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>>3879708
“Yao-sensei?” you realize a few minutes later when your former teacher arrives. “Good to see you again, sir.”

“Likewise, Raishō-kun,” he inclines his scarred head politely. “When I heard the news I was concerned.”

“I see,” you frown, suddenly reminded of your team’s untimely demise not even a week ago. Perhaps Tenshi-sensei has been trying to keep you occupied, because she’s quick to get things moving again.

“Yao-san,” she greets the instructor. “I understand you know the training technique I seek?”

He bows slightly to her, a seemingly reluctant gesture. “I do.”

“I would like you to use it on Raishō-kun,” Tenshi-sensei insists quietly. Then she hands a set of prayer beads to you. “Please put one of these on each wrist, and on each ankle.”

You quickly do as requested, and practically the moment you look up after fastening the beads around your ankles Yao-sensei knocks against your sternum with his fist.

“Shishi Jūfūin!”

The strands of beads very suddenly become heavy, like weights around your wrists and ankles. Not unbearably so, but moving around with them on will take quite a bit of getting used to. They also change color, from polished dark wood to pure white.

“Weight training?” you realize. “Isn’t this a little old-fashioned?”

Tenshi-sensei nods thoughtfully. “Sometimes the old ways are still practiced for a reason.”

“I also want you to work on your chakra control and hand seals. This is required to gain any master over the paper techniques I practice.”

>How is it that you came to learn those techniques, anyway?
>How did my father die, and how did you come to possess his sword?
>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.
>Other?

>>3879719
>>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.
prayer beads as weights, cool

>>3879719
>>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

patience naori, patience!

>>3879719
>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

It's the first lesson, and Yao is right there. Later.

>>3879719
>>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

>>3879722
>>3879719
swallow your questions for later, as hard as it might be

>>3879719
Also I know he's a general instructor, but a prayer beads weight training jutsu seems pretty unique. I wonder what else Yao knows

>>3879719
>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

>>3879719
>>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

>>3879719
>Do as instructed. There’s no way she’ll tell you anything personal yet.

>>3879719
“I never knew you had a technique like this, Yao-sensei,” you remark, already working on cycling through combinations of hand seals as instructed.

“Of course not,” Yao shrugs. “If my students learned they could just rely on me to facilitate their training, why would any of them even bother to develop any sense of self-actualization?”

True, actually. You know a few genin who wouldn’t abuse such an option, yourself included, but a great number would get too used to taking the easy way rather than learning to work for it. And once that easy support was cut off they’d be too set in their ways to change.

“And I want you to run laps while doing it,” Tenshi-sensei declares.

“Huh?”

“You heard me,” she insists. “If you’re not exhausted by the end of the day you weren’t giving it your all.”
>1d100, taking the best of three

Rolled 46 (1d100)

>>3879774

Rolled 95 (1d100)

>>3879774

Rolled 19 (1d100)

>>3879774
>>3879784
nice

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3879774

>>3879784
That 3.5 stamina kicking in.

>>3879774
The first day is brutal.

Not only does Tenshi-sensei make you run laps in the pounding rain while working through hand seals, she makes you spar against Yao-sensei when you’re not running. And the very next day she makes you do it all over again. You learn nothing new during the first week of training as the beads around your arms and legs seem to grow lighter, shifting in color to blue by the seventh day.

But on the fifth day, you begin to experiment a little. You start to practice forming hand seals against the Umekiri Ichimonji’s hilt using your left hand, the results being that by the eighth day you feel fairly confident in doing it with your hand either in front of you or behind your back.

On the tenth day, Tenshi-sensei catches you doing this.

“Try to perform the hand seals for a genjutsu you know while maintaining chakra flow through your sword,” she instructs you, watching you with curiosity.
>1d6, DC 10 (Moderate-Hard)
>Considering the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3879802

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>3879802

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3879802

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3879802

>>3879802

>>3879802
With your left hand completely on its own and your yin chakra flowing through Umekiri’s blade, you perform the short set of hand seals for the False Surroundings technique. Much to your surprise, it seems that having chakra already transformed within Umekiri Ichimonji allows you to make use of it more readily in an actual genjutsu.

“Fascinating,” Tenshi-sensei muses at your success. “It seems that you can perform genjutsu one-handed while using that sword.”

“I never saw your father do this.”

There she goes, mentioning your father again. But before she can ask she shakes her head. “I suppose that would be the influence of Tenran’s blood. She was reputed to be quite the artist.”

You nod in agreement. “She was, in a lot of ways. Genjutsu, the performing arts, a little bit of everything. Compared to her I feel like a total novice.”

“We all begin as novices,” Tenshi-sensei points out. “Now, I believe you are approaching the level of skill required to make use of the more exotic techniques I have to teach.”

She takes you in under the eaves and gives you time to dry yourself off, before handing you a stack of sealing papers.

“This is how you fold a shuriken pattern,” she tells you. It takes two pieces, but it’s actually a fairly simple origami pattern that requires no specialty application of chakra. “It’s harder to produce the paper yourself then fold it without touching it, but the end result here is the same.”

Practicing for a few hours, you produce a stack of usable origami shuriken. They sit there lifeless, of course, since you have no idea how to do what Tenshi-sensei can with them.

“It’s simple chakra flow,” she insists. “An unusual application to be sure, and you have to have a knack for it. But with your skills with Yin chakra you should be able to do it.”

>1d6, DC 13 (Very Hard)
>Taking the first three linked
>SP: 10 (Cap)

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3879838
Let's rock

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3879838

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3879838

>>3879838

>>3879848
>10: Fail
Use 3 SP?
>Yes
>No

>>3879862
And by 10 I'm an idiot and meant 12 I was just adding the 5's. 1SP to pass.

>>3879862
its only one tho
also yes

>>3879862
Yes

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>>3879862
>yes

>>3879862
yes

>>3879862
>yes

>>3879862
>>3879867
>Yes

>>3879862
>>Yes

>>3879838
It takes you a full week.

Every morning you wake up before dawn and fold more shuriken from paper, stacks of well more than a hundred, and spend the day hurling them one at a time at a wooden target trying to get them to stick. For six days, and easily a thousand failed attempts that simply bounced off or splattered like literally wet paper against your target, one finally sticks.

The next one crumples, but the one after that sticks as well. With a few more failures, you gradually tease out exactly the right concentration and shape of chakra that will harden the edges of your paper shuriken, sharpening them to the point where they’re a match for the real deal.

Great. So far you’ve managed to recreate a shuriken. Something you could have gone down to the store and bought in a pack of ten (with an extra two as a free bonus!) for less effort and frustration.

“You’ve done well to come so far in such a short time,” Tenshi-sensei commends you, before handing you a new stack of paper.

“Black?” you realize. “And waxy?”

“The wax is something I devised,” Tenshi-sensei informs you, “to mitigate the technique’s weaknesses to water and fire. They’re black to help disguise them as the typical tool-steel used for shinobi weapons.”

>Why the disguise?
>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.
>Accept the gift and work with it for now.
>Other?

>>3879885
>Why the disguise?
>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
>>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.
This question seems pertinent. Is she gonna teach us how to make the wax?

