>>5336067
The flaming skulls spread out and move erratically, making it hard for Kū to simply make them disappear with his own ninjutsu - a few miss wide and explode into substantial pyres in the street below. He destroys your clone however, leaving his back open to Kurotsuchi-san.

[He’s trying to kill her!] you insist as Kū takes an obsidian sword to the shoulder - but counters by trapping the blade in his own body and projecting a cube on its corner, which Kurotsuchi-san narrowly escapes by abandoning her weapon.

“There you are!” Kū snarls, having abruptly swooped down on you. He has a deranged look in his eyes that betrays his intentions as he wrenches the obsidian blade out of his shoulder and starts swinging it at you wildly. Even knowing you’re a shadow clone, the intensity of his attacks combined with the look in his eyes sends you scurrying for safety on instinct.

“Kū, you’ve gone too far!” Ōnoki pleads. “Please, stop this!”

“Don’t you get it old man!?” Kurotsuchi-san shouts as she swings her own blade to keep Kū off your back. “He’s not listening to you anymore!”

“I can still…”

“Grandfather!” Kurotsuchi-san interrupts with a grunt of exertion as she kicks Kū in the gut to break a blade-bind she’d been stuck in for a moment. “Remember back when Deidara and I were little kids, and I’d beat him at board games? Remember what he used to do?”

“... he would flip the board,” Ōnoki recalls, almost as though the memory had somehow lain dormant for longer than you’ve been alive. “Then stomp off for snacks, usually.”

“This is Kū flipping the board,” Kurotsuchi-san insists. “He’s an angry toddler with all your abilities!”

>Just keep evading for now, look for any opening you can find to even just distract Kū.
>Disperse. The original you needs to know about what’s happening here.
>Go for a ‘suicide’ attack. May as well go out with a bang and hurt Kū in the process.
>Other

>>5336071
>>Go for a ‘suicide’ attack. May as well go out with a bang and hurt Kū in the process.

>>5336071
>Go for a ‘suicide’ attack. May as well go out with a bang and hurt Kū in the process.

>>5336071
>Go for a ‘suicide’ attack. May as well go out with a bang and hurt Kū in the process.

>>5336071
>Disperse. The original you needs to know about what’s happening here.

>killed the scientist who was apparently going to be the one to cut you open and study your insides

I thought we spared him and just incapacitated him with senbon?

>>5336144
There should've been a "nearly" there.

>>5336147
Accidents happen. Either you made a typo, or the needle was actually just a little off target.
Either way, oh well! Fuck him!

>>5336071
>>Go for a ‘suicide’ attack. May as well go out with a bang and hurt Kū in the process.

>>5336071
>1d6, high roll, first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5336865

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5336865

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5336865

>>5336865
You need to disperse yourself and catch the original up on what has happened here, but it seems like such a waste to just disappear without putting a little show into it. So you turn around, intending to stand and fight. Both Kū and Kurotsuchi-san seem shocked at the sudden change of pace, even more so when you launch the tenrō fūsa at Kū from both your shoulders. It’s just a guess, but it’s entirely possible that you put so much effort into not getting hit they may even have forgotten for a moment that you’re not actually a real, living person, so there’s no reason for you to fear death.

The burning chains get Kū around one wrist, but you miss on the other wrist, allowing him to land what for you is a fatal counterpunch, but also allowing Kurotsuchi-san to set up for a finishing blow of her own.

- Shiki -

“I know where they are,” you declare.

Shikadai is the one you’re talking to, for a few reasons. First is that you know pretty well that if you decided you needed to go and support Kurotsuchi-san, your teammates would support you unconditionally, same as you would support them if they needed your help for something this important. That’s what a three-man team becomes when it really works, and that’s what you have with them. Second, while you’ve always had a keen eye and a good instinctive tactical sense, you’d be the first to admit that Shikadai is the better strategist between the two of you. His perspective and way of thinking are just different, and better suited to making the big decisions. Third, his teammates have run themselves ragged - and as the natural leader of the three, he’s the one who would know most what they’re capable of at this point.

“Paint me a picture,” Shikadai replies curtly.

“I thought that was my job,” Inojin grumbles, still plainly exhausted from the battle against the fabrications.

“Kū and Kurotsuchi-san have been fighting,” you explain quickly. “So far Ōnoki has been either unable or unwilling to engage.”

“If she’s winning why go over there?” Chōchō wonders aloud. “Isn’t this enough?”

“We’ve come this far,” Wasabi counters with a slight frown. “Shouldn’t we see it through?”

Sumirin shakes her head. “I’m not sure… sometimes completing the mission and surviving should be enough.”
>1/2

>>5336865
“Right now, the peace between the five great nations relies on mutual aid during times of crisis,” you point out.

“... and what does it say about our village if we back out now,” Shikadai completes your thought. “It’s a pain, but I was thinking along the same lines. That said, we need to have a plan.”

“Then you’ll have to come up with it along the way,” you insist, jerking your thumb in the direction of where your shadow clone just dispersed.

…

Well, as it turns out the elaborate and really quite good plan Shikadai came up with for engaging with Kū was completely unnecessary. The first thing you notice is that the large building you were held in seems to crumble after a series of internal explosions - that happens as you’re trying to cross the old village ruins to get to where you left Kurotsuchi-san. But when you finally get to her, it’s clear that something dramatic happened in the interim.

You don’t see Kū anywhere, and a visibly bloodied Kurotsuchi is picking herself up after having been blasted through the second floor of a building. She wipes the blood from her left cheek, and seems to hold her head for a few moments - she probably went in head-first. But the strongest evidence of something else having been afoot is the fact that old man Ōnoki is lying face-down in a pool of his own blood, with a hole through his chest.

“Is that a civilian?” Inojin wonders aloud as he and Chōchō rush over to see if he can help.

Sumire and Wasabi both quickly leap in, with Wasabi being the one who seems to have identified the threat first and clearest. “Wait! Don’t go near him!”

Inojin stops a few feet short. “What? Why?”

“The old man’s body’s been booby-trapped,” Wasabi explains as they catch up.

“That was my first instinct,” Sumire nods in agreement. “You smelled something off?”

“Yeah,” Wasabi frowns. “Someone else was here, too.”

“That explains the missing body and the explosion,” Shikadai muses, holding his chin as he reasons things out. “They were destroying the evidence, and they killed the former Tsuchikage to keep him silent.”

“And we killed the fabrications,” you sigh. “Damn it.”

“You didn’t have much choice,” Kurotsuchi-san assures you as she joins you. “But there’s no time for regrets now. We have to make sure that those akuta aren’t attacking the new village.”

“My team will have to join you later,” Shikadai admits. “Inojin and Chōchō are hurt and exhausted, and I can only use my shadow possession one or two more times today.”

>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.
>My teammates aren’t showing it, but they’re both tired out too. I’m still good for a little while.
>We can send a message to the regular Konoha forces waiting on the border, have them help.
>Other?

>>5338146
>>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.

>>5338146
>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.
You don't get to quit just because you're tired

>>5338146
>>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.

>>5338146
>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.

>>5338146
>>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.
>We can send a message to the regular Konoha forces waiting on the border, have them help.
if inojin sends a few birds now they might be able to come in time to help out near the end

>>5338146
>>I guess that just leaves Team 15 to help. Keep on guard until we meet up later, Shikadai-kun.
>>We can send a message to the regular Konoha forces waiting on the border, have them help.

>>5338146
“Inojin-kun, do you still have enough chakra for one more drawing?” you ask, starting to weigh your options carefully. “A bird, to get you back to where the tracking team is waiting?”

“We could use any help we can get,” Kurotsuchi-san admits.

After considering his condition for a moment, something only he can really make a decision about, Inojin nods. “I think so.”

“Shikadai-kun,” you glance at him, “if you would be so kind as to take the Tsuchikage’s request to our comrades?”

Shikadai nods in agreement. “I think that can be arranged, yeah.”

“Thanks, Nara-kun,” Kurotsuchi-san briefly addresses Team 10’s de facto leader. “Now get your team out of here, okay?”

“Understood, ma’am.”

…

Which of course, leaves Team 15 in the position of helping Kurotsuchi-san directly with her akuta problem. You take a moment to walk through the steps Ryūzetsu-ue taught you, and shut your eyes for a moment. “Ryūmeibunshin!”

In this arrangement, you leave one shadow clone behind to coordinate with your freed “ghost clone”, a fragment of your soul capable of leaving your body entirely, aware of the world but sometimes finding it difficult to interact with it without a physical form of its own. It has a set amount of chakra that it can use, but lacking physical energy from a body it cannot replenish that chakra. So far as you or anyone else can tell, losing this clone only means a loss of spiritual energy, no more or less harmful than losing a shadow clone, which makes it an amazingly useful technique for scouting purposes - however the main drawback is that either you or a specially-created shadow clone has to remain stationary, in contact with it, in order to see through its ‘eyes’.

