.”

Yukimura jabs his finger at you. “So we ain’t no goddamn traitors, matter of fact, talking to them was us speeding along the course of justice! And I ain’t saying not another damn thing about it unless you put some money down, because we didn’t do shit wrong and we’re not a charity. Dig? Either keep rolling or fuck off.”

You now know for a fact that there are two Kiri-nin in the area, and they’re looking for your mother. You didn’t know it was going to be… personal. You feel your hands start to sweat a bit and your heart rate increases.

Why would that be?

Oh yeah.

It’s FEAR.

>Keep rolling.
>Fuck off.
>Other.

>>5940392
>Place down 25k ryo. "You just gambled and won. Enjoy."

>Fuck off, And inform our team lead.
>Then go and get a cold shower. We need a cold shower, before we go and interrogate these Nin.

>>5940392
>fuck off

Mission accomplished, and he thinks we're also hunting mother so our VIP probably aren't going to catch any flak.

The problem is that we were probably followed last night, meaning we're probably under surveillance and thus a secondary or tertiary target of opportunity... But worse than that mother dearest might be involved with the Lords of fire.
No bueno

>Hunting mom
>Happened to be right on our ass when we fell

Guys...are we bait?

>>5940392
>Other.
Immediately report to Hotaru

>>5940392
>Fuck off.
Go tell hotaru

>>5940392
>>Fuck off.

>>5940392
>>5940460 +1

File: Coins in a Bowl.png (2.25 MB, 1024x1024)

2.25 MB PNG

>>5940392
>>5940420
>>5940421
>>5940436
>>5940460
>>5940609
>>5940618
>>5941133
You stand up, reasonably confident that you have everything you need here.

“So you’re fucking off?” Yukimaru asks you.

“Yes.” You say, pulling out another 25,000 Ryo and attempting to hand it to the man. “For your trouble.”

Yukimaru immediately drops all of his greed and refuses the money with a gesture. “Didn’t I just tell you we’re not a charity? Fuck off with that too.”

“Fine.”

You pocket your money and leave with Naoki and Masami in tow.

>+1 WoF for handling this in a mostly civilized manner despite the fact that it would have been easier if you just came down with force. You have 3.

“Are you sure we shouldn’t have kept asking questions?” Naoki asks. “Or just crack some skulls. I feel like we’re still missing a lot.”

“Well, we already have enough information to know that these Kiri-nin aren’t our problem. Other than the blood in my veins, I don’t see how what they’re doing has anything to do with me.” You answer.

“They might know who you are, and they might be following us to use you as bait.” He says.

“If that’s the case, we’re being followed around by free backup. So it’s a net positive. I’d rather be assaulted by mom with two strange foreign allies than without.”

“But… They’re trying to kill your mom. Are you actually okay with that? I know she’s bad and all, but…” Masami starts, but trails off.

“I can’t afford to care about what happens to her. At this point my hands are…” You also trail off. You were going to say your hands were tied, but what you’re saying reminds you of what Naoki was trying to say to you last week.. You even hear him give you a victorious grunt to confirm that you’re understanding the same thing. “... Anyway, we need to tell Hotaru-Sensei.”

Maybe some situations really are just fucked.

—

You get back and report everything you’ve learned: Their descriptions and their goals. Hotaru seems content to have this conversation publicly standing around in the street for some reason.

And she doesn’t seem satisfied.

“Otomo, are you aware of the basic interrogative questions?”

“Do you mean interrogation techniques?”

“No, I mean Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How.”

“Yes.”

File: Hotaru at the Sunlight Inn.png (1.53 MB, 1024x1024)

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>>5941144
“Okay, so let’s review what we know. Who: Two Kiri-Nin, minus names, affiliations, skills, etcetera. But lets say we have that. What: They’re hunting your mother. Okay. And apparently they have a document that says they’re sanctioned by the Hokage, but we’re not sure. Alright. When: We have nothing except the present. We don’t know how long they’ve been here, and how long they’re planning on staying. No timeline. Where: Here, somewhere, right now, but they came from nowhere and we don’t know where they’re going, and if we wanted to talk to them we couldn't find them. Why: They want her dead because she’s a traitor. Do they have personal reasons? Has it occurred to you that they might be personally invested in this, like you are? This mystery man might be your father for all you know. You didn’t learn enough to know. How: You also don’t know beyond the vague idea they talked to criminals about it like you did. You know, we might want to know exactly how they’re conducting their search so we can aid, obstruct, or misdirect them. But we have no clue what their plans are in any detail.”

Okay. Scathing. Time to defend yourself. “Honestly, I just…” Better choose your words carefully, she might get mad if you told her outright you just thought you had enough. “... I just thought we had enough? We know who they are-”

“No we don’t.”

“Well, we’ll be able to recognize them if we see them?”

“Maybe, Otomo. If they really look like that and aren’t using the transformation jutsu. Right now we just have to hope they are who they say they are, two foreign ninjas, in our lands, hunting for our criminals, and none of this is a trick. And even if it’s not a trick on the face of it, we have to hope they’re not using the whole exercise as an excuse to fulfill ulterior motives to scout around in our home, completely uncontested, because we’re apparently not going to look into it.”

“I… Understand.”

“You have to see underneath the underneath, young man.”

“I know.”

“Go back to Konoha, verify the authenticity of the documents from the issuing end, then come back.”

“... Right now?”

“Yes. Be back in 16 hours.”

It’s noon right now. You’ll be back at 4am in that timeframe, and that’s if it’s even possible for you to make immaculate time with nonstop run, which it isn’t. Naoki lets out a whistle and Masami pats you on the arm.

Fuck. This shit sucks.

You want to complain, but there’s no way to do it without seeming childish and petulant. You turn and begin walking out of Sunlight Inn Town.

“Otomo?” Hotaru calls after you as you leave.

“Yes?”

“If you need help, rip the tag I gave you. Also, don’t walk, run.”

“Yes.” You say, as you begin to sprint down the long as fuck road back to Konoha, which is well over 100 miles away by now. Maybe you can get there faster if you just dead reckon it in a straight line through the trees? You had a deep enough well of stamina that you could make it, but making it in good time was another matter.

File: Woodland Robbery.png (2.03 MB, 1024x1024)

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>>5941146
It’s hour four of your run back to Konoha, or… You suppose it would be better to call it your leap through the trees, considering that’s what you were doing. You can’t help but seethe about the situation.

On one hand, maybe going back to the village to verify those documents was really the most expedient course of action. You can understand that. But you were deliberately castigated in public, and the whole scenario was definitely framed as a punishment.

You didn’t think Hotaru was the kind of person who would deliberately try and embarrass you like that, even if you weren’t perfectly up to her standards. It just felt out of character. Fucking hell, civilians heard that conversation! Maybe you weren’t a perfect leader, but even you could understand that that kind of grilling should be done in private. It sets a really bad precedent, both for the reputation of leaf ninja in front of the populace, and also for you personally. You didn’t want to live in fear that she would get all severe about things out of nowhere. You wanted to feel secure with your team, you knew you had some growing to do, but how the hell did that help anything?

Maybe it was just tough love to get your head on right, but honestly you really don’t think-

A man’s voice rings out somewhere down and off to your left, but unfortunately you weren’t really paying attention to your surroundings perfectly, caught up in your reverie. A man’s voice.