>>3879885
>>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.
you could always use a mixture of beeswax and fat, according to proportion.
a thin layer ought to make it a hydrophopic enough surface

>>3879885
>Why the disguise?
>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
>>Why the disguise?
>>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
>Why the disguise?
>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
>>Why the disguise?
>>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
>>Why the disguise?

>>3879885
>Why the disguise?
>Ask how you’ll be expected to replenish.

>>3879885
“Yeah, no, two questions,” you insist, raising your hand.

“You don’t need to do that,” Tenshi-sensei insists.

“Why the disguise and how do I replenish my supply of paper?” you ask.

“The latter is of little concern,” Tenshi-sensei insists calmly. “I will ensure you have a supply, and will teach you a sealing technique next to ensure you have easy access to pre-folded Kami-Shuriken… or rather, I suppose these should be called ‘Anken’, or ‘Shadow-Blades’ due to their color. In time you will probably learn to create the specialty paper for yourself using ninjutsu.”

Then she frowns. “As for your first question, I will warn you that there are powerful shinobi who are familiar with my technique. Are you familiar with the Three Sannin of Konohagakure?”

You nod. Of course, everyone in Amegakure knows of them.

“You must never use this technique in front of two of them,” Tenshi-sensei insists sternly. “Not Jiraiya, the Toad-Sage, or Tsunade, the Slug-Princess.”

“How will I know them if I see them?” you ask curiously.

Your sensei frowns. “You’ll know. Trust me.”

“Now. This is the technique I want you to learn: the Raikō Kenka. Being a skilled sealer you can draw the markings directly onto your left wrist and palm, and seal your Anken into it. Then you will be able to produce those stored weapons in an instant, giving you an advantage in ammunition carried and draw speed. You can even carry multiple kinds of Anken at once.”

>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.
>Can you make senbon like this to deliver poison?
>Teach me the Raikō Kenka. I’ll figure everything else out later.
>Other?

>>3879936
>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>Teach me the Raikō Kenka. I’ll figure everything else out later.

>>3879936
>>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.
>raising hand to ask
cute

>>3879936
>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.
>continue raising hand to ask questions

>>3879936
>>Can you make senbon like this to deliver poison?

>>3879936
>>Multiple kinds? All I know is the Exploding Seal.

>>3879936
>raise your hand like you're still in school.

>>3879936
"Multiple kinds?" you muse, raising your hand again. "But sensei, I only know how to use one useful seal in battle."

Tenshi-sensei forces you to lower your hand this time before responding after a deep breath.

"It won't always be that way," she points out.

"What, do you think I can poison them?" you wonder aloud.
>1d6, DC 9 (Moderate)
>taking the first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3879992
forced?

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3879992

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3879992

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3879992
>forces you to lower it
Heh

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3879992

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>>3879992
“It would require a different sort of compound,” Tenshi-sensei informs you.

“Right, because this sort of thing is what senbon are for,” you mutter, already working out in your head some possible ways to get around the limitations of trying to deliver poison via shuriken rather than senbon.

The whole point is that a senbon, while it only leaves a tiny wound, makes a deep wound. That means it’s good for trying to hit internal organs or major blood vessels, which dramatically cuts the poison’s time to action. It’s fairly basic ninja weapons theory.

It’d be easy to seal poison into a paper shuriken like your Kami Anken, but what sort of poison should it be? It would have to be something that affected the muscles rather than the organs.

“An anesthetic?” you muse.

“Not a bad idea,” Tenshi-sensei agrees. “Though it would be something to try later. For now, simply focus on the sealing technique. It’s rather similar to the standard enclosing method, with a few extra steps to remove the need for hand seals to unseal it.”

You place exploding seals onto a few Kami Anken, and set to work.

>1d100
>Best of three

Rolled 45 (1d100)

>>3880036

Rolled 97 (1d100)

>>3880036

Rolled 26 (1d100)

>>3880036

Rolled 10 (1d100)

>>3880036
come on you blasted wastes of ....>>3880042
i take back everything i tried to say

>>3880042
Ninja Jesus, Naori, slow the fuck down. You're a good cop but you're a loose cannon.

>>3880047
>lowest out of 4
i deserve this

>>3880050
she's a loose canon kunoichi on the edge

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>>3880036
It’s really no different from the typical storage seal, like Tenshi-sensei said, and you master Raikō Kenkei’s use in an afternoon. You even take some time to devise a new seal to store a powerful anesthetic in a set of anken: the formula you settle on is for an old herbal compound called tsūsensan.

It’s composed of eight parts thorn apple, a common weed, as its main ingredient. Added to that are two parts bai zhi (a tall highland plant with clusters of flowers), two parts cao wu (an aconite flower, common in poisons used for hunting), two parts chuan ban xia (another common weed), two parts chuan xiong (one of the ‘fifty herbs’ of traditional medicine), two parts dong quai (related to ginseng), and one part tian nan xing (or ‘cobra lily’). All of these are rather common medicinal herbs in most hidden villages, but it takes a bit of your own chakra to ensure that it will activate in a timely manner. Normally tsūsensan would be administered two to four hours before surgery as a general anesthetic, but using chakra to increase the activation rate shortens this to local numbness after mere seconds.

The seal itself releases the compound in liquid form, where it soaks into the hardened blade and flows out through the edge after contact with the target. Since it requires a hand seal midflight, simply the one-handed seal of confrontation like most other seals, there’s no chance of poisoning yourself.

The only drawback is that a single anken can only be marked with one or the other: an exploding seal, or Bakugami Anken, or a ‘Wasp’ seal, or Hachigami Anken.

“I’ve been very impressed by your progress,” Tenshi-sensei tells you after several weeks of gruelling training, during which time you’ve only taken brief breaks to have tea with Ajisai or visit Hitsugi-han in the hospital. The latter has taken to working there, supporting the nursing staff in any way he can given his condition.

“It’s probably easier when you have a teacher,” you admit. “I almost feel like I’m cheating.”

“I have shown you what you need to make this technique your own one day,” Tenshi-sensei nods. “Perhaps a flashier name for it would serve? In any event, your style of Kengen Sōkō-ryū will be entirely your own, so do not think of it as cheating. Think of it as a gift from master to pupil.”
>1/2

>>3880108
“But for now, I wish to conclude our marathon training session with this.”

For several days, Tenshi-sensei has you do nothing but meditate in a circle together with herself, as well as the priests around the temple. She instructs you to focus on her presence, on several paper streamers hung through the hall of worship, on the movements of your senior priests, on the sound of the rain outside.

From sunup to sundown.

Day after day.
>1d6, DC 13 (Very Hard)
>Taking three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3880127

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3880127

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>3880127

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>3880127

>>3880127
>10, Failure
Use 3 SP to pass (9/10)
>Yes
>No

>>3880139
Yes

>>3880139
yuppedy yupp

>>3880139
yes

>>3880139
>>Yes

>>3880139
yes

>>3880139
>Yes

>>3880139
>Pass
>SP: 6/10

>>3880139
It takes well into March for you to get the hang of it, or even to really figure out what Tenshi-sensei was trying to get you to do. But eventually you get the hang of locating sources of chakra within a fairly limited radius. Without some form of extension or amplification it’s not particularly useful for anything aside from an early warning against ambush, but that will likely change. You also slowly find yourself being able to flow your chakra into a piece of paper and sense around it, albeit with some difficulty. At this current stage you could probably work out what someone was writing on it, but much beyond direct contact and your ability to sense it drops precipitously.