“I’ll take a look ahead,” the clone declares, before glancing at you. “I’ll pop when I think I’ve got enough to go on or when I think you should be getting close, whichever happens first.”

“Sounds good,” you agree.
>1/2

>>5339450
Test.

>>5339450
Your update arrives shortly before you reach Iwagakure’s new location - a small city, at least small by Konohagakure’s standards, built atop a massive rounded mesa with equally gargantuan pipes running up and down the sides for water and sewage. And the news you get isn’t great, but it could honestly be worse.

“There are akuta in the city,” you confirm. “Regular forces are fighting them, and it seems they’ve figured out the weak spot to attack, but they’re having a tough time.”

“Then we don’t have any time to waste on elevators,” Kurotsuchi-san declares. “How good are you three at climbing?”

“It won’t be a problem,” Wasabi assures her.

As you cling to the outside of a water pipe that you could easily march a small army through if it were open at both ends, you begin to formulate a plan.

“So we’re just clearing the akuta,” you set the parameters, “which have no real tactical abilities or strategic smarts. Sumirin, how big will Nue be and can you still summon him?”

“Big,” Sumire replies, “and yes. I assume you want me to stay with him?”

“Let him do the heavy lifting,” you suggest, “and cover him with your water release. Agree?”

“Agreed,” she nods, the resolution in her tone and on her face clear.

“Wasabi-chan, we’ll stick together,” you continue. “Try to go easy on your chakra reserves, I have no idea how long we’ll have to fight for. And watch my back.”

“Got it,” she agrees, understanding the situation perhaps better than most kunoichi your age might - you’re not asking her to stay out of it, but rather implicitly trusting her to offer active support. “Count on me.”

…

At the top of the wall you follow Kurotsuchi-san’s lead, tearing into a group of akuta you spot almost immediately engaging some of Iwagakure’s chūnin who seem immediately heartened by the Tsuchikage’s appearance.

>Rely on the tenrō fūsa - with your sword damaged it’s your best option.
>Use bomb tags as much as possible, save your chakra for more ‘clutch’ moments.
>Chakra flow taijutsu is almost as good as kenjutsu, and the akuta are big slow targets for it.
>Other?

>>5339860
>Use bomb tags as much as possible, save your chakra for more ‘clutch’ moments.
>Chakra flow taijutsu is almost as good as kenjutsu, and the akuta are big slow targets for it.

I think this would be a good mix. Use bombs as much as possible to save on chakra, but use taijutsu whenever you can decisively make the kill.

>>5339869
>>5339860
if that is viable i am all for this mix, supporting

>>5339860
Have to agree with this >>5339869 supporting

>>5339860
>>Use bomb tags as much as possible, save your chakra for more ‘clutch’ moments.

>>5339869
>1d6, first three, high roll

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5341014

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5341014

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5341014

>>5341014
“Kuchiyose: Nue!”

“Nekokaburi!”

Sumire leaps atop Nue’s back - he’s way bigger than you can remember seeing him since any time after you first met - and clings there in a low crouch using chakra control through her hands and feet. “Nue, I want you to share some chakra with Wasabi-chan!”

The purring-growling sound Nue makes is something you interpret as agreement, since it certainly doesn’t sound hostile and he immediately moves to do as Sumire instructs. Wasabi seems stunned at just how much chakra she regains in a short amount of time while you and Kurotsuchi-san take the lead. For your own purposes, you mostly focus on using explosive-tagged kunai to eliminate akuta who stray into your path, with chakra flow through your feet serving to close distance, control spacing, and occasionally make powerful, sweeping attacks.

…

Eventually Konoha’s tracker team arrives as relief, spurring one final push by Iwagakure’s exhausted defenders. By evening the final akuta have been wiped out, and the streets are finally safe for Iwa to take a full accounting of the dead and wounded.

…

The ceremony is a somber occasion.

It took several days for circumstances to calm enough that Iwagakure could properly mourn those that were lost. Old man Ōnoki is eulogized as the victim of a terrorist plot, with Kū, the nameless doctor, and the rest pinned as the unambiguous ‘bad guys’ - though Kurotsuchi-san is careful to make use of that carefully crafted narrative as a call for unity and a renewal of will. She emphasizes the will to protect one’s village and its people from harm, to never take shortcuts, and to share in the sense of camaraderie within and between villages.

“And now I should also take a moment to thank Konohagakure’s Team 15 and Team 10,” Kurotsuchi-san continues, picking your faces out of the crowd. “Particularly Uzumaki Shiki-kun of Team 15, who at great risk to his own life allowed himself to be kidnapped by the terrorists in order to help me escape. His teammates, Nagao Sumire-kun and Izuno Wasabi-kun, deserve praise as well for their unwavering loyalty and excellent teamwork. For their willingness to risk their lives to make good on the peace agreements between our two villages, on behalf of Iwagakure, I would also like to thank Nara Shikadai-kun, Yamanaka Inojin-kun, and Akimichi Chōchō-kun.”
>1/?

>>5341136
That doesn’t mean, of course, that once you return to Konohagakure you’re out of trouble. It does make it very difficult for your superiors to do anything to your two teams in terms of punishment, because you’ve all basically been acknowledged as heroes and given the cover of having acted under the Tsuchikage’s personal approval. It even comes with a not-insubstantial bonus to your wallet, since Kurotsuchi-san insisted that Iwagakure should compensate for your efforts as if it were A-rank mercenary work, split evenly between the six of you. That comes out to 50,000 ryō each.

But you still end up being interrogated for six hours before you’re allowed to go back to your apartment, where you find Naori-ue and Ryūzetsu-ue waiting to ask their own questions. Most of the former emphasized getting a clear and thorough record of your own actions and decisions throughout the event, only briefly touching on the way Ōnoki-dono’s life ended, while the latter is a comparatively brief conversation over a home-cooked dinner that focuses mostly on the production methods for the akuta, the reason why Naori-ue felt it necessary to prevent anyone without permission from being able to examine you or your sister, and so on. Essentially, covering the ground around the one major hole in this story that bothers you personally - the identity of the stranger who swooped in at the last second to bury the evidence.

…

“I see,” Naori-ue sighs after you’ve finished eating and she’s finished asking questions. “That’s troubling.”

“That someone could ambush Kurotsuchi-san like that?” you ask.

She nods in confirmation. “Yeah no, I’m starting to think there’s something more going on here.”

“Do you believe the Ōtsutsuki were involved?” Ryūzetsu-ue asks curiously. “One did go missing before.”

“I can’t rule it out for sure,” Naori-ue admits, “but Kuro-han’s description of her attacker doesn’t match - sallow skin, thin lines marking one cheek, right under his eye, and skin like iron.”

“So definitely an organization,” Ryūzetsu-ue decides. “Someone cleaning up a mess.”

“Maybe even occupying the space Akatsuki once filled,” Naori-ue supposes. “That remains to be seen. But for now,” she turns her attention back to you, “good work, Shiki-kun. You should be proud.”
>2/3

>>5341163
Over the next few weeks, your life slowly starts to change. You spend more and more of your off time between missions training in the shrike forest with your family - cooperation with Kiburi, sparring with one or the other of your moms on a rotating basis, special lessons from guests like Fū-anee or Tayuya-san, and studying with Makoto. Since your Kotetsu was written off as a loss due to the extensive damage to its blade, you’re given a cheap tantō to train with for the time being. It feels like a toy in your hands, but for practicing forms it should be sufficient.

One afternoon Makoto makes an offhand comment that turns into a bad idea in record time.

“You know, between the two of us we could apparently use Kakashi-san’s signature technique.”

There’s a pause. “Shiden, you mean?”

Your sister nods. “Naori-ue knows it too - she mentioned the trick is to increase the energy using shape manipulation.”

“So high-frequency vibrations,” you guess. “Combined with chakra flow. Right?”

“That’s my understanding. You’re good at that,” she poses it to you, “but you can’t use raiton. I can use raiton, but I’m struggling to learn how to make my chakra flow and vibrate at the same time. You can do that.”

“You scratch my back,” you muse, “and I scratch yours?”

She grins. “Could be interesting.”

After a few moments, you heave a sigh. “Oh, alright. It could be good training on the side.”

…

About one month and maybe seven or eight boring missions after Iwagakure, a knock at your door announces the arrival of a package from Iwagakure that you have to sign for. Inside, you find something quite remarkable - a folding knife, made from steel that feels familiar in your hand.
>3/4

File: Kotetsu_Sebenza.png (190 KB, 970x214)

190 KB PNG

>>5341163
The blade is about four inches long and the frame a bit longer than that, making it overall about the size of a kunai. The frame is made from two plates of solid chakra metal with beautiful wood inlaid into one side almost the full length, and on half of the opposite side - the blade opens and locks in place with something halfway between a click and a clunk as one half of the frame, ground out at the articulation point, drops in behind the pivot point of the blade to provide an extremely solid lockup. The edge makes it clear what this is, the temper line is an identical match to the unbroken end of your Kotetsu even if the point has been altered to serve the thrust better.

It comes with a short letter.