You go still, pausing to listen to the sounds of the forest.

You can hear muffled talking.

You immediately switch from a mode of movement designed for speed to a mode of movement designed for stealth… Though, it was hard to be properly stealthy when you had to jump from one tree branch to another.

Eventually you’re looking upon a scene.

There’s an old man with a walking stick sitting by the roadside of the trail down below. He’s having an argument with another man, a man holding a sword. The man with the sword is making some threatening gestures with his blade. The man with the stick is calm, but he’s fumbling around with his money bag while the man with the sword becomes progressively impatient.

The man with the sword is talking in a low voice now, presumably after the initial yell to, what you assume, was to demand the old man’s money. You can’t make out the conversation.

>What do?
>Almost certainly going to need a roll regardless of what you wind up doing, 1d100, or 1d100+10 WoF

Rolled 47 (1d100)

>>5941147
>what do?
Perform a spot check for active Genjutsu to the best of our abilities.

If it dispels something keep moving.

Otherwise pay the bandit off and ask the man where he will be staying, promise someone will be coming to check on him soon.

If it fails and the bandit turns aggressive break his legs and ask the same question. If we need to we can report it, and turn up with backup on the way back with the authorization if that falls through.

If we get confronted, by Ninja, concede without a fight. We have the tag and if they are trying to bait mother out, she either isn't far behind them so expending energy on a lesser threat is a bad idea for all involved or they legitimately are acting on bad info, we can help correct.

Also if they ate trying to capture us, we can be pretty sure that the supposedly authorized actions were at very least not extended to interfering with our mission
>conserve WoF, might be useful for a later fight.

Rolled 81 (1d100)

>>5941147
>>What do?
Who the fuck does this guy think he is? Bandits in Konoha will be crushed. We've got time for a brief pitstop anyway.
Check for genjutsu like >>5941161 recommends, but if it turns up anything rip the tag to call Hotaru.
Priority #1 is to squeeze the life story out of this fool, get where he's from, who he's with, how long he's been extorting travellers, everything. Let's do an interrogation properly this time. Beating his ass will just be to express frustrations, and for pleasure.

>>5941172
I second this, but. But.
Sensing water sphere, for chakra, before we go in.

There are two kiri-nin. There are two people here. We were also told to under no circumstances split up, then told to split up.
Maybe I'm paranoid, I'm probably paranoid, but if they wanted us this is one hellova solid set up.

>>5941147
>Support Check for Genjutsu, then Water sphere for Chakra.
>If both come up nil, Crush the brigand and get the truth of it.

Rolled 58 (1d100)

>>5941147
>>5941215 +1

>>5941215
Right, signpost myself better and dont report anything until you have everything you can.

The mention of our mother was highest on the list of "oh fuck, no" that ummediate report seemed like the best use of our time. Also, Fear.

I also believe that is a reason that H sent us this way is to do with that bit of information. Getting it verified from kohona is bullshit, if we cannot tell a forgery by inspecting the actual item, the writ is worthless.

>>5941215
+1 on this

>>5941215
Support

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>5941147

File: Hunter Nin.png (1.89 MB, 1024x1024)

1.89 MB PNG

>>5941147
>>5941161
>>5941172
>>5941197
>>5941215
>>5941245
>>5941248
>>5941461
>>5941849
>>5941907
This situation was fishy.

You narrow your eyes and decide to examine the situation for a moment before committing to a course of action. A ninja must see the underneath of the underneath.

Was this a genjutsu? You take out a kunai and prod yourself in the palm. Nothing changes. Okay, not a genjutsu. But it could be a transformation ploy. You would be able to check that out easily with sensing water sphere jutsu. You quickly summon it and take stock of the chakra readings.

Two. Coming from the two men down below. They were for sure expending chakra, which means for an absolute fact that these people were ninja. And since they looked like peasants squabbling in the woods, they were definitely transformed. This whole scenario was a ploy to draw you out and surprise you.

There are some more facts that you can intuit though, and they make your blood run cold: They were close enough to your location that they knew where you were from the beginning. They couldn’t have gauged the appropriate distance for this show to be exactly within earshot otherwise. So, they not only knew where you were, but exactly where.

… But why then? Why go through this at all instead of just attacking your outright? The only explanation was that they wanted to keep you distracted with something to look at and think about while-

You whirl around and look behind you with the urgency of someone he senses their imminent death creeping up behind them. A man is crouches on another branch a short distance behind you, a masked man holding a needle coated in a thin sheen of grease. As soon as you see him he lunges forward, attempting to drive the needle into your neck. Raw instinct causes you to throw up a hand to block him, narrowly stopping his arm at the elbow before the needle plunges into the flesh of your throat. He’s strong though, he’s going to overpower you and stab you anyway unless you make distance fast.

You snap out a kick. The man uses his other hand to block it, and for that brief moment his body weight isn’t pressing the needle inexorably towards your neck.

You jump, launching yourself backwards away from this guy. A blind leap of faith because you can’t take your eyes off of him. It’s a good thing you don’t take your eyes off of him too, because that same poisoned needle gets thrown at you.

You deflect it by blasting a water bullet, washing it away into the woods just before you land heavily on the forest floor below.

File: Mystery Shinobi.png (1.65 MB, 1024x1024)

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>>5942338
The man watches you, impenetrable behind a mask that reminds you of the kind ANBU wear. It bears the mark of Kirigakure.

The two not-peasants are no longer faking a confrontation and are looking at you with analytical gazes. They release their transformations.

The old man’s appearance shifts, the walking stick becoming a katana as the man himself morphs into a blue-haired man with an eyepatch.

The bandit shimmers and dissolves as well, becoming a girl with black hair, also still wielding a blade of her own.

“Impressive instincts, for a genin.” Says the man in the mask. “I can tell the blood of the mist runs through your veins.”

You take up a defensive posture, not willing to attempt banter just yet while three enemies are arrayed against you.

“It’s strange.” The masked man continues. “Why did Konoha let you join their ranks at all, when your blood is the wrong color? Didn’t they realize that your story could only work out one of two ways? That you’d either die by our hand, or you’d turn out to be a traitor like the rest of your misbegotten brood?”

The two ninja down on the forest floor with you enter kenjutsu stances, eyes locked on you. You begin contemplating how in the world it will even be possible to survive this kind of overwhelming force on your own. Running away would be impossible. Hiding would be almost impossible.

“Your blood holds secrets. For that alone you deserve to die. However, there are secrets within you beyond those of your blood. I’m prepared to offer you a simple choice. Surrender. Return to the Village Hidden in the Mist with us. Tell us everything you’ve learned about your time in Konoha. If you do this, I can promise you that you’ll live a long life, sequestered safely in a prison cell. That is the limit of my mercy for one of our wayward children.”

The two Kiri sword wielders regard you in silence, for now.

>You seem pretty much fucked, but there’s always a way, if not for victory than for survival.
>What do?

>Keep him talking, bide your time for some kind of plan, and then execute said plan. (Talk about what, and to bide time for what plan?)
>Rip the tag in your pocket immediately. They might attack you the second you make a sudden movement so you'll also need a followup (What?)
>Hiding in Mist. There isn’t a scenario in the world where you just want to be standing out in the open, but the mist won’t be enough by itself. You’d need more. They would also likely attack the moment you form a hand seal.
>Write in.