But it’s clear that Tenshi-sensei does things this way herself, using pieces of origami to extend her own sensory abilities like little local relays.

Some day this is going to come in handy… Tenshi-sensei wasn’t kidding around.

>Last roll for the training sub-arc
>1d100, best of three

Rolled 90 (1d100)

>>3880170

Rolled 98 (1d100)

>>3880170
Please be kind lords and ladys of the di- >>3880175
noice

Rolled 59 (1d100)

>>3880170

>>3880178
No, you.

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>>3880175
I have no image for what I feel right now, so have a happy Fuu.

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>>3880178
And you get a happy Yugito.

>>3880189
she doesn't look that happy ....
i take it tho

>>3880185
I shall cherish this Fuu forever

>>3880170
One morning, you awaken to notice that the previously-red prayer beads around your arms and legs have gone from red to their original wood tone.

You guess that means they’re finished? You’d honestly forgotten they were even there most days, so you quickly take them off and go for a jog around the shrine grounds… and by your ancestors’ many names you never knew you could feel so fast.

You’re noticeably faster than you were before, and you were already plenty fast for a genin. It’s just stupid, and you notice your physical strength has kept pace as well. Now when you punch a wooden dummy you actually crack the surface slightly when you really let loose, which previously only a handful of the boys in your class could manage.

“I see you’ve found how useful that Limb-Weighting Seal can be,” a voice greets you as you sip a cup of hot green tea after your morning workout, just enjoying the smell of the flowers starting to bloom and the freshness of the falling rain.

“Yao-sensei!” you greet your former instructor warmly, gesturing to a spot on the veranda next to you. “It’s been a while, sir. Have you been busy with the next class of genin candidates?”

He nods, with something of a grunt. “They’ve kept my hands full. Lord Pain and Lady Tenshi’s arrival has had them stirred up ever since that day. How have you been?”

You make it a point to unseal a trio of Bakugami Anken using Raikō Kenka, flinging them upward into the air before setting them off like fireworks. “See for yourself, sensei.”

Yao responds with a low whistle. “I always knew you were talented, but that’s really something.”

“I have a long way to improve,” you admit.

“Don’t we all.”

You take a sip at your slowly-cooling tea. “So what’s up, sensei?”

“A mission, directly from Lady Tenshi,” Yao informs you. “You’re to meet a dignitary from Konohagakure at the border bridge and escort him to what was once Hanzō’s tower. There Tenshi-san will greet you both disguised as Hanzō, to maintain the illusion to the outside world that he is still alive and in charge. You are not to mention Lord Pain or Lady Tenshi, direct orders from her.”

>What sort of dignitary?
>Why all the secrecy, does it really help the village?
>Drop the act, sensei. What do you really think?
>Other?

>>3880196
Well, she's alive at least. That's a start, innit?

>>3880221
>>Drop the act, sensei. What do you really think?

>>3880221
>What sort of dignitary?

>>3880221
>>What sort of dignitary?
>>Why all the secrecy, does it really help the village?

>>3880223
and she will get to really smile god dammit

>>3880221
>What sort of dignitary?
>Will anyone else be joining me on this mission?

>>3880221
>>What sort of dignitary?
There are clearly high level plays being made and I'm unsure if I want to dig into them at the moment.

>>3880221
>What sort of dignitary?

>>3880221
>>What sort of dignitary?

>>3879936
>Yeah, no

Secretly Californian.

>>3880257
Apparently Canucks do it too, I've learned. There's a surprising mishmash of what makes a 'Californian dialect', it's not all just Valley upspeak.

>>3880221
>What sort of dignitary?

>>3880221
“What sort of dignitary?” you ask curiously.

“Well, I could guess,” Yao-sensei muses, rubbing lightly at his scarred eye. “But it would only ever be a guess. I’d also hazard a guess that if I’m right, you’ll find out soon enough anyway.”

“Awesome, a riddle,” you grumble. “Is this something all shinobi do after they make chūnin?”

Yao-sensei responds with a rare chuckle of amusement. “Maybe, Naori-kun. But that’s enough talk and tea, if you wanna make it there in time you should go soon.”

“Will do,” you reply, setting your tea aside. “If you want the rest of this, it’s good gyokuro.”

“May have to take you up on that...”

You quickly toss a long raincoat on over your shrine clothes, not bothering to take the time to change out of them into your ‘ninja outfit’. Then you leap from the raised stone edifice that the shrine is built onto, one of the few large natural rocks to break the surface of the lake and an ancient site of worship since before the days of the Warring States.

For a shinobi, getting to the gated bridge is a much easier task than anyone else, as you can simply run to the edge of the village and run across the water rather than having to navigate through the center of the village and its many canals and catwalks. So given your newly-improved speed it’s not a hard trip to make at all, and you arrive plenty early.

“Any news?” you ask the sentries. “Who’s our guest going to be?”

“You’re her student?” one of the two shinobi standing out in the rain asks bluntly. Then he shakes his head. “It’s usually either a jōnin, or at least a toku-Jō with a chūnin team. Anything less and it used to be they’d be attacked by bandits.”

‘Bandits’… a term that used to mean anyone who disagreed with Hanzō after the Second World War, where many clans and smaller villages in the Land of Storms gambled on either Sunagakure, Iwagakure, or Konohagakure winning. After a peace treaty was declared those three great powers withdrew, but there was no such respite for the traitors from within your land. Not from Hanzō. That began the long civil war, which was only interrupted by the Third World War being fought across your homeland as well.
>1/2

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>>3880312
After about half an hour, the team from Konohagakure arrives. They all wear heavy coats over their uniform green flak jackets, and the one in front is clearly the leader. He’s what you might very well call a handsome man, probably no early than his early thirties, with brown eyes and hair. He seems to chew thoughtfully on the end of a bamboo skewer as he walks… not the most becoming of habits, but at least he’s not a smoker.

“Heey~!” he calls out jovially as he approaches the border station. “You guys came out to meet us?”

“This is the border station,” the first guard declares gruffly, totally contrasting from the newcomers’ mood. “You would be Shiranui Genma of the Leaf?”

“That’s me,” he nods, still grinning. “This is my band of merry men.”

They look a little wet and disgruntled to be ‘merry men’, but you keep your skepticism to yourself for the sake of diplomacy.

“They are to remain here,” the guard orders, “and you are to surrender your weapons. You will get them back when you check out.”

“Harsh,” Shiranui Genma shakes his head. “But your house, your rules I guess.”

“You will also have a minder from our village,” the first guard’s quieter partner adds. “One of Hanzō’s favorite students, so be on your best behavior.”

“One of Hanzō’s, hm?” Shiranui-han raises an eyebrow, leaning in to get a good look at you.