>Shiki-kun,
>Iwagakure and I owe you an apology as well as our thanks, since something irreplaceable was destroyed in your efforts on our behalf.
>This knife was made by an artisan in our village from chakra metal reclaimed from your sword, which Nakkun gave me to work with when I asked what we could do for you.
>Its handle and frame were made with ironwood from Rōran, contributed by Queen Sāra, and new chakra metal made here in Iwagakure.
>May it serve you well for many years to come.
>With all of our thanks,
>Kurotsuchi

…

You’re carrying that knife when you meet your team near the academy building the next day.

“You look tired,” Wasabi-chan observes. “Training?”

You nod once. “Yeah. What’s up?”

“I wanted to tell you guys that Sakura-san will be running an advanced course on medical ninjutsu,” Hanabi-sensei tells you. “Team 15 needs at least one member capable of healing - village rules. I think the same rule exists in Ame?”

You nod. “Pretty sure.”

>Honestly, I could use some training in that area either way. As things stand I’m hopeless.
>Sumire and Wasabi are both decent at that already. Either would be a fine choice.
>I think we should all go - it makes our team stronger, and ourselves more flexible individually.
>Other?

>>5341195
>>I think we should all go - it makes our team stronger, and ourselves more flexible individually.

>>5341195
>>I think we should all go - it makes our team stronger, and ourselves more flexible individually.

>>5341195
>>I think we should all go - it makes our team stronger, and ourselves more flexible individually.
Getting the confirmation how really hopeless Shiki is at medical ninjutsu.

>>5341195
>I think we should all go - it makes our team stronger, and ourselves more flexible individually.
Not everyone has the sheer skill and control required to learn medical ninjutsu, but we ain't everyone.

>>5341195
“Let’s all go,” you suggest. “It’ll make us more flexible as a team if we can all do at least basic medical ninjutsu, and once the two of you make chūnin we may end up leading other teams.”

“Good thinking, Shiki-kun,” Hanabi-sensei smiles. “I’ll get you all signed up… in the mean time, one Hana-stamp for your enthusiasm!”

… you’re really going to have to redeem these at some point.

…

“Welcome to the make-up session,” Sakura-san greets you with a calm smile. “It’s good to see that so many of you showed up, especially since we had to postpone this after the way the chūnin exams ended.”

With you are members from each genin team you graduated with - Iwabe, Dōshu, Sarada-chan, Hako, your entire team, and in a surprise, both Shikadai and Inojin. You gather that Shikadai’s reasoning was much the same as yours, since he was just recently promoted to chūnin. At the time Hanabi-sensei explained it to you.

“Well, the rules say only one of you gets promoted and Team 15 already has a chūnin on it.”

You’re fairly certain both Sumirin and Wasabi-chan will be promoted in the next exam, which may be in five months or possibly as late as next year depending on when Naruto-san gets around to rescheduling it.

“I know you all had an introduction in the academy, but today I’ll be walking you through the basics to ensure that each of your teams has at least one qualified medic. First, we’ll start with a lecture followed by a paper test.”
>1d6, taking the first three

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5342646

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5342646

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5342646

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5342646
I am going to roll for the sake of it and because we got the Hana-stamp!

>>5342661
>Sensei was not impressed

>>5342662
Neither will Sakura, probably when Shiki horribly fails at medical ninjutsu

>>5342672
probably, not gonna lie i voted for it to see just how bad Shik is at medical ninjutsu at this point in his life.

>>5342676
It creates character if you fail and be bad at something.

>>5342646
The paper test turns out not to be too bad - all three of you do well enough, and even Iwabe manages to make a passing grade. Then comes the first practical test - separating coffee milk into its constituent parts (coffee and milk). When Sakura-san does it it looks so simple, she just spins it like a rasengan and floats the slightly less-dense coffee on top of the milk, cleanly separating the two.

When you and your classmates do it… the results vary.

“I can’t do it!” you hear Iwabe protest, banging his fists on the table.

Shortly after you hear a confused “huh?” from Shikadai.

Sarada seems to fight it for a few minutes before slowly starting to get the liquids separated, while Sumirin manages to completely separate the water from both the coffee and the milk and stares at the resulting sludge at the bottom of her glass with a glum sense of resignation. Wasabi struggles a bit at first, gets frustrated, and eventually starts making progress after asking Sarada for advice.

Sakura-san stares down at your handiwork. “Well that’s… different.”

You cringe slightly, well aware that while you managed to isolate the coffee and the milk, you also managed to re-boil the former and curdle the latter.

“Well… if you keep at it, I think you’ll probably get it sooner or later?”

When she passes by Shikadai, she simply gives him full marks and nods. “Very good, Shikadai.”

“It’s just what you’d expect from Sakura-san’s son,” Inojin muses wistfully, having largely failed at the task.

…

The next step is reattaching a limb to a practice dummy, which you and Wasabi manage to pull off, but Sumire seems to struggle with until Wasabi explains it to her. Then she starts to make a little bit of improvement by the time Sakura-san comes around to check your work. Again, Sarada does fairly well, but seems as frustrated by Shikadai’s apparent effortless success as he seems surprised by it.

…

The third task is one where all three of your team manage to get the hang of it - forcing a clipped cherry twig to blossom. Shizune-san, an assistant to not only Naruto-san but the previous two hokages as well, is on-hand to watch.
>2/3

>>5342700
“Well, I’m not surprised by two of you,” Shizune admits with a smile. “The Uzumaki clan have amazing regenerative abilities, but some of you are really getting the hang of this too!”

“Honestly, Shizune-san,” Sumire admits sheepishly, “I’m… more interested in poisons.”

“Is that so?” Shizune muses. “Can I ask why?”

“Well, I’m not from a clan with a hiden or a kekkei genkai,” she admits, “and my chakra is above average, but not extraordinary. But my summoning partner helps me level the playing field by stealing chakra, so I thought maybe learning how to use poison might build on that.”

“That’s not bad thinking,” Shizune agrees. “Get the basics down, and we can have a talk, Sumire-chan.”

…

The final lesson - reviving a fish from the nearby market, essentially combining all the previous lessons. For this one, Naruto-san and Shikamaru-san even stop by to see your classmates’ progress, dragging Boruto and Tsubaki with them too. And out of that class, Shikadai is essentially pressed into serving as the star attraction. He eyes the fish warily, before concentrating chakra in his palms and closing his eyes.

“Come on… come on…”

At first it really looks like he’s doing it. Then… well… less so by the second.

By the time smoke starts billowing from the fish’s mouth it’s clear this isn’t going the way anyone expected.

“Hey, Shikadai-kun?” Boruto starts hesitantly. “The fish is… ya know?”

“Shikadai,” Sakura-san muses, “is it possible… that you’re actually not good at medical ninjutsu?”

After a moment, Shikadai hangs his head. “... yeah.”
>3/4

>>5342700
“I don’t know how all that other stuff happened,” Shikadai admits, “but it was probably all a bunch of freak accidents. My coffee milk must’ve gotten switched with Iwabe-kun’s somehow, and my branch must’ve been Inojin’s.”

“Jeez,” Sakura-san sighs wearily. “Shikadai, it’s okay to not be good at something right from the start. It took me years to get as good as I am now at medical ninjutsu, and some people never end up being able to do it.”

“I can’t do it at all!” Naruto-san declares, rubbing the back of his neck and laughing a little.

“Really?” Iwabe asks in surprise. “I didn’t think there was anything you couldn’t do, Lord Seventh!”

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it!” Boruto declares with a smirk. “He’s a lousy cook, my mom’s always taking him to task for coming home late, he’s got zero organizational sense, he’s helpless around the house…”

“Alright, I think they get the idea,” Naruto-san’s chuckling grows slightly more strained. “That said, all of you are really advanced compared to where our generation was at your age, so even if you don’t always feel that way… you’re doing fine, ya know?”

The rest of the lesson is actually productive. You don’t quite get all this stuff down, at least not to the level you’d prefer, but you’ve made a start. Sumire starts to get the basics down as well, and Wasabi surprises a lot of your classmates by making pretty solid strides beyond just the basic applications of the mystical palm as she’s been using it. She even has an interesting thought which she mentions to you - what happens if she uses shape and flow techniques to turn medical ninjutsu into an offensive style?

You can’t help but encourage her to find out.

…

Your next mission calls you out to one of the nearby towns to meet with a familiar face.

“Guren-san!” you greet your parents’ friend and former wartime comrade.

“Shiki-kun,” she smiles with a polite nod. “Good to see you well.”

“Likewise.”

Then she turns to Hanabi-sensei. “Hanabi-san, thank you for coming. This one’s… puzzling.”

“How so?” Hanabi-sensei asks curiously.

“Have you ever heard of the ‘rainy day killer’?”
>almost there, one more post

>>5342748
“I saw something about that on the news,” Wasabi-chan admits, glancing over her shoulder at you and Sumirin. “This serial killer goes around murdering on rainy days, and nobody can ever find the weapon.”