>>5942340
I told you this was a set up! I'm not crazy, not crazy I tell ya!

Ok so priorities people! 1. Don't die 2. rip the tag and call for help. So how do we go about that...
They probably, definitely, have more experience with the mist than we do so that's out.
The explosive tags. Just throwing up as much dirt, dust and noise as we can, that ought to buy us a moment or two while we rip the tag and try to not die? Right?

But I think there's an important detail here. "Our blood holds secrets" to me sounds like fancypants family-jutsu.

>>5942340
>>Keep him talking, bide your time for some kind of plan, and then execute said plan. (Talk about what, and to bide time for what plan?)
Engage with his questions, due to the Water sphere only pinging twice that we're probably not about to be counter ambushed by friendly forces. And they have offered us the ability to delay things by talking things out, potentially avoiding a fight we would certainly lose.

Ask why they are here? Are they looking for mother, if so do they think she is around? That could present an issue.

Does he think it would be wise to immediately defect? So close to the village. It would be better for both parties to wait until we were placed on a longer range mission before a defection attempt was made, it would allow us to better prepare and have a chance of succeeding or for us to obtain sensitive documents & amass more information if it took place at a later date.

Theoretically all the tag needs is to be sufficiently damaged, to the point where the seal fails, maybe we could waterlog it by immersing it in our "sealed" container of water, at some point stealthily.

>>5942340
>Delay: "I'll first exact a name, from the team bold enough to hunt down Harumi's kin. Then I've a simple question" Give the men a pointed look "Either of you the dick I came from? Seems tradition to kill your own amongst the Mist."
>"Something bothers me about your village. Why? [Regarding the lethal murdering of dissent]"
Bullshit and stall to give us time to think, and time to position ourselves so our hand is hidden. Also, I think Otomo is genuinely curious as to why there is such a murder death craze

>Damage the tag, Hidden with our body if we can, taking retreating steps along a tree branch.
>If the notice, Hiding in Mist then Ascend to the tree tops again and start trying to get cover between the Hunter and our foes below. Our only present advantage is elevation and surprise.

>>5942340
>Keep him talking, bide your time for some kind of plan, and then execute said plan.
"You don't know anything about my blood. You don't know anything about me. You think you knew my mother, but obviously not enough to stop her, or even find her now."
Take the first opportunity to make 4 clones and scatter while making a mist. Each of the two 'strongest' of our attackers should take 2 each, leaving the weakest link with one. Once they've split, release the shadow clones and make 2 water clones from our container, and hide as thoroughly as possible with real body nearest the weak link, hengi into rocks/logs/moss piles if possible. Tear the seal after making the mist. Stay prepared to use the water from the clones as spikes as soon as they're discovered.

>>5942391
Great method, if they don't immediately fuck it over.

I'm also kinda hoping we kill one of them, probably the girl. Let us contemplate the fact we have a lifeo n our hands

>>5942391
On second thought, instead of releasing the shadow clones, just keep them running as far and as fast as possible, we want to buy all the time we can.

>>5942354
>>5942375
>>5942380
>>5942391
>>5942404
>>5942454
1d100 or 1d100+10 for WoF.
I plan on posting again today but it'll take a hot second because I just started playing sunday D&D.
I'll also make a tactical map in paint or something and start posting that so you can see what's going on in more detail.

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>5942557

Rolled 37 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942557

Rolled 5 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942557
I think that's how you roll?

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>>5942570
>>5942574
>>5942580
Nice.

How am I supposed to roll 1d100+10 I thought I was supposed to put “dice+1d100+10” in options but that doesn’t seem to be working

>>5942583
We're so boned
>>5942587
skill issue?

Rolled 33 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942557

Rolled 3 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942587
That seems correct to me if I'm not misreading something.
I don't know what the issue is.
I'm copying and pasting what you wrote in my own options box to see if it works for me.

Rolled 35 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942557

Rolled 77 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

We need a bit of a miracle here.

>>5942754
https://youtu.be/o5PzQlU1ZaI

Rolled 82 + 10 (1d100 + 10)

>>5942557

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>>5942557
>>5942570
>>5942574
>>5942580
>>5942603
>>5942661
>>5942794
>>5942354
>>5942375
>>5942380
>>5942391
>>5942340
-1 Will of Fire. You have 2.

Three versus one. And the one is a genin, while the three probably have varied skill levels all the way up to jonin.

A fight didn’t really look winnable. If the three of them simply charged you all at once you would be overwhelmed in less than an instant.

But if a situation wasn’t winnable, you could always try to change the situation. You required time to fish for a winnable situation.

Your subconscious is in full overdrive. You’re seeing anything that may possibly be relevant flashing before your eyes. Team Yudai? Katsuro said they were heading off on their mission in a week, and that he’d look for you. It’s been a week and you’re right here.

Hope wells up in your heart before cold logic takes root. There’s no way their team is inexplicably going to beeline your location right out of the gate, and furthermore the chance that their route took them anywhere near here was an extremely dubious proposition from the start. Most likely they wouldn’t even pass within twenty miles of you on their trip to the north.

Your mom, maybe? You imagine a tearful reunion as she bursts out of the bushes and saves your ass. Another pipe dream.

All you could count on right now was your own wits. So you had to use them.

“I have questions.” You state.

The girl in black issues forth another husky giggle but stays silent.

“You’re not in a position to make demands. You want us to talk you into surrender? We have no reason to. I’m just as happy with bringing your body in dead as I am bringing it in alive. It’s irrelevant. I only made the offer out of courtesy to a countryman. If you were educated correctly by your leaf rat teachers you would know that going around answering the questions of doomed men is a waste of time.” Counters the masked man, his posture tensing up. “You surrender or you die. There’s no room for negotiating.”

Your hand involuntarily edges towards the seal in your pocket. It was your only lifeline, but you couldn’t just go for it without playing your hand. Even if you ripped the paper seal, Hotaru wouldn’t be able to help you in an instant. And that’s if you even managed to tear it before three different vectors of death didn’t strike you down on the spot.

You’re watching the faces of eyepatch and the girl in black. Scrutinizing the emotions of the masked man was impossible by design, so you don’t bother.

Eyepatch looks resolved. He’s radiating a palpable aura of stern surety, his face a taut canvas, teeth grit, eyes hard.

The girl in black looked amused, but hyper alert. Her eyes are practically vibrating, shifting from your face to the pocket you edged your hand towards earlier. You make eye contact with her. She smiles. You and her both know there’s something important in that pocket.

“I want him to surrender.” She explains. “I’m sure he will when he learns how serious we are. May I?”

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>>5942938
The masked man answers with silence for a long moment, considering you. A bead of sweat traces its way down the side of your face as he gives her a firm nod.

The girl comes for you, sword glinting in the light as she raises it up and down in a fast, powerful arc aimed at your face. You forget all this bullshit about not making sudden moves even faster, whipping out a kunai and narrowly deflecting it. Unfortunately the only reason you managed to block it in time was because the distance between your speed was balanced out by the distance she had to cross to get within range.

On the second swipe of her glinting blade the calculus of speed is no longer in your favor. Your reaction time is just too slow, your mind too hyper focused on her first swing to anticipate the second.