>I’ll have to ask that you refrain from staring at me like a weirdo while you’re here.
>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.
>I… guess I’m your minder? So I’ll be escorting you to and from the meeting, showing you around, making sure you’re fed, and so forth.
>Other?

>>3880334
>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.

>>3880334
>I… guess I’m your minder? So I’ll be escorting you to and from the meeting, showing you around, making sure you’re fed, and so forth.

>>3880334
>>I… guess I’m your minder? So I’ll be escorting you to and from the meeting, showing you around, making sure you’re fed, and so forth.
whisper:
>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.

>>3880334
>>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.

>>3880334
>>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.

>>3880334
>It’s a pleasure to meet someone else with a sense of humor! You have NO IDEA how hard it is here sometimes.

>>3880334
this: >>3880342

>>3880334
>>I’ll have to ask that you refrain from staring at me like a weirdo while you’re here.
Gonna lose, but this option still amuses me.

>>3880334
>>3880342
this is good.

>>3880334
“My name is Raishō Naori,” you bow politely, “and I’ll be looking after you for the time being. We’ll start by heading to the meeting location, then afterwards we’ll handle your living situation for the night.”

“I’ll be in your care then, Raishō-san,” Shiranui-han returns your bow.

As soon as you’re out of earshot, you mutter across to him. “You have no idea how nice it is to have someone with a sense of humor around… people get kinda stiff around here, so try not to take it personally?”

“I’ll keep it in mind,” he sighs. “I know we’re all technically supposed to be friends here, but if my homeland were in a civil war for this long I’d be kinda tense too.”

“Also, spit that out,” you order. “Those knuckle-draggers on the bridge might not have any sense, but I’ve seen that trick before.”

Shiranui Genma spits the wooden skewer out of his mouth at startling speed, sending it hundreds of feet out over the water where it leaves a visible splash. He must’ve hardened it with chakra flow before doing that, to give it the force and speed necessary to become a weapon.

“You caught me!” he grins, holding up his hands in defeat. “But really, it’s more a force of habit than anything else, so sorry to put you on edge over nothing, Raishō-san.”

“But to think someone as young as you noticed it… no wonder Hanzō of the Salamander took an interest in you.”

“It’s really not that big a deal, Shiranui-han,” you shrug. “I just have an eccentric set of talents and needed a little help making use of them.”

“… okay, make that a lot of help.”
>1/2

>>3880431
You carry on with the small-talk until you reach the building where ‘Hanzō’ is waiting, and remove your coats on the waterside level. You’ve… actually never been inside before, so it’s a shock to you that the floor he lived on is made up entirely out of a maze of sliding wood and rice-paper screens and creaky wooden floors. Shiranui Genma is also paying careful attention to the chirping of the floorboards.

“Nightingale floors in a modern highrise?” he wonders aloud. “That’s quite something.”

You pass by yet another chūnin stationed in a hallway that leads… surprisingly… to another hallway.

“Hanzō has been very security-minded since before I was born,” you sigh. “To find such craftsmanship here is unsurprising given its purpose.”

These floors are deliberately made somewhat loose, with nails designed to produce a chirping sound when stepped on. That makes it almost impossible to move silently, and combined with the many sentinels and the maze of hallways means that it would be impossible to sneak up on Hanzō were he secluded within this dwelling.

At the center is a merciful stretch of plain tatami, organized to form a series of rooms divided by sliding walls. You meet a masked ANBU member in the reception room, who greets you with a silent nod and slides the first wall out of the way. Then another ANBU slides the second wall. Beyond this lies a permanent wall with a low door… a tea room, you realize.

Inside, your sensei is waiting.

“Good afternoon, Shiranui-kun,” Tenshi-sensei greets the newcomer with a voice not her own, wearing a borrowed face. “Please sit.”

You take a seat on a cushion as well, in seiza with Umekiri resting against your thigh as you were taught. Vigilance, Naori. Remember what Okisuke would do!

“I hear you have a message from Lord Third?”

Shiranui-han bows deeply. “Lord Third wishes for me to invite you to send candidate teams for this round of chūnin exams, and wishes to know how many teams you believe will be ready from your village.”

“The chūnin exams?” Tenshi-sensei replies thoughtfully. “Ah yes, of course. This is the time of year for it, isn’t it? I would never turn down a chance to build Amegakure’s reputation among the nations, so naturally I will send teams to compete.”

Then her eyes fall on you. “And what do you wish to do, Raishō-kun?”

>Why ask? If it helps the village I’ll take on the mission. With or without a team.
>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?
>I’m not sure I want to, all things considered. Assuming it's up to me.
>Other?

>>3880479
>>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?

>>3880479
>Why ask? If it helps the village I’ll take on the mission. With or without a team.

>>3880479
>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?

Hanzo's known to be pretty ruthless, so questioning would arouse suspicion.

>>3880479
>>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?

>>3880479
>>Why ask? If it helps the village I’ll take on the mission. With or without a team.

>>3880479
>>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?

>>3880479
>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?

>>3880479
>>I’d like a chance to test myself, of course. But what of my team situation?
Are we gonna be teaming up with the Rain scrubs from canon that had the senbon umbrellas and gas masks? I think that was them at least.

>>3880479
“Of course, sir,” you bow deeply, “I would look forward to any chance to test myself. But what of my team situation?”

“Raishō-kun has no able-bodied teammates after a certain incident,” Tenshi-sensei uses Hanzō’s voice to explain. “She would either have to be assigned a new team on short notice, or take the exams alone.”

“Is that possible, Lord Hanzō?” you ask.

Shiranui-han rubs his chin. “It’s been done before, but she’d have to be one hell of a genin. I can’t say much, but it’d make one stage substantially easier, and one substantially harder.”

“I have every confidence in this one’s abilities,” Tenshi-sensei insists sternly. “However, as the merits and demerits of each approach directly impact her, I will ask of Lord Third whatever she settles on.”

You consider it carefully.

>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.
>Having a team, whether we work well or not so well together, will keep things fairly balanced against the other teams.
>Other?

>>3880559
>>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.
a gamble for sure, one I'm willing to take

>>3880559
>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.

>>3880559
>>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.

>>3880559
>>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.
Man, fuck handling teammates during the first round's mind games.

>>3880559
>Having a team, whether we work well or not so well together, will keep things fairly balanced against the other teams.

>>3880559
>>Having a team, whether we work well or not so well together, will keep things fairly balanced against the other teams.

>>3880559
>>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.

>>3880559
>>Send me alone. I’m not sure I could work out a good dynamic with a new team in the time remaining.

>>3880559
“Sometimes poor teamwork can be worse than none,” you sigh heavily, laying out your reasoning both for Tenshi-sensei as well as, by proxy, the Third Hokage who must make the decision. “I don’t think that one month will be enough to establish a useful team dynamic with two new genin, and certainly not a strong enough dynamic to potentially be entrusting our lives to one another.”

“So with due respect, I would prefer to only risk my own life over any potential mistakes I make.”