“That’s the long and the short of it,” Guren-san confirms. “You already know my name from Shiki-kun having blurted it out, but to finish the introductions I’m a special investigator with the Konoha police force. And we need your help.”

>I assume this means you’re treating this serial killer as a possible shinobi using water release?
>Why would the police ask for our help now, rather than after a previous killing? What changed?
>So is there any sort of pattern to these killings aside from the obvious rainy day connection?
>Other?

>>5342753
>>I assume this means you’re treating this serial killer as a possible shinobi using water release?
>>Why would the police ask for our help now, rather than after a previous killing? What changed?
>>So is there any sort of pattern to these killings aside from the obvious rainy day connection?
Everything, because all of them are good questions!

>>5342753
>>I assume this means you’re treating this serial killer as a possible shinobi using water release?

>>5342753
>>So is there any sort of pattern to these killings aside from the obvious rainy day connection?

>>5342753
>>5342755
what this anon said

>>5342753
>>I assume this means you’re treating this serial killer as a possible shinobi using water release?

>>5342753
>>So is there any sort of pattern to these killings aside from the obvious rainy day connection?

>>5342753
“So you believe the killer is a rogue shinobi?” you ask for clarification. “What’s his goal?”

“We suspect he’s been targeting members of a certain corporation,” Guren-san informs you, passing Hanabi-sensei a small folder with photographs and a few reports included. “What his motives are beyond that, well, I wish we could ask him.”

“You keep saying ‘he’ and ‘him’ like you already know the killer is male,” Sumirin observes. “Do you have a suspect?”

“Here,” Hanabi-sensei passes the folder to Sumirin, and you peek at its contents over her shoulder.

“... Hōzuki Suigetsu,” you read the name aloud.

“Does that mean anything to you?” Wasabi-chan asks you curiously. “I mean, don’t you know like half the people in the world or somethin?”
>1d6, taking the first three

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5343351

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5343351

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5343351

>>5343351
You nod once. “Is he related to either Mangetsu or Gengetsu?”

“He’s Hōzuki Mangetsu’s younger brother,” Guren-san informs you, “yes. They’re all from the same clan in the Land of Water.”

“Hōzuki Gengetsu… one of the previous Mizukages?” Sumirin recalls.

“Correct.”

“And so who’s Mangetsu and why should I know him?” Wasabi wonders aloud.

“One of the previous Seven Swordsmen of the Mist,” you tell her, recalling your fights during the Academy field trip years ago now. “One who supposedly mastered all seven swords then died abruptly.”

“Suigetsu-kun however is a real problem child,” Guren-san continues with her briefing. “He was formerly one of Orochimaru’s research subjects… not quite ‘the same’ as I was. Or maybe he was, trying to guess what that snake is thinking makes my head hurt so I rarely bother.”

“Why is he a suspect?” Hanabi-sensei asks curiously.

“Because he was spotted recently in this town nearly ten years after falling off the face of the world,” Guren-san explains with a frown, “and his ability fits the evidence.”

“Ability?” Wasabi-kun repeats, having yet to get the chance to read the file herself.

“His body can transform freely into water and back. He’s extremely proficient at using that technique in various ways for assassinations, and his strength grows when he has more water around him to merge with and extend his own body.”

“I see,” Hanabi-sensei mutters, thinking to herself. “That certainly does seem like it would fit. But I’d be wary so long as we can’t identify a clear motive.”

“I feel the same way,” Guren-san admits. “That’s why I want you to investigate him thoroughly. I would do it myself, but he’d recognize me too easily.”

>So Hanabi-sensei, Guren-san, can either of you tell us why our team was assigned to this?
>What do we know about his habits and activities since arriving here? Anything could help.
>My ryūmei technique, Hanabi-sensei’s byakugan, Wasabis nose… what else do we have?
>We could just ask him directly.
>Other?

>>5344128
>>What do we know about his habits and activities since arriving here? Anything could help.

>>5344128
>>What do we know about his habits and activities since arriving here? Anything could help.

>>5344128
>>What do we know about his habits and activities since arriving here? Anything could help.

>>5344128
>My ryūmei technique, Hanabi-sensei’s byakugan, Wasabis nose… what else do we have?

>>5344128
>>So Hanabi-sensei, Guren-san, can either of you tell us why our team was assigned to this?

>>5344128
“What can you tell us about what he’s been doing lately?” you ask Guren. “I mean, why here? Why now?”

“He’s been seen entering certain establishments,” Guren informs you. “Bars and nightclubs mostly, some of which are known hangouts for the local underworld - such as it is. It seems he also rents a small studio apartment in town.”

“Have you monitored him there?” Hanabi-sensei asks curiously.

“We’ve tried,” Guren-san admits with a sigh, “but there are some remarkably low-tech ways to avoid surveillance. He keeps his blinds shut, there’s been no activity on the home phone line, and he pays everything in cash.”

“Does that mean he expects that he’s being watched?” Sumire wonders.

Guren-san nods once. “Could be. You don’t come out of Orochimaru’s labs without at least a few new habits.”

“So how do we want to handle this, sensei?” Wasabi asks.

After a moment, Hanabi-sensei makes a decision. “Let’s take a moment to settle in and discuss this in private, shall we?”

…

You end up getting two rooms in a small hotel, connected as a suite with a door between them, and so you can pull the chairs from one room into the other and sit all around one table with the documents Guren-san brought for you spread out where everyone can see them. You also have a map of town, so that you can plot out where all of the locations mentioned in Guren-san’s documents actually are.

“Alright,” you mutter. “What do we have here…”
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5345277

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5345277

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5345277

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5345277

>>5345277
“Alright, I’ve got nothing,” you eventually admit. “I can’t see anything similar between the places he’s been visiting.”

“Has he been visiting them only once or multiple times?” Sumire asks.

“A mix,” Guren clarifies.

“Have you talked with anyone any of these places?” Wasabi asks.

Guren nods. “We’ve asked multiple bartenders and hostesses about him - none seem to be able to remember much, aside from one or two people who remember seeing him.”

“So we don’t know if he’s met anyone there,” Hanabi-sensei frowns. “Though I think it’s safe to say that’s exactly what happened, we can’t say anything more about it right now.”

>Well then, I think the next step is clear - figure out who he’s been contacting.
>Between the four of us I think we can find a way to spy on him in his apartment.
>I assume there’s a reason we’re not simply detaining him for questioning?
>Other?

>>5345413
>I assume there’s a reason we’re not simply detaining him for questioning?

>>5345413
>>I assume there’s a reason we’re not simply detaining him for questioning?

>>5345413
>>I assume there’s a reason we’re not simply detaining him for questioning?

>>5345413
>>I assume there’s a reason we’re not simply detaining him for questioning?
Outside of him being really dangerous there must be some other reason. Goal is actually to find whoever he is attempting to contact and not him specifically?

>>5345413
Holy word of Queen:
>give me a 1d6 roll in thread, taking the first three

GO!

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5347029

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5347029

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5347029

>>5347032
>>5347035
>>5347038
Shame on you all!

>>5347048
Awfully mediocre is the name of the game!

>>5347029
“I assume there’s a reason why we’re not detaining him for interrogation right out of the gate?” you muse.

“Yes, there is,” Guren clarifies for you. “If he had entered the village without authorization he could be detained as a rogue ninja, but since he’s not in the bingo book we can’t do anything without evidence of having committed a crime.”

There’s a long pause which is finally broken by Sumire. “Would assault count?”

There’s another long pause, which Hanabi-sensei breaks. “Clarify that for me, please?”

“Well, Shiki-kun is pretty handy at genjutsu,” Sumire suggests.

You nod, following the thought process. “So we make him go where we want him to go instead of trying to figure out which bar he’ll visit next?”

“And if he notices us and attacks, we have our provocation,” Hanabi-sensei muses. “Not half bad.”

“And since we know where he’s staying we can start in on him early!” Wasabi-chan pounds her fist into her hand with a grin. “Alright, I like it!”

>High Roll: 8

You set your plan into motion that evening. The goal is to guide Suigetsu to Bar Nobuya, a popular drinking establishment in town known to have ‘private rooms’ for karaoke and other entertainment, which would be a good place to conduct clandestine business. To that end you weave what you hope will be a subtle illusion, suggesting a left-hand turn here, a right turn there, hoping to lead Suigetsu along without his awareness.

The rest of your team follow along after giving Wasabi a chance to catch his scent, relying on both her sensory abilities and Hanabi-sensei’s byakugan to track Suigetsu through total cover, and from the other side of buildings on occasion as you guide him onto one of the local nightlife streets. It’s lined with a fair number of sushi places, bars, and izakayas, some of which look to be quite small and modest while others are doing quite a bit of business. There are even a few clubs, which seem more popular with younger adults in-between your age and your parents.

Suigetsu is almost at Bar Nobuya before he throws a kunai up towards the rooftop where you’ve been following him from, and abruptly takes off running down an alleyway across the street from the bar. He must have noticed the genjutsu?