Your kunai deflected her blade to the right, so she flows with that energy in a bizarrely familiar spinning flourish that has her twirl in a tight circle, her blade flashing out to lash you across the outside of your thigh, right into your pocket.

Several things happen in quick succession.

First, a noiseless thud in the side of your upper left thigh. For an instant it felt disturbingly similar to a punch, a bruising impact, but that’s before the blade extricates itself from your flesh with the searing agony of a jagged saw, dulled only by the numb warmth of flowing blood and severed nerve.

Your leg goes lame and fails you, causing you to lurch to the side clutching your torn wound with your free hand.

You feel a sensation of heat build up, and then pressure.

Mist starts spewing forth from the bloody slit cut into your leg, the pressure of it ripping your pocket open and aggravating the severed flap in your flesh immensely as you careen into the dirt in agony.

‘My blood is mist.’ flashes the insane thought through your brain in a panicked internal screech, almost drowning out the kernel of wisdom in your core informing you that it was most likely the paper tag Hotaru gave you.

Your ability to see dims, sending another course of panic through your system as you pray that the darkening of your sight was merely the mist filling the air around you in bilious clouds that seemed flecked pink with static particles of human blood.

Your vision is then substantially improved as a great burst of concussive force and flame bursts into angered fury in the masked man’s face, ripping him from his branch like a savage blow from a wrathful god.

Detonated wreckage of splintered wood and burning leaves rain down in the mist around you. The girl who cut you leaps away from you as the mist between you forms into pointed spikes of water, stopping only narrowly short of piercing her heart due to her abundance of caution and swift reflexes.

A soft wind brushes the side of your face as you lie in the dirt.

>What do?

No time for rest and we really don't want to be obstructing whatever 3v1 is about to happen next.

>Pop our own localized Mist Jutsu and start crawling for safety as fast as we can.
>When set up do whatever basic first aid they taught us in Academy and we'll go from there.

>>5942940
>Pop mist again and roll aside, start crawling.
>Pop sensory nin for our blood, that should keep us aware of ŵhere the girl is

>>5942973
+1

>>5942940
Make 3 water clones with container, have one carry us, have another carry the third, and getthafuckouttadodge in opposite directions. Tourniquet ASAP, gotta stop this bleeding somehow.

By the way, I think it can easily occur to us now that we are bait for the kiri-nin.

Hotaru said all this shit in the open to clearly signpost that we knew fucking nothing and we were about to be unsupported for 16 hours.

Hopefully counter ambush. But fuck this isnt a good look.

>>5943000
Flight is impossible, they are faster and uninjured. We should focus down on the Genin and take her out of the picture.

>>5943000
>Tourniquet ASAP, gotta stop this bleeding somehow.
Tiny water spike sutures.
It's not gonna be a permanent solution, and it is going to hurt like hell so I wouldn't suggest this if it wasn't for Otomo being disciplined to the point of actual self flagellation... But it should take care of the bleeding.

If we're using our hand to keep pressure on our leg gash, won't removing it to form seals cause us to bleed out? I think stopping the bleeding is most important, even if we do I'm not sure what we can do here but wait for the tag to do its things
>Stop bleeding
>Cast out more mist
>Maybe try water clones to make decoys trying to 'escape' while we hide, if only to buy time
Seeing as the damage was directed, I assume someone or something has emerged from the tag but I don't think Otomo would and I might be reading it wrong.

I might be misremembering here, but I don't recall water clone being in Otomo's roster. Just the standard academy clone technique. He knows mist, spikes, bullet, and now manipulation.

Hotaru didn't think this through at all. Sending us alone when Kiri nin are operating in the area? Considering our historym Wtf?

>>5943279
Na, we 100% use water clones. I remember we had them carry Misami to bed.

>>5943279
He used water clones I’m pretty sure
>>5943282
Honestly I have to agree if we weren’t the protagonist we easily would’ve been captured or killed by now she was probably trying to smoke them out but way too risky in my opinion

Dice!
1d100, 1d100+10 if you use WoF, you know the drill.

Rolled 96 (1d100)

>>5943344

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>>5943345
Well done!

>>5943345
I kneel.

>>5943321
>>5943336
Oh yeah, the toilet clones! I forgot.
Kid is pretty cracked on kiri secrets. No wonder he has eyes on him. Not a good thing to have. Kiri doesn't like loose ends.

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>5943344

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>>5942940
>>5942949
>>5942973
>>5942976
>>5943000
>>5943052
>>5943211
>>5943259
>>5943279
>>5943282
>>5943321
>>5943336
>>5943344
>>5943345
>>5943353
>>5943366
>>5943389
Your number one priority is to not bleed out. The first thing you do is roll to the side several feet, just so you’re not in the same spot you were seen falling at. That should prevent you from taking any blind strikes.

Unable to see, your investigation of your wound is through your sense of touch, both the sensation of it in your thigh and your fingers.

Blood pulses into the dirt through your fingers, but not in arterial spurts. You’d live. Not only that, but it’s not nearly as bad as you initially expected. It seemed the main source of the intense pain was the explosion of mist in your pocket aggravating the wound. Now that it’s over, you find that you’ll be able to stand with only intensely increased difficulty, which is far superior to being maimed and gaining a lame limb. It should heal without lasting consequences in time. You’d need stitches, but it wasn’t enough of an emergency that it couldn’t wait 5 minutes for the death of your enemies.

You unsteadily rise to your feet and begin weaving several jutsus. First, more mist. The already thick fog around you becomes an impenetrable wall of white, subtly illuminated in orange tones to your left by the fire from the nearby burning tree.

A rain of senbon impacts the dirt where the masked man saw you fall moments ago. You ignore it and form the seals for the water clone jutsu, summoning three more Otomos.

The three of them form out of the mist that surrounds you, invisible even to you as they stand mere feet from your position.

A warm wind begins violently pushing against your face, dissipating the mist that surrounds you at an alarming rate until you realize that all you had to do to stay concealed is simply slowly walk with it in the direction the mist was being pushed in.

An Otomo places his hand on your shoulder to make sure you’re aware of his presence. The other two fan out and begin edging forwards towards the perimeter of the mist to serve as diversions and/or to gain some intel about what’s happening.

The Otomo that’s staying with you whispers in your ear. “I’ve formed a sensing water sphere for your blood. The girl has not moved.” He gently places his hand on your chin and moves your face so that it’s pointed in her direction. “There.”

Tora Ushi Tora Ne, a gout of water blasts forth from your mouth with great power. You immediately move to the side so that they wouldn’t be able to immediately triangulate your position by following the line of water.

A muffled bark of pain confirms that you hit someone.

But what now? A holding pattern of hiding and blasting water would only get you so far. At some point you would have to-

A figure enters the fog. You don’t how you know, you just do. A subtle shift in the atmosphere, a feeling that radiates on your skin like a palpable sensation. It was moving cautiously.

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>>5943437
“Young man?” Comes Hotaru’s voice. “We need to extricate ourselves. Come to me.”

Your heart turns to stone. That was not Hotaru. You knew at this point that she was here somewhere, but she wouldn’t have entered this mist. There was nothing for her to gain by coming for you, it was an inefficient use of her talents to creep in here when she would be much better off raining explosions down on the enemy ninja from outside.

It was a trick to lure you out and kill you.

It was a trick that you could turn to your favor.