Tenshi-sensei nods in acknowledgement. “Very well. If that is how you feel, then I would ask Shiranui-kun to convey this message to the Sarutobi-san. I will be sending seven teams of three: Oboro, Shigure, Suiu, Samidare, Kawazu, Yudachi, and Nezumi. I will also intend to send one solo candidate on her own ‘team’, Raishō Naori.”

“If that is agreeable, a carrier hawk will do.”

Shiranui Genma bows deeply again. “Thank you for your time, Lord Hanzō. I’m sure we all look forward to seeing what your genin can do!”

“Likewise,” Tenshi-sensei nods once. “I am certain it will prove to be quite the spectacle.”

“Always is, sir,” Shiranui-han chuckles. “If there’s nothing else to discuss, may I be excused?”

“Of course,” Tenshi-sensei replies calmly. “Raishō-kun, please see to our guest’s needs during the rest of his stay. I will contact you tomorrow morning with a new temporary team assignment… if the three of you work well together, you will likely end up leading them once you make chūnin.”

She speaks as though it were a certainty… perhaps a genuine sentiment, or else something for her guest’s benefit? Who knows.

“He certainly lives up to his reputation,” Shiranui-han sighs as he dons his coat downstairs. “Intense.”

>Are you hungry? There are a few specialties in our village to try.
>There’s a good place to see the village near here. Wanna go for a climb?
>The shrine is a good distance, but it’s where you’ll be staying. May as well check in.
>Other?

>>3880641
>>Are you hungry? There are a few specialties in our village to try.

>>3880641
>>Are you hungry? There are a few specialties in our village to try.
>Foooooood

>>3880641
>>Are you hungry? There are a few specialties in our village to try.

>>3880641
>There’s a good place to see the village near here. Wanna go for a climb?
Gotta show off that City of Tears chill atmosphere.

>>3880641
>>The shrine is a good distance, but it’s where you’ll be staying. May as well check in.

>>3880641
>>Are you hungry? There are a few specialties in our village to try.

>>3880641
“Are you hungry, Shiranui-han?” you ask, offering him a parasol. “Our village’s cuisine may be different from what you’re familiar with, but we have a few local specialties.”

“I’m game,” he shrugs. “Lead the way.”

You take him up two levels to a dim sum restaurant, which is known for its wide variety of dumplings. Those are a local delicacy, with a large number of varieties being possible with local ingredients and imported spices.

“What’s good here?” Shiranui-han asks curiously as one of the trays rolls past with stacks of steamer baskets.

“The zongzi here are good,” you explain, snagging a basket. “It’s made from floating rice filled with grilled eel then steamed in a lotus leaf. Probably my favorite.”

“We don’t get much eel in Konoha,” he admits, remarkably able to ignore the dirty looks aimed his way. “I’m interested to try.”

He eats his portion with some enthusiasm, but admits that while it’s good it’s still not his favorite thing in the world.

You simply shrug. “You’re allowed to be wrong. What is your favorite?”

“Pumpkin broth,” he admits.

“Then this is for you,” you declare, snagging a basket of vegetarian xiaolong bao. “Try.”

His eyes widen slightly in surprise. “Filled with pumpkin broth and spiced tofu?”

You nod with a smile. “Normally it’s fish broth, but fancy restaurants like this one can afford other ingredients. The tofu had to be imported.”

“I see,” he nods in understanding. “Too wet for most crops. What else does grow here?”

You order him two more plates: taro dumplings with mushrooms and freshwater shrimp, and wor tip with fried cabbage and lotus seeds.

“Do you have noodles here?” he eventually asks.

You shake your head. “Not really. If we go in for broth we generally tend to make it into a soup, not just bathe noodles with it.”
>1/2

>>3880559
>Lone swords woman

>>3880261
Good to know, I haven't met enough Canadians, but I recently ran into a crowd of people from Cali and "Yeah, no, yeah" was a bit odd.

>>3880730
Just remember, the last one takes priority.
>still writing

>>3880728
After treating Shiranui-han to a rather large meal (you insist on paying), you escort him through the rapidly-darkening tangle of buildings to the shrine. The highrise buildings slowly light up with brightly-glowing signs for businesses and restaurants of all kinds, all vying for attention amidst the dark skyline.

“Here we are,” you declare. “The main shrine in Amegakure… and my home for the last few years.”

“I was gonna ask,” he admits. “I saw the hem of your hakama.”

“Yes, I do work here as a side job,” you admit. “In fact, most of the D-rank missions are all the same mission… I’m the only qualified miko at the shrike that can climb a vertical surface using my chakra, and unlike the old priests I still have all the cartilage in my knees.”

“Important qualifications.”

“Of course.”

You show him to the guest room, and point out the baths and the toilet, before wishing him a pleasant evening.

“Thanks,” he nods with a wry smile. “This turned out to be a lot less unpleasant than I was told to expect.”

“I aim to please,” you shrug. “Also I’ll be in the room next to yours, so try anything funny and you’ll find my sword coming through the wall.”

He quickly chuckles. “Heh, good to know… hey wait, were you serious?”

You smile back. “Good night, Shiranui-han.”
>TBC

>>3880761
>I’m the only qualified miko at the shrike
Did you mean shrine?

>>3880761
And with that, I have to tie things off for the night. But I'll be back tomorrow at the same time to continue, with Naori's first mission with a new trial team.

See you then!

>>3880765
Yes.

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>>3880761
>I’m the only qualified miko at the shrike
Now that's a summon idea.

>>3880777
I'm still going for Salamanders. Maybe Shrikes can be a secondary summon for the other hand.

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>>3880777

>>3880777
They call them 'murderbirds' for a reason.

>>3880761
The next morning you see to it that there’s steamed rice, pumpkin broth, and sliced apricot ready for Shiranui-han’s breakfast, and join in with a small dish yourself. Then you escort him back to the checkpoint, where he meets with his chūnin subordinates.

“So how’d it go, Genma?” a man with spiky black hair and a bandage across his nose asks.

Shiranui-han shrugs. “It was interesting, but for the most part it went well. You all ready?”

“More than,” the chūnin grumbles. “It was like hanging around with a bunch of wooden statues.”

“Please give them a break,” you sigh. “We pay them extra to act like they’re statues.”

“We don’t get paid extra,” one of the border guards insists wryly.

“Huh,” you muse. “Well, cross this posting off my list of job applications then.”

After having a good chuckle, Shiranui-han bids you farewell. “I’m looking forward to seeing you in action, Raishō-kun. Should be quite a show.”

“And I look forward to seeing Konohagakure,” you reply with a grin. “So I’ll be sure to enjoy your return hospitality, Shiranui-han.”

With a cheerful wave that his peers don’t join him in, Shiranui Genma departs across the bridge.

Next you head for where you anticipate Tenshi-sensei meeting you: the courtyard in front of the Academy building, where you first met. It’s become something of an informal meeting spot for many of those who were there that day, yourself included.

She’s there of course, along with two younger shinobi. Twins by the look of it, both with light brown hair and brown eyes. One, the sister, can be distinguished by her longer hair, shorter stature, and shorts. The brother is taller with broad shoulders, spiky hair, and capri-length pants. He also carries a wooden staff with iron sleeves around the ends.