“Not your lucky day,” Hanabi-sensei muses as she steps around the corner of the building on the far side of the alley, together with the rest of your team. Suigetsu glances back over his shoulder to find you blocking his escape, and you quickly pull the knife Kurotsuchi-san gave you out of its little holster on your flak jacket and flick it open.
>1/2

>>5347369
“Heh, that’s a good one kid,” Suigetsu chuckles, flashing you a familiar, pointy grin. “What’re you gonna do with that little thing?”

The look of amusement fades when he sees your chakra form a sword-shaped cloak that extends well beyond the drop-point of the blade, almost as if the Kotetsu in your hand still remembers a time when it was a sword and feels eager to reclaim that status.

“Well, shit,” Suigetsu realizes this may not be as simple as he expected. “So you’re trained in the samurai tradition… wait…”

Hanabi-sensei takes the initiative, striking at Suigetsu with her fingertips at blinding speeds, much faster than your own footwork. Her first strike pushes Suigetsu back slightly, but the second passes through his shoulder. There’s a ripple that passes through his body, which slows around the point Hanabi-sensei struck - so it’s his body around the tenketsu that starts to convert into water, meaning that blocking one won’t stop it, but the effect does seem to radiate out from the tenketsu. So while having an unblocked tenketsu near the one sensei strikes can undo her work, if she could hit multiple tenketsu in fast enough succession she might be able to create an opening.

“Hey, slow down lady,” Suigetsu sighs, locking Hanabi-sensei’s wrist in place. “Seems you should buy a guy a drink first before shoving your hand in his…”

You’re pretty confident he was going to say “shoulder”, but Hanabi-sensei releases chakra from all the tenketsu along her arm to create a big enough void in Suigetsu’s liquid torso to pull her arm back and leap away.

“So it’s not gonna be that simple,” she frowns. “Watch it, guys. This one’s slippery.”

“Man, this is annoying,” Suigetsu grumbles as he pulls himself together.

>You can use some fūinjutsu here to restrain Suigetsu.
>The real problem is the crossfire - drop low to avoid Hanabi-sensei’s senbon.
>Water conducts sound waves - so just spam bells and do a wide area genjutsu.
>Other?

>>5347370
>>The real problem is the crossfire - drop low to avoid Hanabi-sensei’s senbon.
>>Water conducts sound waves - so just spam bells and do a wide area genjutsu.

>>5347370
>>You can use some fūinjutsu here to restrain Suigetsu.
kongo fusa is the name of the game

>>5347370
>>You can use some fūinjutsu here to restrain Suigetsu.

>>5347370
>1d6, DC 10
>SP: 4/4

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5347675

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5347675

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5347675
please no more mediocre rolls

>>5347675
Use an SP to pass?
>Yes
>No

>>5347710
>>Yes

>>5347710
>Yes

>>5347710
>Yes

>>5347710
>Yes

>>5347710
>SP: 3/4
As you could have expected, the math works out pretty clearly in Suigetsu’s head - with three enemies on one side one of whom is a jōnin, and one enemy on the other side, the only reasonable way out of this situation is through you.

“Move it, kid!” he shouts, liquifying his arm and swinging it at you like a hammer.

You sidestep to avoid the blow and aim a strike with your chakra knife towards his elbow, the blade passing through entirely without seeming to cause Suigetsu any harm. He looks confident as he passes you, though that confidence is dashed as he gets his leg tangled up by a single-chain kongō fūsa, which he seems shocked to find he can’t just slip through by turning his leg into water.

“Well that’s new,” he muses as he catches your wrist as you try to swing at him again. But in doing so, you turn yourself in such a way that it may just give your teammates a clearer shot.

“Suiton: Suireiha!”

“Nice try!” Suigetsu smirks, simply blasting his own water bullets back at Sumirin’s without even weaving seals.

“He used his own body as a water source?” Sumire realizes, dodging one of Suigetsu’s counterattacks that slipped past her own technique

In the mean time, in an act of complete desperation, you headbutt Suigetsu right in the face.

“Ow, shit!” he swears loudly. “That hurt, you little brat!”

“Why are you complaining?” you demand. “We’re fighting, the whole point is to hit each other!”

“You started it!” he insists.

“Wait, whoa, time out,” you counter, “which one of us was it that threw a kunai at the other’s face?”

You glance over Suigetsu’s shoulder. “Hey, Wasabi-chan, who was that again?”

“... pretty sure that was him?” she offers awkwardly.

“There, see?” you go back to trying to wrangle Suigetsu with your chakra chains. “I have witnesses!”

“Hold on a minute!” Suigetsu insists as you both tumble to the ground, you trying to chain him up and him trying to liquify and escape. “Just what the hell is a team from the Leaf coming after me for anyway? And it's the Uzumaki brat’s team!?”
>1/2

>>5348596
“What, you think you know me?” you demand, managing to loop your chain around one of Suigetsu’s arms.

“Everyone was watching your matches, kid,” he grunts, briefly liquifying his leg so he can get it out from under his body where it had been pinned. “The Dragon of Ame and the Tiger of Suna - that’s how you and that ice girlie were billed!”

“Wow, fancy,” Wasabi-chan muses.

Meanwhile, Hanabi-sensei has called in Guren-san, who arrives a minute or two later after Suigetsu finally seems to have gotten too frustrated with your kongō fūsa to even fight it anymore, instead preferring to wait and see what this is all about.

“Long time no see, Suigetsu,” Guren-san greets him with a calm but cool frown.

“Ah, if it isn’t Guren-san!” Suigetsu grins back. “My favorite warden!”

“What are you doing here, Suigetsu?” she presses.

“Jeez, still all business I see,” he sighs. “Well at the moment it seems there’s been a misunderstanding here, fix that and I’ll let you in on it.”

Guren-san pauses to consider it for a moment, then gestures for you to release Suigetsu - which you do, with great caution.

Suigetsu doesn’t try to escape, and instead takes a few steps to get some space from everyone else in the alleyway. “I’m here on business,” he insists, “chasing down some interesting rumors. So what’d you think I was up to?”

>Depends, what are the rumors?
>What do you know about serial killers?
>... I don’t think he did it.
>Other?

>>5348617
>>What do you know about serial killers?

>>5348617
>What do you know about serial killers?

>>5348617
>>Depends, what are the rumors?
>>What do you know about serial killers?

>>5348617
>>... I don’t think he did it.

>>5348617
“So, what do you know about serial killers?” you ask, addressing the topic at hand point-blank and stunning your cohort a little - bluntness tends not to be your go-to strategy, but in this case…

“Ah, so it’s the Rainy Day killer?” Suigetsu chuckles, before catching himself. “Wait, you think I…”

“Did you?” Guren-san presses.

“Hell no!” Suigetsu insists loudly. “Listen, we’re on the same side here - old man Kaneki’s got his own personal bodyguards, right? But seems like he’s not sure that’s enough, cause he also hired me to track down the killer and kill him first. Since the old man’s got information I want I agreed.”

“Wait, ‘Kaneki’?” Sumirin repeats. “You mean the ‘Kaneki’ from Kaneki Chemicals is your client?”

That’s a major industrial company in the Land of Fire, and often a direct competitor with the Kaminarimon Company - the business Denki’s father owns and operates, which has interests in basically every single sector of the regional economy. It also happens to be the company all of the Rainy Day killer’s victims worked for in senior-level positions, the CEO for which is most likely the next target.

“Yeah,” Suigetsu confirms. “Same guy.”

“Did he give you any information about who it was you were supposed to find and kill?” Hanabi-sensei asks Suigetsu.

He shakes his head. “Nah, just that it’s someone with a grudge against his company. Said he couldn’t even start to narrow down that list.”

“Anyone coulda told you that if all the stuffed shirts in the company started getting offed,” Wasabi grumbles.

“What information were you after?” Guren presses. “It could be relevant to why he and the others are being targeted.”

“If you have to know, I’m tracking down a sword I want,” Suigetsu explains. “Rumor is it came up at an auction here in the Land of Fire - an auction I couldn’t get into.”

“Why not?” Sumire asks.

Suigetsu shrugs. “Let’s say it was the kinda event rich people go to looking to buy stuff they don’t want anyone to know they’ve got. But this old man Kaneki was there, and he knows the guy who bought the sword.”
>1/2

>>5349724
“So you’re planning to steal this sword?” you frown.

“That was the plan, yeah,” Suigetsu admits bluntly. “It’s not the kinda thing that should be rusting in some rich bastard’s living room.”

There are plenty of people who’d agree with him, though without knowing what sword it is he’s after exactly you’d be hard-pressed to render an opinion. You’re a bit of an exception however, having handled more than one of the Seven Swords of Kiri and not having been impressed.

“Setting that aside, how do you want us to proceed, Guren-san?” Hanabi-sensei asks. “Was Suigetsu-san your only lead?”

Guren-san nods. “Unfortunately. The impression I got was that the company’s entire senior leadership likes to keep their secrets.”