You think about what the enemy ninja had seen. They had seen you scared and defenseless. They had seen you go down, seemingly badly wounded. They could only assume that you were still scared and searching for any means of escape. In other words, whoever this was expected you to be a meek child, scared of death and eager to grasp any hand offering salvation.

They were underestimating you. A grave mistake. The last mistake they would ever make.

You begin focusing on the sensation of power in your core.

Tora Ushi Tora Ne. You had to kill them. You had no choice.

Tora Ushi Tora Ne. Kill them.

Tora Ushi Tora Ne. Kill.

You nudge your water clone with your elbow. He nods. “I’m here!” He shout whispers, stepping away from you and to your side.

You lurk in the mist, blind, but relying on a prescient sense of killing instinct that pulses through your brain.

Your clone stumbles towards the voice. The sound of piercing flesh momentarily greets your ears, followed by the splashing of water as your clone dies.

You lunge forward.

The masked man’s face enters your view mere inches from you. He was taller than you, but you catch a glimpse of his eyes through his mask. Younger than you thought. Brown eyes, hard eyes. Surprised eyes. He’s taller than you, so your mouth is level with his neck.

Tora Ushi Tora Ne. Water Bullet jutsu.

His arm flashes out towards you, gripping a kunai he wants to ram into your chest.

Your two Otomo clones come through for you, one grabs his left arm, the other grabs his right. Both press their torsos against the masked man to prevent the kinetic force of your water bullet from being lost sending him flying.

A great torrent of water issues forth from your mouth, point blank into the man’s throat. A choked gurgle is almost immediately silenced by the torrent of water crushing his windpipe.

You continue spraying. Harder. [blue]HARDER[/blue].

You squat down, allowing the water to arc upwards at an angle. His head jerks backwards, mask ripping off along with the skin of his face an instant before his body is finally propelled skywards with the force of your onslaught, ragdolling uselessly into the distance.

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>>5943440
The mist that surrounds you dissipates enough that you can see again. It was an unfortunate consequence of having to move forward towards the edge of the mist’s radius to make that attack.

You see the man’s body hurdling towards the ground mere feet from the man in the eyepatch, who’s standing with his back to you focussed on defending himself from the fire jutsus Hotaru keeps raining towards him. His eyes flick to the body of his comrade momentarily, his sword lashing out at the newly-unmasked man.

The man’s head is severed from his body just before both body and head slam into the trail. The carcass of the man’s body shatters into the dirt while his liberated head rolls into the bushes.

Eyepatch man drops his sword and holds up his hands as he falls to his knees. “Easy now, easy now…” He says. This is the first you hear of his voice. It’s surprisingly smooth and clear.

The girl with the fins in her hair is rising from the bushes nearby as well, disarmed by your water bullet, clutching her bleeding shoulder. She realizes that this fight is over now as well, and also falls to her knees, raising the hand of her injured arm weakly in surrender while the other keeps pressure on a wound seeping blood. Probably not caused by your water bullet.

Hotaru emerges from the treeline opposite them, fire leaking out her mouth as she holds the snake seal in front of her threateningly, ready to blast another Great Fireball at a moments notice. She doesn’t dare spare a moment to check how you’re doing, refusing to take her eyes off the enemy.

Two other Hotarus exit the bushes from two other locations, similarly holding seals in front of them that promise the quick release of jutsus if the two ninja dare make a move.

“Are you alright?” One of the Hotarus asks.

“I’ll live.” You answer.

“Good.”

Your remaining two water clones confidently approach the surrendering ninja to restrain them, kunai ready to be held to their necks.

>You’re victorious.
>Your water bullet may have broken the masked man’s neck and killed him before the man in the eyepatch took his head off, but you’ll never know without a high quality autopsy.

>They’re at your mercy. Now they’ll have to answer your questions.

>>5943445
This is officially ANBU territory now. We were already returning to Konohagakure, so we should deliver them as prisoners as quickly as possible. If any other anons have questions to ask on the way, I absolutely support whatever questions they have - I don't have any, personally, because I think they could very easily lie to unskilled interrogators.
Oh, and it goes without saying, take ALL of their shit. Make sure they're hiding nothing by stripping them and searching every inch of cloth, and going over it again with a Sensing Sphere keyed to chakra - fuinjutsu seals SHOULD ping from that, I think.

>>5943445
>Names. Mission. Paper authorising their presence in the Land of fire. Length of Mission, its already elipsed duration. Knowledge about our egg donor. Reason for attacking me now if it wasnt a primary mission objective.

>Why did you execute the hunter Nin? Why exactly is kiri so obsessed with killing? Are you aware of our lineage.

Seperate the mission questions from the personal ones.

>>5943445
>Your blood holds secrets. For that alone you deserve to die. However, there are secrets within you beyond those of your blood.
This line shows they already knew who we are but I’m interested if they know anything more about our bodies current situation than we do and why it’s so
valuable to them though I doubt will get a satisfying answer from them

>>5943445
>>5943477
This is good. Covers a lot of the ground we missed with the gambling.
>Why did you execute the hunter Nin? Why exactly is kiri so obsessed with killing? Are you aware of our lineage.
I'm unsure how much he would know about those, but I would figure the basic ideals of each major village is known by the other 4? Kiri is all about secrets. Very much a "knowledge is power, guard it well" type of place.

>>5943498
And kohana is "friendship is magic, your friends are your strength" type of deal.

But everyone we know has a different deal on what the will of fire is. I want a soldiers view on the will of mists.

>>5943513
Agreed. Looking forward to picking a foreign ninjas brain. I was more pondering how much in setting is common knowledge.
We as readers know all kinds of things in universe characters shouldn't. While others don't know things that they well should as an excuse to explain things to them for readers benefit. See Naruto needing chakra explained to him.
Blue has done a great job so far of avoiding that. Part of that is of course being able to answer questions between posts, but just as much comes thru in his characters dialogue.

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>>5943445
>>5943472
>>5943477
>>5943491
>>5943498
>>5943513
>>5943547
“Why did you execute him?” You ask, gesturing to the corpse of the masked man.

“Because he was my target.” Eyepatch answers. “The whole point of us running this charade was to lull him into a false sense of security so I could take his head.”

“It didn’t look that way to me.” You say, fingers investigating your still-bleeding thigh.

“Of course not. That man is- was a jonin level assassin. He was alert enough that he wouldn’t have been willing to expose himself unless he was totally confident in victory, and his specialty was killing without even being seen. The plan was that we were going to let him paralyze you with his senbon, and then while he was focused on searching your body I was going to sneak up and cut his head off. That plan was thrown off when you managed to defend yourself, and when your sensei arrived. That's why I was just standing here not doing anything but defending myself. I'm a jonin as well, and a better fighter than Hihari at that. The only reason I needed to trick him is because he's faster than me and could have escaped with tales of my treachery if I couldn't down him in one sure blow.”

“Then why did she try to kill me?” You say, pointing at Fins.

She offers you an apologetic wince “Because he was seconds away from killing you, straight up? By attacking you myself I gave him a reason to wait, and I knew from eavesdropping on your conversation with your master that you had a seal in your pocket you needed to break. I didn’t mean to cut you as bad as I did, but I knew something good would come from breaking the seal and that you couldn’t do it yourself. You think that was an accident?”