“Raishō-kun,” your sensei greets you placidly. “Allow me to introduce your partners for this mission: Ibuki Harusame, and Ibuki Arashi.”

>So… which one of you is which?
>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.
>So what is this mission, sensei?
>Other?

>>3882033
>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.

>>3882033
>>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.

>>3882033
>>So… which one of you is which?

>>3882033
>>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.
>Other?
Give your full name in reply.

>>3882033
>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.

>>3882033
>>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.

>>3882033
>Bow politely, but wait for sensei to continue.

>>3882033
>Writing
Also, a housekeeping post: I'm cutting the SP pool from 10 down to 6. This way it should make choosing whether or not to burn SP into an actual decision rather than just being Naori's auto-success pool, while still allowing you to turn one big failure into a success or a string of really close failures into successes if it's absolutely needed.

6 should strike that balance, and that happens to be what you've got right now anyway. So it's not actually penalizing you for being too successful yesterday.

>SP: 6/6

>>3882086
Aye aye boss

>>3882086
Your response is to bow politely. “Raishō Naori.”

“So this is her...” the girl frowns.

“Your mission will take you to Yūgakure,” Tenshi-sensei informs you. “You will cross the border with the Land of Grass, meeting with an escort, then do the same at the border to the Land of Waterfalls. From there you will skirt the border between the Lands of Sound and Fire before arriving in the Land of Hotsprings.”

“The Village of ‘Warm’ Water...” the boy grumbles. “Why come to us?”

“They have an escort mission for us,” Tenshi-sensei continues. “One of their Daimyō requires transport to the Land of Lightning, and their own shinobi cannot be trusted to handle the mission.”

“That sounds odd,” you admit.

“Yūgakure’s been cutting back on their shinobi forces over the last few years,” the girl informs you needlessly.

“Well yeah,” you shrug. “I’m just surprised it’s gotten that bad.”

“You leave immediately,” Tenshi-sensei orders. “Travel quickly. Your expected rendezvous will be in five days.”

Five days? That will require everything to go smoothly… particularly around the border with the Land of Sound, a newly-formed nation with its own growing hidden village. The reorganization took place while you were finishing up in the Academy, and it’s still not entirely clear from the outside what took place or how strong its shinobi are. Few of Amegakure’s shinobi have ever encountered the Oto-nin in the field.

“Very well,” you bow to your sensei.

Outside, you and your new ad-hoc team get moving by crossing the bridge out of the village.

>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.
>This may be temporary, but you’ll need to talk strategy now so that you’ll be ready.
>Remain quiet for now, see what you can tell about Harusame and Arashi through observation.
>Other?

>>3882108
>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.

>>3882108
>>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.

>>3882108
>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.
I'm guessing we have a reputation after what happened.
i wonder if we can get tsunade to fix our newly crippled friend one day

>>3882108
>>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.
>Land of Sound
>Itachi gave us a new eye
well okay then. Even if it's not an uchiha eye, it's a strange level of interest from Itachi that might catch Orochimaru's attention, assuming he even knows.

>>3882108
>>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.

>>3882108
>>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.

>>3882108
>Try to strike up a conversation, get to know your new teammates a little.

>>3882108
>1d100, High roll
>Best of three

Rolled 84 (1d100)

>>3882140

Rolled 22 (1d100)

>>3882140

Rolled 14 (1d100)

>>3882140

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>3882140

Rolled 53 (1d100)

>>3882140

>>3882140
“So… I guess we’re partners for the time being,” you try your best to strike up a conversation. “But I don’t know the first thing about either of you. If we’re going to work together, don’t you think that should change?”

After several long seconds, during which the brother and sister duo glance back and forth at each other pointedly, the sister sighs deeply.

“My name is Harusame, this is my brother Arashi,” she introduces herself and her brother. “There, now we know each other.”

“Well, I guess that’s a start,” you scratch your head as you continue walking in the rain. “So what do you think about this mission?”

“It’s bullshit,” Arashi declares abruptly.

“Arashi!” Harusame snaps.

“I’m just saying what we’re both thinking,” Arashi shrugs.

That hardly seems to make it better. “Yeah, but we’re not supposed to say stuff like that!”

“So you’re not thrilled about having a new teammate?” you realize.

Harusame’s silence all but confirms it.

>I’m not a fan either. But I’m willing to give it a chance.
>Like it or not, we need to cooperate for the time being. Fake it if you must.
>I had a team once too.
>Other?

>>3882190
>>Like it or not, we need to cooperate for the time being.
.... I had a team, before ...

>>3882190
>I had a team once too.

>>3882190
>I had a team once too.
emotional impact

>>3882190
>>I had a team once too.

>>3882190
>I had a team once too.

>>3882190
>>Like it or not, we need to cooperate for the time being.

>>3882190
>1d6, DC 9 (Moderate)
>taking the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3882226

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>3882226

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>3882226

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3882226

>>3882226
“Your old teammate must have meant a lot to you,” you eventually sigh.

The siblings pause, with Harusame literally stopping in her tracks. “What did you say?”

“I had teammates once too,” you explain, “so I get how you must feel. We… ran into an S-rank criminal by accident.”

“I see,” Harusame replies stiffly.

“And you survived?” Arashi asks.

“I lost my original left eye though,” you admit. “One of my teammates was killed, the other was left paralyzed from the waist down.”

The Ibuki twins remain silent for a long while after that, until you set up camp just over the border in the Land of Grass. The countryside here is heavily wooded with massive mushrooms growing everywhere due to the rains common to your own country. You set a fire under one giant mushroom with what little dry wood you can find.

“I’ll take the first watch,” you offer. “You two get some sleep.”

“I’m sorry,” Harusame blurts out. “For the way we treated you earlier.”

“We’ll give this a chance,” you assure her. “If it works out well that’s good. If not, then we’ll go our separate ways after we get home. No harm, no foul. Agreed?”

She nods curtly. “Agreed.”

After producing some hot food from a scroll, you give the twins some quiet so that they can at least try and get some sleep.
>1d6, DC 10 (Moderate-Hard)
>Taking the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3882251

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3882251

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>3882251
sealing can stop time for an object inside it?
or is it a really really good insulator, a vacuum?

>>3882254
>>3882255
>>3882256
Oh shit triple 5s

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>>3882251
You’re still awake, and the newcomer can’t be trying too hard to hide, so you hear them fairly easily. Using your chakra-sensing technique you track their approach before standing up and walking through the rain towards a nearby mushroom just out of earshot.

“That’s close enough,” you declare in a low voice. “Who are you? State your name and business.”

“I am to be your escort,” a feminine voice declares. “From Kusagakure. You’re early.”

“So are you.”

“Mind if I come in out of the rain?” she asks.

You shake your head. “Passcode first.”

“What was the original face before my mother and father were born?” the newcomer asks.

Well… that was the passcode alright. You have no idea why hidden villages feel the need to make things so… esoteric.

“Awesome,” you nod. “Come with me, let’s get you warm and dry.”