>Suigetsu, did you have any sort of suspects or a plan?
>If we know the target, why not just guard that target?
>We need to figure out what the company is hiding.
>Other?

>>5349810
>Suigetsu, did you have any sort of suspects or a plan?
>We could work together on this.

>>5349810
>If we know the target, why not just guard that target?

>>5349810
>>If we know the target, why not just guard that target?
Very fishy

>>5349810
>>If we know the target, why not just guard that target?

>>5349836
>>5349810
>support

>>5349810
“If we know who the target is, why not just guard him?” you wonder.

“That would make sense,” Guren-san admits, “but Kaneki-san has already refused one guard team assigned to him.”

“Who was it?” Wasabi asks.

Guren-san shakes her head. “It was Konohamaru-san’s team - the one with Naruto-san and Sasuke-san’s kids, and that samurai girl.”

“That’s definitely not suspicious,” you mutter sarcastically. “He must have some idea what this is about.”

“Would I be correct in thinking that Kaneki-san has remained largely barricaded within his own home?” Hanabi-sensei asks.

After a moment, Guren-san nods, confirming it. “That’s the situation, yes. You mean to watch over the compound despite his disapproval?”

“Isn’t this a law enforcement matter now?” Sumire poses an interesting - and key - question. “If so, shouldn’t you be able to investigate so long as we don’t trespass without cause?”

“The phrase is ‘probable cause’, and yes,” Guren-san agrees. “That could actually work.”

“Then can you give us the address?” you ask. “We’ll need to find the best spot to wait before the next rainy day in the forecast.”
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5350697

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5350697

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5350697

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5350697
GO HIGH MY DICE!

>>5350697
Kaneki-san lives in the new city district above the hokage rock, in a large and very modern villa - the land for which he must have snapped up at a lower price as the village was expanding and modernizing. It was probably once on the outer edge of Konoha, but now it’s a posh neighborhood with large houses set on almost palatial grounds - a far cry from the fanciest districts in Shin-Ame where ostentation is most frequently seen in fine craftsmanship, expensive details, and careful design.

“So, what are your thoughts?” Hanabi-sensei asks you. “This would be a tough one for most shinobi without specialized sensory skills.”

“We need to be far enough away that we cannot be observed easily,” Sumirin muses, “but close enough to act quickly when we see the killer approach. So a middle-range position makes the most sense.”

“Very good,” Hanabi-sensei nods with a smile. “Hana-stamp for you.”

“Thanks,” she replies automatically.

“So what else?” Hanabi-sensei presses you. “Knowing the distance you want to keep, what gives you the best position?”

“Clean lines of sight,” Wasabi-chan replies. “We can’t count on the enemy cooperating with the wind, and rain is kinda like white noise to me - washes everything else out too much.”

“So that leaves our eyes,” you agree, “specifically mine and sensei’s.”

“Since I can see through walls I’ll partner with Sumire-kun,” Hanabi-sensei decides, “while Shiki-kun and Wasabi-kun will partner up. We’ll narrow down the best avenues for an attack and position our teams accordingly.”

“If the killer is confident, he may just come through the front,” you observe coolly. “If he’s skilled with suiton he may hide in the rain to make that easier.”

“Agreed,” Hanabi-sensei nods once. “You and Wasabi-kun watch the front entrance. Where will you position yourselves?”

“South,” you decide. “Prevailing winds seem to blow in that direction here, so that would give you a better chance to sniff an intruder out, Wasabi-chan.”

“Right,” she nods. “I follow you.”

“Then we should stay by the western perimeter wall, Sumire-kun,” Hanabi-sensei reasons. “That would probably offer the quickest route over the wall and into the house, since it’s closest to that wall.”
>1/2

>>5352573
“So we’ll be guarding everything aside from the gate by watching the house itself,” Sumire-kun realizes with a thoughtful nod. “I understand. I won’t slow you down when the time comes.”

“Exactly,” Hanabi-sensei confirms. “Okay, for now I think that covers it - I’ll keep in touch with you all, so watch the weather reports.”

…

Two days later there’s a storm forecast for the afternoon, and so you and the rest of Team 15 head out for the sprawling Kaneki residence with your full combat gear and personal radio sets to set up in the locations you’ve previously arranged.

It’s early in the afternoon when the first droplets start to fall, the clouds having built up all morning long until the whole sky is a solid, foreboding gray. You don’t do much to avoid getting wet, having taken a position on the roof of a nearby low-rise apartment across the street and several doors down the road to the south. If the pattern holds, you think there’s a high probability Kaneki-san will have a visit today from the serial killer who has already murdered several of his senior employees.

“Who’s that?” Wasabi-chan questions you with a frown, referring to a lone figure in a raincoat who appears to be approaching the front gate.

You key your microphone. “We’ve spotted a suspicious person approaching the gate. Will advise.”

>Wait and see what happens before committing to any action.
>Act now - waiting just means someone could get hurt or killed.
>Move from your position to shadow the suspicious person.
>Other?

>>5352574
>>Wait and see what happens before committing to any action.
We should be patient

>>5352574
>Move from your position to shadow the suspicious person.

>>5352574
>>Wait and see what happens before committing to any action.

>>5352574
>>Move from your position to shadow the suspicious person.
the best compromise

>>5352574
You decide that holding off completely will just make it harder to act in the case that this really is the Rainy Day killer come to pay a visit to his next victim, and that’s a risk you can’t afford. But you also don’t want to completely blow your cover in case this isn’t the killer, and in the worst case scenario, the killer is actually watching right now to see what happens.

“Let’s take a closer look,” you suggest, keeping the mic open so Hanabi-sensei can hear your decision. “But not too close.”

“So keep outta sight, gotcha,” Wasabi-chan agrees.
>1d6, taking the first three
>DC: 10
>SP: 3/4

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5352961

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5352961

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5352961

>>5352961
You and Wasabi are careful to stay downwind from the suspect, and well out of sight - Wasabi sticks to the rooftops while you can afford to get a little closer using the kirisamegakure technique, essentially hiding yourself in the rainfall for a negligible investment of chakra. It’s because of that positioning that you’re able to see it when it happens - dozens of needle-like droplets of water, blending in with the falling rain, but loaded with a dangerous amount of chakra and shaped to a fine point.

The two guards at the front gate drop instantly under the barrage - it’s something like an unholy hybrid of your own Tenkyū technique, learned from Naori-ue, and the needle rain techniques used by many Ame-nin through prepared parasols.

It works with all the brutal efficiency of a butcher’s art, dropping both guards to the ground before they can even shout.

“Okay, he just put the guards down like instantly,” Wasabi-chan reports over the radios.

“I caught a glimpse of it,” you add, “he kneads chakra into the rain to create falling water needles.”

“One Hana-stamp for Shiki-kun,” Hanabi-sensei replies as you pass by the fallen gate guards. “Be careful, keep moving, and stay under cover as much as you can.”

The rest of the private guards clearly don’t get that memo, as the moment the alert goes out they rush out of the compound and into the garden surrounding it - and into the rain. Exposed to lethal droplets from on high, they rapidly fall either under the deluge or from the assassin’s tantō.

>Move cautiously, be prepared to cover Wasabi-chan with a kongō fūsa barrier if need be.
>Take a page from this guy’s book, try to duplicate his technique and use it against him.
>Close range is this attack’s weakness - he won’t risk hitting himself before he kills his target.
>Other?

>>5353611
>>Close range is this attack’s weakness - he won’t risk hitting himself before he kills his target.
but be prepared to shield with a barrier, better safe than sorry

>>5353611
>>5353619
Supporting. We need more Hana-stamps

>>5353611
>>Take a page from this guy’s book, try to duplicate his technique and use it against him.

>>5353611
>Move cautiously, be prepared to cover Wasabi-chan with a kongō fūsa barrier if need be.

>>5353611
>Move cautiously, be prepared to cover Wasabi-chan with a kongō fūsa barrier if need be.
Considering the target's inside and this move is most effective while in the rain, they most likely have another trick to minimize the chances of them escaping.
As a result going guns blazing by aiming for this single technique's weakness right away is a setup for disaster,

>>5353611
Taking a hybrid approach
>1d6, first three
>DC 10
>SP: 4/4

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5354194

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5354194

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5354194

>>5354194
With techniques like this and the needle rain attack common in Amegakure, there’s one very clear flaw - the attacker will always be limited in terms of how close to their own body they can get the needles. It’s an instinctive limit that every shinobi feels on some level, so to some degree, the instinct to avoid harm leads shinobi to enforce a boundary where any attack including their own is “too close”. Many don’t even think about it.

It’s that blind spot you intend to exploit, and you think you know the best way to go about getting at it.

“Stick with me, Wasabi, we’re getting in close!” you decide aloud.

Her response is an immediate “right!” and the two of you charge into the compound. You draw your knife and manifest two kongō fūsa chains, while Wasabi pulls her hood up an unseals chakra to cloak herself and her outfit in. Predictably the assassin tries to counter, dropping a shower of hardened needles of water mixed with chakra on you before you reach him, and so you’re already one step ahead.