You shake your head. “This all sounds a little too neat. He didn’t even seem like a jonin level assassin when I struck him with my water bullet.”

“His specialty was maneuvering into position to silently kill someone who was defenseless or didn’t see him coming. He was weaker as an outright fighter, but he needed to feel comfortable enough to reveal himself and lower his guard for anyone to get a chance. Otherwise you would have just never woken up one night and nobody would have ever known why.”

“Speaking of why: Why?! I don’t understand why you’d try protecting me, and if you really were, I don’t see why it got botched so badly!”

“I was trying to protect you because Izumi saved my life and died before I could return the favor. It’s gnawed at me for over a decade. That’s why I volunteered to kill your fucking whore mother.” He says, spitting on the ground. “I didn’t even know you existed until I met with Hihari and he explained he wanted you terminated first. Right then I knew I had to kill him, and I tempted him into making us an asset. I had Miyako follow you to make sure she could react if Hihari decided to go for the kill too early.”

“So that’s why she was watching me the other night.”

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>>5943598
Miyako grins at you. “Yes! And I didn’t attack you then either, did I? I could have.”

“So we have Hihari, and Miyako, but who are you?”

“I’m Atsushi Ikeno.” He says simply. “Hihari is a codename, I don’t know who he actually is, and I never will since you ripped his face off. This is Miyako. She doesn’t have a last name, but she’s a daughter to me.”

“How did Izumi save your life?”

“She… In the Hidden Mist our graduation exam was to fight a comrade to the death. The fights were always between the closest friends possible, and nobody saw it coming until we were made to do it. She was my best friend, and I loved her. I knew I was dead; she was stronger than me and I couldn’t hurt her. We fought anyway. Eventually she had her sword to my throat. I gave up. I was fine with it. I remember her just standing over me, and I told her to finish it. Instead, she refused. That meant death. She was swarmed then. I got up to help her, so she cut me in the eye to put me back down. She fought hard, but eventually her own mother stabbed her in the back. I only won through technicality, and because she stopped me from committing treason. I’ll never forget her.”

“Why do you people have loyalty to Kirigakure!” You yell at him, enraged. “How the fuck could you go through something like that and not LEAVE?!”

“Nobody enjoyed it. The weak were culled, and the strong were driven by a sense of shared guilt to become even stronger. The shared bond for the survivors of that trauma was also intense. And just so you know, for examples like Izumi and that freak Momochi, the practice has been discontinued anyway. It’s over.”

“What, you think my sister was culled because she was weak?”

“No.” He says, tears welling up in his eyes. “What she did exhibited more strength than anything I’ve ever seen in my entire life. More strength than I’ll ever see again. She died for me... I’m sorry.” He sags down after that, tears streaming into the dirt. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

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>>5943602
His not-daughter watches him break down with a look of surprise. He’s probably never spoken about this before.

You have very little to say to that. So you just continue. “Who was her father? Who’s my father? Why did Hihari say my blood held secrets?”

Atsushi takes several long moments of deep breathing to compose himself. “I don’t know, you’re both bastards, in the literal sense. Mizutani isn’t a legitimate clan. Harumi was strong, but in the wider political scheme she was a nobody. The rumor was that Izumi’s father was in clan Karatachi, maybe Hozuki, which was why it was secret. One of them couldn’t have a relationship with someone like her, not publicly. As for you, I don’t know. Maybe the same father, but probably some random guy your bitch mother fucked.”

You let out a long, sad sigh. Oh well. “We need to verify if that document you have saying you’re allowed to be in our territory is real.”

“Right. I’m going to stand now and take it from my pocket. As well as another thing I want you to have.” Atsushi responds.

You signal for your clones to back off, and they do. Atsushi and Miyako stand up. You look to Hotaru for confirmation that you weren’t making a mistake, only to notice that she’s standing with her arms crossed and a contemplative look on her face. Her clones are gone by now. She gives you a nod of approval.

Atsushi approaches her and hands her a document. She reads it quickly before looking at you flatly stating “It’s real.”

Atsushi then walks up to you and extends a piece of fabric. Some kind of scarf or sash. You feel a sharp pain in your gut as you look at it. Taking it from Atsushi, you inspect it. There was a hole stabbed into it.

“It was hers. I’ve held onto it as a reminder. I was going to throw it in Harumi’s face before I killed her, but I think you should have it.”

>A string of exposition, so I’m going to pause and let you steer the conversation again. Questions, reactions, whatever.

>>5943603
Alright, well...maybe we should ask him what our sister was like.

>>5943603
>And just so you know, for examples like Izumi and that freak Momochi, the practice has been discontinued anyway. It’s over.”
In a twisted way we can at least look at her death as not being in vain. Ask if things are truly improving in the mist, and thank him, as her brother, for going thru all this in her memory. Offer anything we have on "mom" as thanks?

That was bloody intense... and we killed a jonin. A foreign hunter nin.
How the fuck is that conversation going to go back home?
"Hello Mr. Anbu person I killed a foreign you guys, what kinda pay does that entitle me to?"

In everyone's eyes we are 100% going to live up to the Kiri stereotype of being a utter psycho.

>>5943639
+1

Once we verify these guys we should spill about Mom's Secret Scroll that she gave us the death glare over almost touching.

>When you have a moment, any time at all, write in your journal and record everything you can remember.

We had a weird hyper-aggression moment in that scuffle that is not typical of Otomo and that also directly led to our first (maybe) kill. If (when) Otomo dwells on it later it'll be good to have a concrete record of events to look back on, it's definitely a good idea to take alone time whenever we can to sit with it a second and sort out how we feel about it. We need medication and meditation, heal the body and soul.

>>5943762
Agreed.
Write it down, meditate.

I feel like we should still take them in to the Anbu.

>>5943603
>Accept the cloth

>>5943603
>and then while he was focused on searching your body I was going to sneak up and cut his head off. That plan was thrown off when you managed to defend yourself, and when your sensei arrived. That's why I was just standing here not doing anything but defending myself. I'm a jonin as well, and a better fighter than Hihari at that. The only reason I needed to trick him is because he's faster than me and could have escaped with tales of my treachery if I couldn't down him in one sure blow.”
>“Then why did she try to kill me?” You say, pointing at Fins.
>She offers you an apologetic wince “Because he was seconds away from killing you, straight up? By attacking you m
>>5943639
>>5943762

>>5943762
>We had a weird hyper-aggression moment in that scuffle that is not typical of Otomo and that also directly led to our first (maybe) kill.
I'm trying to imply that there's some conditioning that's kicking in based on your background and training. There's other aggressive stuff that nobody commented on, like the fact that the options you got in the gambling house were all excessively hostile. I deliberately forced you to make an active choice to defy that, because it definitely would have taken an active effort of self-control.

Otomo is a good dude, but there's some dark elements that exist within him because of his upbringing.

He has trouble seeing civilians with the same humanity he sees in ninja, as if he sees them as a different species entirely. You unironically just call them peasants internally sometimes and move on, for example.

He instinctually considers criminals below even that, hence why stepping way outside the bounds of civility and straight into outright 'I'm above the law' violence a first instinct.

When things get rocky your empathy dials down and your aggression ramps up.