Once you get a good look at her, you find a young woman probably just a few years older than you are. Maybe eighteen or nineteen. Her skin is a slightly dusky shade and her hair is white, covering one eye but revealing a silvery-purple iris with prominent dark rings in it. Her outfit is shades of green, a short kimono and capri pants, a green bandanna, and light cloth wrappings around her wrists.

“I hope our being early isn’t an issue,” you apologize, producing a cup of hot tea.

“Hardly,” she replies calmly, her tone either carefully measured or naturally somewhat unemotional. “We’ll proceed tomorrow via the Tenchi and Kannabi bridges. It should take two and a half days at a reasonable pace, then we hand you off to the Takigakure shinobi.”

>So… who are you again? I never caught your name.
>Are you hungry? I have some spare food as well.
>Get some rest then. I’m on watch.
>Other?

>>3882314
>>Are you hungry? I have some spare food as well.
introduce our name after she accepts the food, guilt her into responding

>>3882321
>>3882314
supporting

>>3882314
>Are you hungry? I have some spare food as well.

>>3882314
this: >>3882321

>>3882314
“If you’re hungry we have some hot food to spare as well,” you offer, handing the cup of tea over to the newcomer.

She shakes her head. “Thank you, but that won’t be necessary.”

“I’m Raishō Naori,” you introduce yourself politely.

The Kusagakure kunoichi glances down at the tea, then realizes what etiquette demands with a sigh. “I am Ryūzetsu, an ANBU from Kusagakure.”

“ANBU?” you repeat. “Do we really rate that highly, or is it more a case of the conflict between Iwa and Ishi getting people on edge?”

“The latter,” Ryūzetsu admits. “You’re remarkably well-informed for a genin.”

“I got dragged into it a while ago,” you shrug. “So I have some firsthand knowledge.”

After sitting under the giant mushroom for a while, doing little aside from drinking tea, poking the fire, and listening to the rain, Ryūzetsu seems to nod off.
>1/2

>>3882346
damn, she's wary of poison.

>>3882314
>So… who are you again? I never caught your name.

>>3882346
After the predictable ruckus in the morning when the Ibuki twins realized you’d been joined by a foreign ANBU overnight, you manage to calm everyone down with your reassurance that you were awake the whole time.

“You didn’t sleep?” Arashi asks curiously as you hand him a rice ball.

You shrug. “Didn’t need it. I’ll want to tonight though, so you two will need to pick up the slack.”

“We’ll be leaving,” Ryūzetsu insists, polishing off a ration of her own and washing it down with a little rainwater. “Follow me.”

Your ANBU guide takes you north through the Land of Grass, out of the forests on the border with your homeland and into a dense bamboo forest. It seems like the ‘Land of Grass’ actually has a large number of varied types of forest, at least in the places you’ve seen so far. Maybe the heartland has actual grasses instead of trees? Or maybe it’s giant grass like the mushrooms?

Somehow you doubt that Ryūzetsu is the type to answer idle questions.

“We’ll break here for lunch,” Ryūzetsu insists as you reach a river running swiftly through a deep gorge. “We’re aiming to make the Tenchi Bridge before nightfall, and camp on the other side.”

You take a moment to rest against a rock, while the Ibuki twins break out lunch. Ryūzetsu sits quietly against a tree, directly across from you.

>See something over here you like?
>So, what’s Kusagakure like?
>… why not join us for lunch, Ryūzetsu?
>Other?

>>3882363
>… why not join us for lunch, Ryūzetsu?

>>3882363
>… why not join us for lunch, Ryūzetsu?

>>3882363
>… why not join us for lunch, Ryūzetsu?

>>3882363
>See something over here you like?

>>3882363
>1d100
>best of three

>>3882363
>See something over here you like?
>… why not join us for lunch, Ryūzetsu?

Rolled 32 (1d100)

>>3882403

Rolled 44 (1d100)

>>3882403

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>3882403
Man, offering the ANBU food at every meal time must be twigging her paranoia XD

Rolled 92 (1d100)

>>3882403

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>>3882403
“You could have lunch with us,” you offer Ryūzetsu again.

She stares at you suspiciously. “Why?”

“It’d just be… nice, I guess?” you frown. “Why, you don’t think I’m gonna try to poison you or anything, right?”

Her silence surprises you. “Wait, you did think that?”

“Well, you were being kinda pushy about it,” Ryūzetsu quietly tries to defend herself.

You unseal a set of dumplings, and bite one in half before handing the other half to her. Chewing and swallowing, you try to prove it to her.

“See?” you ask. “No poison or anything. Just rice and grilled eel.”

After a moment, Ryūzetsu takes your offering and nibbles tentatively at it. Then she finishes it in a few bites, before sighing.

“That’s fine, but I prefer chicken,” she replies, unsealing what you suppose are chicken potstickers.

Then she offers you one, which you graciously accept.

“It… tastes like it could be a lot of things,” you admit.

Ryūzetsu shakes her head. “Usually people think everything else tastes kinda like chicken.”

“It’s all a matter of perspective,” you shrug.

“I guess,” Ryūzetsu admits your point. “Huh. Philosophy and dumplings, what a strange conversation.”

“That tends to happen,” you realize. “Sometimes I wonder.”

The Ibuki twins watch you cautiously, before settling a little closer and starting in on their own food.

“So what’s your village like?” Arashi butts in abruptly.

Harusame gives him a look, and Arashi shrugs. “What? I’m just trying to be polite, sis.”

“It’s nice,” Ryūzetsu tells you. “The grasses flower all throughout the year, so it’s very pretty. And because of our diplomat corps we enjoy a fair degree of peace, most of the time. But the World Wars have left certain… fractures.”

“So not too dissimilar to our village,” you observe.
>1/2

>>3882432
“I’ve heard rumors of course,” Ryūzetsu admits. “But we don’t get to talk to Ame-nin very often. You have a certain… reputation?”

“Meaning...” Harusame asks pointedly.

“You know what she means,” you sigh. “You’re doing it right now.”

The atmosphere is rather tense until your party crosses the first bridge Ryūzetsu mentioned: the Tenchi Bridge, which runs over a deep gorge with steep sides and a powerful river rushing through the bottom. If you were to fall in that could be a problem, even for a shinobi.

“This is where we make camp,” Ryūzetsu informs you. “Tomorrow we make for the Kannabi Bridge.”

>As in, the site of the famous battle?
>It’s time to make some strategic plans with the Twins.
>What do you know about Takigakure?
>Other?

>>3882440
>As in, the site of the famous battle?

>>3882440
>As in, the site of the famous battle?

>>3882440
>“You know what she means,” you sigh. “You’re doing it right now.”
Can someone explain our reputation for an idiot like me?

>It’s time to make some strategic plans with the Twins.

>>3882446
That Amegakure ninja are assholes.

>>3882440
As in the famous battle?

Also have a quick talk with the twins and what they can do, mention our abilities

>>3882440
>>It’s time to make some strategic plans with the Twins.

>>3882440
“The site of the famous battle?” you ask, and Ryūzetsu nods in confirmation.

“We’ll travel right past it.”

You nod. “That sounds like a great spot to take a break and plan some formations,” you suggest.