Two trailing golden chains sweep through the rain, leaving protective arcs that intercept the falling needles, barely visible even to your eyes. That gives Wasabi-chan the opening she needs to close the last stretch in one dash, her chakra claws meeting a raised blade. But she doesn’t stop there. Instead of falling back she grabs the assassin by the wrist and twists her body into the air, sweeping with her back leg as she rolls over his arm to kick his head off.

“Water clone!” she shouts as the head dissolves. She completes her maneuver and strikes a second time to the clone’s chest, finishing it off. “This one’s good!”

The timing of that technique tells you she’s right - this is at least a chūnin you’re dealing with, and likely an experienced one at that. Not a common thug, but a real ninja with proper training.

“Over there!” you declare, having spotted where the assassin fled to atop a nearby roof - you ‘draw’ a kunai out of your raikō kenka seal and throw it past his head from too long a distance that you could expect him to not dodge.

What he doesn’t count on is Sumire ‘catching’ your blade out of the air by controlling the chakra at the sole of her foot and ‘throwing’ it at him from behind as she weaves hand seals for a follow-up attack. “Suiton: Suireiha!”

The assassin manages to parry the kunai this time, but is forced to take the brunt of Sumire’s double-handed attack head-on. The blast of water knocks him off the roof and he rolls out of sight, towards what you understand to be the back garden.
>1/2

>>5355028
Sumirin tries to pursue at first, but Hanabi-sensei steps in and grabs hold of her from behind.

“Kaiten!”

Hanabi-sensei spins in place, releasing visible chakra from her back and shoulders as she does so, which acts as a barrier against the water needles the assassin called down to secure his escape. He had the presence of mind to send in a water clone, he demonstrated excellent timing in the use of his techniques, and his tactical awareness proved to be particularly keen - at least in terms of hit-and-run strategies in the rain, it seems like this opponent has an edge.

…

“So that was the Hyūga clan’s ‘perfect defense’, sensei?” Wasabi-chan muses while Sumire takes a moment to let her head stop spinning.

“A version of it,” your sensei confirms with a smile. “Let’s see to the wounded.”

“We aren’t going after him?” Sumirin asks with a frown.

Hanabi-sensei shakes her head. “Not every mission can be settled with a single fight. Sometimes gaining information for no losses is the kind of victory you really need.”

“What was that!?” an older man demands, coming out of the house flanked by a pair of security guards. “Why aren’t you going after him!?”

“The way I heard it you weren’t keen for us to be here at all,” Wasabi-kun grumbles, “and now you’re making demands?”

“I will decide how my team proceeds from here,” Hanabi-sensei insists, narrowing her eyes dangerously. “If you wish to help us handle this situation, then you will tell us everything you know about the situation, Kaneki-san.”

“I already told you people I have no idea why we’re being attacked,” he insists angrily. “But in case you didn’t hear it from that investigator lady I’ll say it again - I have no idea who that man was or why he’d want to kill anyone from my company.”

… he’s lying.

>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.
>Let Kaneki know without saying it - yours are eyes which can see the soul.
>Call Kaneki out. The truth is an embarrassment and a worry for him.
>Other?

>>5355428
>>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.
Play it cool.

>>5355428
>>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.
lets see if our companions noticed and what sensei wants to do, follow her lead

>>5355428
>>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.

>>5355428
>>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.

>>5355428
>Keep a straight face. You’re sure Hanabi-sensei picked up on it as well.

>>5355428
You resign yourself to keeping a straight face. They may not be the sharingan or the byakugan, but the ryūmei does give your eyes the ability to see things others might miss, and right now the lie is painfully obvious. You can’t exactly see what the truth is, but you can surmise that he at least has a theory about who tried to attack him. And you can't imagine that Hanabi-sensei failed to pick up on it.

“If you think of anything,” Hanabi-sensei replies curtly, “please don’t hesitate to share.”

“This is none of Konohagakure’s business,” Kaneki snaps.

"... wow, there's some whiplash for you," Wasabi mutters.

“Your would-be assassin is a rogue shinobi who attacked shinobi of Konohagakure and Amegakure,” your sensei declares, “so that makes it our business. Now if you’ll excuse us, we have a job to do.”

…

Wasabi-chan and Sumirin see to administering first aid to the wounded - it’s a little surprising at first that none of the guards who were attacked were killed, but a pattern is starting to emerge. Kaneki knows who it is that’s attacking him, and the previous attacks must have all been personal. The assassin who kills in the rain has a strategy for playing to his strengths, he has a list of specific targets, and he has gone out of his way to avoid killing anyone not on that list. This is personal, probably deeply so, for the killer.

“He knows something,” you muse quietly to your sensei.

Hanabi-sensei nods in agreement. “Oh, totally. But whatever it is, it’s supposed to be a secret. At best it’s something embarrassing, but it’s more likely something pretty damning.”

>After this, you think it’s likely he’ll tell Suigetsu who he should be targeting?
>I think we need to be careful now. The killer is probably getting desperate.
>We should do a little digging into Kaneki’s company, see what he has to hide.
>Other?

>>5357101
>We should do a little digging into Kaneki’s company, see what he has to hide.

>>5357101
>After this, you think it’s likely he’ll tell Suigetsu who he should be targeting?

>>5357101
>>We should do a little digging into Kaneki’s company, see what he has to hide.

>>5357101
>>After this, you think it’s likely he’ll tell Suigetsu who he should be targeting?
>>I think we need to be careful now. The killer is probably getting desperate.
>>We should do a little digging into Kaneki’s company, see what he has to hide.
All three makes sense. Kaneki probably contact Suigetsu who is one source of information for us. The assassin probably becomes a bit desperate with a team of shinobi around and same time we should look into the business to see what he is hiding.

>>5357101
>I think we need to be careful now. The killer is probably getting desperate.
>We should do a little digging into Kaneki’s company, see what he has to hide.

>>5357101
>1d6, best three of four
>higher is better

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5358312

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5358312

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5358312

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5358312

>>5357101
“... I don’t know about you sensei,” you muse, “but when I know someone’s hiding something I get really tempted to tug every thread I can find.”

Hanabi-sensei considers your admission for a little bit, before eventually weighing in. “I think we have some time to look into it.”

…

“I think this may be significant,” Sumirin declares, laying down a news article in front of you at the library. “Take a look.”

Wasabi-chan comes over from a nearby table covered in spreadsheets of the Kaneki corporation’s publicly available financial records to join you at the table where you and sensei have been sitting, reading over the article. It’s an investigative piece detailing an explosion at a Kaneki chemical plant that killed a dozen people, and seriously hurt about the same number.

“It seems like about the right amount of time has passed for an aggrieved family member to be behind this,” Hanabi-sensei agrees.

“This article states that the company executives blamed the head researcher, who was killed in the blast - Amaashi Mikazuki-san,” you read out.

“This author seems to have done some interviews of his own,” Sumirin tells you, turning the page and tapping one line in particular. “People who worked with the woman described her as ‘meticulous’, or ‘cautious’, even ‘by-the-book’ in one case.”

“Not exactly rock-solid as far as evidence goes,” Hanabi-sensei frowns, “but it does paint a picture. Any surviving family of hers may have had similar doubts about her degree of responsibility in the events leading up to the explosion.”

“Doesn’t seem like they make much effort to lay that out,” Wasabi-chan observes, cradling her chin the way she does when she’s chewing on her words before spitting them out. “Which is weird, right?”

You nod in agreement. “If I were in their position I’d wanna make sure an accident like that never happened again. But it seems the company was quick to pin it on human error and close their investigation.”

“They could be hiding something,” Hanabi-sensei agrees. “And I think it makes sense to see if we can’t track down any living family members for Amaashi Mikazuki.”
>1/2

>>5358925
“She can’t not have any family,” Wasabi-chan protests after your failure to find any records of any other living Amaashi in the village. “That’s just not how it works.”

“It’s really suspicious,” Hanabi-sensei agrees, “but especially right after the war, a lot of records are really spotty. People from all over the Land of Fire ended up coming to Konohagakure to help with rebuilding and modernization, and to chase opportunities here with growing companies.”

“So not everyone has a complete record on file,” Sumirin summarizes. “That should hardly come as a surprise, I guess… after all, I managed to sneak my way into the village without anyone asking too many questions.”

“Yeah, I guess your file would look pretty similar,” Wasabi-chan reasons.

>I wonder what my file looks like, as a foreign shinobi with permanent leave to remain.
>... I’m going to make a few calls. I’m starting to feel a hunch coming on.
>Maybe Guren-san can help us, use the police force’s resources to chase this lead.
>Other?

>>5358933
>... I’m going to make a few calls. I’m starting to feel a hunch coming on.

>>5358933
>>I wonder what my file looks like, as a foreign shinobi with permanent leave to remain.
>Maybe Guren-san can help us, use the police force’s resources to chase this lead.
Guren to rescue! Going through official channels helps us to have a stronger case too.