There's just facets to his psychology that aren't going to be totally wholesome. I've mentioned before that you guys are really locked in on the Will of Fire path, which is good, I like that. But you're still a child soldier who's been taught from a very young age that ninjas are fundamentally different than civilians and that the enemies of law and order and the village more broadly are contemptable scum. In other words, I'm leaning into the notion that the military junta style of the village system structurally leads to kids subtly having crypto-fascistic inclinations. Your adherence to the Will of Fire playstyle means that there's cognitive dissonance and resistance to that mode of thought, but you're still ultimately a product of the village system.

Konoha isn't as bad as the other villages on that count but it's still there, hence organizations like ROOT existing.

Add the adrenaline rush and stress of being in mortal danger and your ability to take the time think critically about your instincts is going to become limited and some ruthlessness is going to bubble to the surface. I could have made murdering that guy as hard as possible a vote, but in this case, I wanted to really push the notion that you're just not totally normal.

For sure it'll bother him after the fact though, and I'll get to that.

>>5943967
Yeah I totally get that, I'm just saying more so that because we've stuck to will of fire so strictly it IS out of character (but very realistically so) for him to twitch react with violence due to training and base instinct vs acting as this sort of cool headed and very cerebral kind of person we aspire to be like. That dissonance alone is why I think meditation is a good idea. I didn't mean to imply you had just written a rogue out of character moment for him meta-wise if that's how it was taken.

>>5943967
I like the way you're handling the stratification/classism aspect, Akimitsu and our missions interacting with other civilians, as well as our own internal conflicts derived from those have been showing those themes well.

It's just always a surprise seeing where the panic and adrenaline kicks in, and how reckless Otomo becomes. I guess diagetically it is very true with the 'loss of control' aspect, but the difference is so stark it's almost like he's a different character. Maybe some mid-action trauma flashbacks would help tie it together?

Also only providing options for violence does not have as much impact on the players as actually writing out violence, we're just gonna disregard and do write-ins 80% of the time.

>>5943967
Absolutely Based QM.

Same thing when we first left Konoha: All Otomo knew before this team is basically hostility, the world is hostile, everyone is hostile. Of course he is wary and paranoid. Other then child-soldier cape school that's all he's ever known.

I'm really glad you have such a clear image of the character and put so much thinking into the who and why rather then just what we do.

>>5943973
>>5943762
I second this, it makes perfect sense for Otomo to want to distance himself from the entire thing and start to rationalize it all.
Because like I said earlier, we just proved every single person who ever sneered at us for being a Kiri bastard *right*.
We're a genin who killed a jonin on his first proper mission, and we did it by crushing his windpipe and ripping the skin off his face.

We are not the good guy here, we are our mother's son here. We are a killer, by nature and by trade. That kind of overthinking is going to be so much fun to dive into

I kinda feel like we should just tell him to keep the scarf. I do want it, for some reason, but at the same time he obviously cared for Izumi (if he's not still playing us). I'm paranoid, because they're Ninja. And also the blue voice, which I assume is Izumi's impact, was supporting the "kill, kill, kill" so I don't know about his story. Seems convenient. It might be nothing but I think Hokage said she turned on and attacked the proctors of the exam, where Atshushi says they attacked first - it might just be a perspective thing though.

>>5943603
+1 to ask him more about Izumi. I want to ask if there are any other Kiri Nin in the area and ask why they're after mother now of all times (or if it's just related to her "recent" departure form the Leaf and therefore lack of protection).

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>>5943603
>>5943613
>>5943639
>>5943753
>>5943762
>>5943830
>>5943936
>>5943973
>>5943980
>>5943985
>>5944042
You gingerly take the sash from Atsushi. After a moment of consideration, you wrap it around your waist and affix your Konoha protector to it, covering the stab hole.

Wearing it feels right. Covering the stab hole with the symbol of the leaf village felt right. You often thought of your sister as a mythological figure, some kind of ideal that predated you and defined what you were meant to be. But she also died, maybe because even in a different village, in a different time, she still knew more about the Will of Fire than you did. She would have done well in Konoha. Girding yourself and the evidence of her demise with the symbol of your people was a nod to that. A nod to the fact that you could aspire to be better.

You approach and take a good look at Hihari’s body, exhaling sharply out of your nose while you take in how you feel about it.

You killed him. Maybe yours was the final blow, maybe it wasn’t, but ultimately he was dead because of you. It all happened so fast you didn’t really have a moment to take in the gravity of it, but… Even now you’re feeling utterly neutral about it. You expected to be disgusted with yourself. Honestly, you HOPED to be disgusted with yourself, as if some emotional turmoil would have validated your journey to developing into a better, more righteous person.

But he attacked you, you responded with lethal force, and now he’s dead. It all seems so distant and mechanical. In the heat of the moment you didn’t even think about it, you just acted to kill him with no real hesitation. You wish you had hesitated, but maybe that was selfish. You still wanted him dead, you just wanted to also feel like you were morally vindicated when you did it. You wanted to kill, and you wanted to stay clean while doing it. You were just a hypocritical fool who wanted to have his cake and eat it too.

Even now you struggle to see an alternative. This man’s death was written in stone before you even met him, it seemed like there was no other way it could possibly work out other than with your death instead of his. Maybe Naoki was right? Just kill your enemies and be done with it, have the courage to accept yourself for what you are and move on.

But is that really the way? Just shrug your shoulders and say ‘These things happen and I don’t care.’, move on, forget about it?

Could you have talked it out? No. Things were way beyond talking since before you even laid eyes on him. He wanted you dead, so you wanted him dead. Could you have avoided him? No, he would have caught up with you eventually. It was you or him.

But, kami-sama, you really ought to feel bad about it.

>>5944387
You squat down and place your hand on the man’s back, sensing the rapidly cooling warmth of his body heat. This was a person. He had a mom and dad, was born and raised, he had friends, a career, and a loyalty to his village. It was his loyalty to his people that brought him to this, not pure malice or evil intent.

Was the cost of that loyalty worth it for him? When you’re also converted into a broken carcass on some nameless trail in the woods, would it be worth it to you?

Should you commiserate with Hihari as a comrade on a winding path to the same end, or should you devote your time and mental energy to following a different path to somewhere entirely different?

In this man you see your future. If you couldn’t find another way, a better way, you would be brought to this as well. As sure as the morning sun would always rise, the evening sun was always going to set, and you were going to die like Hihari, Izumi, Shigure, and all the names listed on the memorial stones arrayed in every village. Just another sacrifice put to death on an altar of endless destruction.

Finally, a single tear comes to you.

It was such a waste. Such a catastrophic waste.

You stand up and cast a look over your shoulder at the three ninja watching you. “Where do we go from here?” you ask.

Atsushi answers you. “We’ve committed treason. For that reason, his body needs to be obliterated. We’ll set him ablaze. I ask that, in your official report, you neglect to mention our part in this.”

“That can be arranged.” Hotaru says.

“We should bring you in. ANBU will want to talk to you. You can defect to our village” You report, matter of factly.

“Not happening. We’re walking away from here on friendly terms, or nobody is walking away from here at all. I only did this because of your sister, but I’m not a traitor, not fully. If you insist on taking us in, I promise that you and I are both going to die here today.”

“Yeah…” You say, expecting an answer similar to that.

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>>5944389
“Their papers are in order, they haven’t violated the terms of any agreement beyond those of their own village, and it was ultimately for our own benefit, not theirs.” Hotaru states. “There’s nothing more to be done here.”