Arashi groans. “Come on, don’t you think that’s a bit excessive?”

“We’re an ad-hoc unit as it is,” you point out. “We’ll need to put more effort into it if we want to be able to survive contact with any real enemy.”

“She has a point,” Harusame admits. “You sleep first, bro. Then I’ll take the second shift.”

“They don’t trust me still,” Ryūzetsu sighs. “It’s to be expected. I don’t trust them either.”

“Trust never comes easy,” you shrug, settling in under a tree near the Kusa ANBU.

“Seems to come easier to some people,” she counters.

>A small show of trust can be a useful first step.
>I just have a good eye for people, I guess.
>I’m not actually that trusting, but I DO want to believe in others.
>I just try to leave my preconceptions at the door, as it were.
>Other?

>>3882484
>I just have a good eye for people, I guess.

>>3882484
>>I’m not actually that trusting, but I DO want to believe in others.

>>3882484
>>A small show of trust can be a useful first step.

>>3882484
>>A small show of trust can be a useful first step.
it's not like trust is an indivisible thing

>>3882484
>I’m not actually that trusting, but I DO want to believe in others.

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>>3882484
>>I’m not actually that trusting, but I DO want to believe in others.

What a fucking edgy thing to say.

>>3882484
You can’t help but sigh.

“Even I don’t trust people blindly,” you admit carefully. “But trust has to be earned, and that can’t happen if I never give people a chance to do it.”

“You have a point,” Ryūzetsu nods before laying down on her back and pulling her raincoat over herself up to her chin. “Still, it’s not the way most shinobi tend to think.”

“And maybe we’re worse for it,” you reply.
>1/2

>>3882508
The next day you end up crossing another wide river, this time on a much larger bridge built upstream from the twisted, shattered remains of an older bridge that has since been destroyed. This must be the original Kannabi bridge, not worth trying to rebuild on that site. Beyond that is a wide field, which isn’t quite flat. There are still wide depressions all around, like blast craters that have since become overgrown.

“This is where the Fourth Hokage wiped out a thousand Iwa-nin during the last war,” Ryūzetsu informs you. “It’s a massive graveyard.”

“Here,” you suggest to your team. “Let’s settle in by these trees.”
>1d100
>best of three

Rolled 73 (1d100)

>>3882514
travel dice

Rolled 86 (1d100)

>>3882514

Rolled 52 (1d100)

>>3882514

>>3882514
“I have a few basic ideas,” you admit, “having considered it before falling asleep last night. I think it makes sense to form strategic formations, leaving tactics up to the individual members working within those formations.”

“Okay, I get you,” Harusame nods in agreement. “Simplify it for my idiot brother.”

You quickly draw a character in the dirt to illustrate: ふ

“The first two I had in mind are Ko-Fu and Dai-Fu,” you explain further. “The former is a tight Manji formation to counter primarily melee-focused attackers, while Dai-Fu should be a wider Manji formation to counter ranged attacks or blasts, or else to defend a specific objective.”

“Why Fu?” Arashi asks curiously.

“Three strokes in a formation around a center,” you point out. “These will be our main defensive options. Within them, all three of us will be free to use whatever specific attacks or defenses we have as they make sense, rather than trying to build combinations of attacks when we have little experience working together.”

“I get it,” Arashi finally nods, pounding his fist into his hand.

“And what about our pre-existing teamwork?” Harusame presses.

You smile. “I figured you’d have worked out a few combinations between yourselves, so there are two more formations I have in mind: midrange options.”

You draw a second set of characters representing a single syllable: り ゅ

“Ryu will be the first, with the two of you working together on the offensive and me on the defensive, or else supporting your attacks as best I can.”

Then you draw a third syllable: し ゃ

“Sha will reverse that,” you explain. “I’ll take the offensive while the two of you support me or defend.”

“And your offensive formations?” Ryūzetsu asks.

>Give me a few minutes to wander around. I’m sure I’ll come up with something in short order.
>I have no idea. With no knowledge of my teammates’ techniques, speed, and strength, we can’t form a plan.
>I was hoping you would have some ideas, Arashi, Harusame.
>Other?

>>3882545
>>I was hoping you would have some ideas, Arashi, Harusame.

>>3882545
>>I was hoping you would have some ideas, Arashi, Harusame.

>>3882545
>I have no idea. With no knowledge of my teammates’ techniques, speed, and strength, we can’t form a plan.
>¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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>>3882545
>>Give me a few minutes to wander around. I’m sure I’ll come up with something in short order.

Third option admits we have absolutely no fucking clue what we're doing. There's nothing wrong with giving a little time to think.

>>3882545
>we should get to know a little bit about eachother's strength, speed and techniques before we try to plan any further. i won't force anyone to reveal their secrets if they don't want to, but it would help out quite a bit here. a short sparring bout, maybe?

>>3882561
There's nothing wrong with admitting your own ignorance either.

>>3882545
>>I have no idea. With no knowledge of my teammates’ techniques, speed, and strength, we can’t form a plan.

>>3882545
To clarify: a Manji formation is used in canon to provide maximum defensive coverage and minimize blind spots. Closing it in means a fast melee-oriented enemy will have a harder time getting into the center of the formation, while a wider formation is harder to blow up with a fireball or a bomb.

The second set of formations relies on the fact that the Ibuki twins already have training and experience in fighting together: one has them working together on the defensive, one has them on the offensive.

In all four cases each fighter is free to pursue their role as they choose, rather than trying to combine attacks.

>>3882545
>1d100
>best of three

Rolled 50 (1d100)

>>3882596

Rolled 68 (1d100)

>>3882596

Rolled 29 (1d100)

>>3882596

Rolled 85 (1d100)

>>3882596

>>3882596
“Without knowing my teammates’ abilities I can’t say,” you admit.

Harusame shakes her head. “Not in front of the outsider.”

You sigh. “I figured you might say that. But at some point we’ll need to go beyond the basics… for now we’ll keep it to the following.”

You mark a new character: ひ

“Formation Hi will be for encirclement of the enemy,” you explain, before marking the second new character: の

“No will be the formation for a single concentration breakthrough,” you explain. “Form up and attack a single point to break a defensive line in the center.

“I understand,” Harusame nods resolutely. “That’s… actually really well considered.”

“I’ll need you to remind me a few times,” Arashi admits, “but if sis thinks it’s a good plan I’m all for it.”
>1/2

>>3882613
The next morning, around noon, Ryūzetsu signals for you to stop.

“This is where we part ways,” she informs you. “Your Takigakure minders will be along shortly. We likely won’t get a chance to say much after that point.”

>Do you have anything to say to Ryūzetsu before you part ways?

>>3882619
>>Do you have anything to say to Ryūzetsu before you part ways?
Don't die before the next time we meet.

That seems suitably friendly in a ninja kind of way, right?

>>3882619
>Don't be a stranger.

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>>3882619
Say something weird and off-putting like "Cashews are grown off the bottoms of poisonous fruits."

>will give it a few extra minutes since it's a full write-in vote

>>3882656
>1d6, DC 11 (Hard)
>Taking three