You listen to the wind blow through the leaves of the trees. At some point the fire blazing in the oak was put out, probably some water jutsu Hotaru used while you weren’t paying attention. You take it all in before continuing to speak. “Mom, Harumi, she had a scroll. I don’t know what was on it, but she seemed intensely protective of it. During the war we called her Death’s Whisper because she was an assassin in style. I’ve seen her use a variant of water bullet that could lance out like a silent beam and destroy a rock with ease. I know she’s good with the sword. I know she’s intensely secretive and ruthless. She gave birth to me so she could use my body as a sacrifice to bring Izumi back to life with a forbidden jutsu, so, for what it’s worth, she clearly regrets what happened all those years ago. That’s all I really know. She’s a woman of few words.”

“Your mother is scum who killed her own daughter, and then betrayed her village anyway, rendering it totally senseless. Then she tried to make up for it by committing what sounds like another, even more vastly heinous crime. I promise you: She’s dead.” Atsushi says. “And thank you. That should be helpful.”

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>>5944391
“Are there more Kiri-nin after her?”

“Yes. Probably as many as a dozen. Other than Hihari, I don’t think anyone cares about you though. I imagine Konoha has a sizable force looking as well. Without the protection of one of the great village’s walls she’s doomed. Her only chance would be to defect to yet another village, try again. But after two betrayals in a row even the greedy bastards in Iwa would probably just execute her. She’s likely lying low somewhere, maybe in one of the smaller, irrelevant villages, but they won’t be able to stop us once we know where she’s at. No matter how strong she is, she’s not going to make it. It’s only a matter of time now. If I’m being honest, my only real fear is that she’s already killed herself in a cave somewhere. It’s what I would do if I were such a piece of human garbage.”

“Right… What was Izumi like?”

He laughs. “She looked like a female version of you. Smaller, lighter. Personality wise she was different. Quiet. At first blush she seemed to be totally stern and serious, but she had a deadpan sense of humor that oozed out of every sentence once you realized how playful she was underneath the mask. She rarely said what she meant, but you always knew. She quietly threatened to kill me at least a hundred times for every minor annoyance I inflicted, but look where we are today. She followed the Kirigakure tradition of swordsmanship; she wanted to join the Seven Swordsman of the Mist one day. Miyako and I use a similar style, considering Izumi essentially trained me and I went on to train Miyako. In her free time she collected rocks and seashells from the beach. Her favorite food was taiyaki, but ironically she hated the taste of fish.”

You nod.

“We need to leave. Otomo? I’ll get your wound bandaged, and I’ll carry you back to Sunlight Inn Town so Naoki can finish dressing it.” Hotaru says.

>Next post is regrouping at Sunlight Inn Town and leaving on the following morning.
>You’re going to be a bit inactive because of your wound holding you back, but you can still talk and think. What about? This whole situation is extremely politically sensitive so you might not want to explain it to anyone in detail.

>>5944396
>Tell Hotaru that you thought that your blood was turning into mist, and that you could sense when people entered your jutsu somehow. Ask her why she thinks that is. And ask her if Water Jutsu could potentially be used with blood as the medium instead of pure water.
Idk, I think this is worth bringing up. Hiding in mist shouldn't normally let you do that. And it's a good transition into blood arts.

>>5944421
>‘My blood is mist.’ flashes the insane thought through your brain in a panicked internal screech, almost drowning out the kernel of wisdom in your core informing you that it was most likely the paper tag Hotaru gave you.
Otomo already inferred that it was the tag rather than his actual blood

>>5944467
Yeah, I know that. But the thought is such a strange one that I reckon he'd bring it up.

>>5944396
>If you should ever find yourself in konoha on good terms, we should have a drink in her memory. Maybe you could even visit the shrine I made her? I bet she'd like that.
Seems good enough people. Might see them at the chuunin exams?
>Sensei... did I do good? No, not well. Good. Is there such a thing in our lifestyle? Oh, and thanks for using me as bait...
Prod Hotaru. She seems a font of wisdom. Makes us think, but has good incite. We could discuss our thoughts we discussed with Naoki. Plus she deserves a rib for setting us up.

>>5944546
>>5944546
>Support

Especially ribbing. We had faith that she was nearby but. . Come on.
Our friends can be told that we killed a jonin.

>>5944595
Meh, at best he was a tokubetsu jonin. Still impressive. But we didn't kill no Zabuza.

>>5944546
>>5944595
Support.
when Naoki inevitably gives us shit for getting wounded, we should definitely workshop a "You should have seen the other guy" comeback.

>>5944629
>>5944627
We are still getting paid for killing a Jonin, and that is what matters.

Also, i now also recognise we were seperated to spare our team the backlash. So thats good, and justifies it.

>>5944546
To be fair being cold about it was probably the right call.
3 genin might be enough of a risk of something going wrong that they start killing from the get go rather then surrounding the one kid and trying to talk him down, confident that there was nothing we could do. Risking our life just makes more sense then practically guaranteeing Naoki and Masami's deaths.

But yea, +1 and do the ribbing because it is still a dick move.

>>5944627
It is *incredibly* impressive no matter how you twist it

>>5944627
There's a wide range of power levels for people at jonin level. For example, Asuma and Kurenai really aren't hot shit in the wider scheme of things, and I'd even go as far as to say they might be stronger than normal.

I think people have an overblown idea of just how strong a jonin is on average because we spend a lot of time with people on the same tier as Kakashi and Orochimaru, but they're pretty explicitly kage level exceptions to the norm.

Most people who call themselves jonin are likely going to be tokubetsu jonin, probably about as strong as Hayate Gekko, and Hayate specifically was my barometer for how hard a fight Hihari would probably be, Hihari even being a bit weaker since his rank as a specialist jonin was due to him being able to kill people without getting caught through stealth, poison, and the transformation technique, and he threw away his main advantages, putting him at around a lower high-chunin level fighter in straight combat. Add in the fact that he made a catastrophic mistake assuming you were too weak and scared to put up resistance when he came for you in the mist and you just had a really good confluence of circumstances that let you get the jump on him on several different levels of strategy.

>Facing you outright instead of just murdering with poison in your food or while you slept
>Not receiving support from his allies when he expected their support
>Miscalculated how strong you are because he assumed from watching you get your thigh slashed that you were basically defenseless
>Panicking and trying to kill you fast so he could succeed his rapidly failing mission, and then exfil without having to fight Hotaru
>Made an obvious, critical mistake by walking into the mist with you totally ignorant of what you were capable of.

And while I thought Hayate Gekko was based and all, he did go down like a punk pretty easily when everything was said and done.

Hihari was definitely not as strong as Zabuza, and even Zabuza would have ultimately been creamed pretty easily by Kakashi if Kakashi wasn't weighed down by needing to protect a bunch of people.

If we get taunted, I just want to sadly say "the other guy ... he's dead" or something to that affect. If we have to be sad, the rest of the team should be sad. It's the way of the Ninja.

>>5944834
The other thing to consider is a little problem the kid has with overthinking. While being dangled unknowingly sucks, could he have pulled it off if he knew what Hotaru was hoping to achieve?

>>5944901
That's really funny. Gekko or Ibisu were the 2 I had in mind making my post. They always struck me as the standard level high tier ninja.