>>5358933
>>Maybe Guren-san can help us, use the police force’s resources to chase this lead.

>>5358933
>>... I’m going to make a few calls. I’m starting to feel a hunch coming on.

>>5358933
“... I’m starting to feel something dangerously like a hunch,” you muse, taking out your mobile phone and dialing Guren-san’s number. “Guren-san? Do you have a minute?”

“Yes, what’s this about, Shiki-kun?”

“I’m playing a hunch,” you admit. “Would you do me a favor and use any pull you may have to secure immigrations records for Amaashi Mikazuki? She was a head researcher at Kaneki chemicals.”

“Immigrations records would be maintained separately from Konohagakure’s databases,” Guren realizes where you’re going with this. “Until such time as anyone here requests them… I see what you’re getting at.”

“Thanks,” you tell her, “let me know as soon as you can, okay? I’ll be making a few more calls.”

“Gotcha.”

You hang up on Guren-san and dial another number, and wait for a few moments for the connection. “Hi, is this Kōshū-kun?”

“Shiki-kun?” she asks you curiously. “This is strange… I know I gave you my number before we left Konoha, but why are you calling me out of the blue like this?”

“Because I need to ask you for a favor,” you admit. “I need one or the other of your parents’ phone numbers.”

“... that’s an odd request,” she muses - you can practically hear the frown through the phone. “What’re you up to, Shiki-kun?”

“I’m looking into a case here where a researcher was killed in an explosion,” you explain. “And I have reason to believe she wasn’t born in the Land of Fire. I think she may have immigrated from the Land of Water some time ago.”

“And you want someone in Kirigakure to run the name through their own records,” Kōshū completes your thought. “Okay. My dad doesn’t answer his mobile, but I can give you my mom’s number. I’ll call her first and let her know to expect you.”

“That’d be great, thanks.”
>1/2

>>5359818
A few minutes later, you call the number that Kōshū gave you. “This would be Shiki-kun?”

“Temari-san?” you reply. “Is now a good time?”

“It’s not especially bad per se,” she replies, “it just may take a while to get you an answer. I’m nowhere near the archive building.”

“Kōshū-chan should’ve mentioned I needed you to search for a name?”

“She did,” Temari-san replies. “I can take it down now if you’d like and get back to your as soon as I have something?”

“That would be good,” you reply. “I’m looking for Amaashi Mikazuki, and any family she may have who is a shinobi.”

“Okay, I’ll have a look,” she assures you. “Quick question, how does she spell her name?”

…

After giving Temari-san the spelling and thanking her again, you make one last call. “Ryūzetsu-ue, can you do me a favor?”

“Shoot.”

“Could you look for a missing shinobi from our village, family name Amaashi?” you ask her. “I’m not sure if they would be from Ame or Kiri, so I’m covering both.”

“Not a problem,” your mother replies calmly. “Give me a few minutes?”

“Sure. Guren-san and Temari-san couldn’t get back to me immediately either.”

“Alright, talk to you soon.”

“Thanks, mom.”
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5360387

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5360387

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5360387
GO REALLY FUCKING HIGH!

File: ohno.jpg (120 KB, 491x554)

120 KB JPG

>>5360394
NO!

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5360387

>>5360387
It isn’t until the next day that the information starts to trickle in - first Ryūzetsu-ue confirms that the name Amaashi does not appear in the list of missing shinobi from Amegakure, which is somewhat comforting news on its own. Next Guren-san informs you that there are in fact immigration records for Amaashi Mikazuki dating to about eleven years ago, and that it recorded her birthplace as somewhere in the Land of Water. Finally, you get a call from the Mizukage’s assistant Misuno-san around eleven in the morning.

“Is this Uzumaki Shiki-kun?”

“Yes,” you reply, “speaking.”

“Lord Chōjūrō has instructed me to contact you with the results of the search you requested through Lady Temari,” she continues after giving you her name. “We found that Amaashi Mikazuki and her brother Samidare emigrated from Kirigakure - Mikazuki-san just over eleven years ago, and Samidare-san about eighteen months ago after his abrupt retirement.”

Eighteen months… less than three months after the explosion that claimed Mikazuki-san’s life. And because he ‘retired’ rather than defecting, his name wouldn’t appear in the Konoha bingo book.

“Thank you, Misuno-san,” you tell her. “Please convey my gratitude to Temari-san and the Mizukage. And say hi to Buntan-senpai if you get the chance?”

“I will.”

“Thanks again.”

Once you have your report, you call Hanabi-sensei - or rather you were going to, but it seems like she’s called you first.

“I was just going to call you, sensei,” you tell her.

“We need to meet now,” she insists curtly. “Head to the mission desk.”

…

You waste no time, and find that the only one missing from your team is Sumire. When you ask where she is, you’re informed that she’s across town and will have to meet you on your way.

“Kaneki-san’s been kidnapped,” your sensei informs you. “Guren-san’s sent out tracker teams… she reasons the killer took this opportunity to act, breaking his usual pattern to take us by surprise.”
>1/2

>>5360755
“We’re dealing with Amaashi Samidare,” you recount, “a former chūnin from Kirigakure who emigrated a year and a half ago, right after his sister was killed.”

“This is just a guess, but I think Samidare may have uncovered evidence of a conspiracy,” Hanabi-sensei declares. “It would fit his pattern of going after the company executives - he may hold them responsible for his sister’s death.”

“How are we going to find them?” Wasabi wonders aloud.

>Easy. We find them by finding Suigetsu-san. He should be one step ahead of us.
>If we assume Samidare is doing this to make a point, we may be able to guess his destination.
>All this is happening because Samidare is looking for justice. If only we could find a way to offer him that…
>Other?

>>5360761
>>Easy. We find them by finding Suigetsu-san. He should be one step ahead of us.

>>5360761
>>If we assume Samidare is doing this to make a point, we may be able to guess his destination.

>>5360761
>If we assume Samidare is doing this to make a point, we may be able to guess his destination.
>We should be on the lookout for Suigetsu-san as well.

>>5360761
>>Easy. We find them by finding Suigetsu-san. He should be one step ahead of us.

>>5360761
>>Easy. We find them by finding Suigetsu-san. He should be one step ahead of us.
>>If we assume Samidare is doing this to make a point, we may be able to guess his destination.

>>5360761
“... let’s start with an assumption,” you begin. “The assumption being that Amaashi Samidare is trying to emphasize a point. What would his point be about?”

“The death of his sister?” Wasabi-chan offers at first, but then she seems to realize something. “No… the fact that they blamed it on her after she died.”

“Defamation of a woman who could no longer defend herself,” Hanabi-sensei agrees, “ruining her reputation for their own benefit, to cover for the mismanagement of a project that ended in several deaths. They scapegoated her.”

After a moment, you take your phone back out and dial Guren-san again. “Guren-san, can you do a record search for me?”

…

Cemeteries are prominent places in most hidden villages. In the old Amegakure burials were placed in the tall towers, due to the fact that people couldn’t bury their dead properly in the lake. In new Amegakure, a special plot was set aside by the lakeshore where the war memorial also stands. In Konohagakure, the cemetery is in the old town, right near the center of the modern village. It was here that Amaashi Mikazuki’s ashes were buried after the accident that claimed her life, and you reasoned that if her brother wanted to make a point to the man he blames for that loss this would be the place to do it.
>1d6, best three of four

Rolled 1 (1d6)

>>5361688

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5361688

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5361688

>>5361694
>>5361704
Roll better

>>5361772
yeah keep talking, bitch

Rolled 5 (1d6)

>>5361688
All of you are fools, watch this

>>5361688
Sure enough, things have progressed exactly as you figured they would - Samidare-san has taken Kaneki to finish things in front of his sister’s grave, which lies near a lone horse-chestnut tree, to really drive home his point that in his view the chemicals magnate has committed a heinous and unforgivable slight towards the memory of Amaashi Mikazuki. And also just as you figured, Suigetsu has beaten you to the proverbial punch.

But not by enough.

“Wha…” he realizes as a kongō fūsa chain wraps around his wrist before he brings a full-length katana down into the base of Amaashi Samidare’s neck. “Oh, you’ve gotta be kidding me!”

An instant later Hanabi-sensei’s fist splashes through Suigetsu’s head, giving Samidare a moment to leap away from his initial attacker, and also allowing Wasabi-chan an instant to place herself between Samidare and Kaneki. As he watches, Hanabi-sensei lowers herself into what almost looks like a crouch, with her arms extended - one low, one high.

“Eight-trigrams,” she declares, before snapping into motion. “Thirty-two palms!”

The thirty-two strikes are so quick they almost seem to blur together, and you lose track of most of them even with your exceptionally acute vision. By the time she’s finished your sensei has knocked Samidare backwards through the air, just by striking him in quick succession with the tips of her fingers.

“Suiton: Suireiha!”

There’s a cry of shock as Kaneki recoils, having tried to scurry away on his hands and knees only for a blast of water to hit the grass in front of him, gouging out a deep divot.

“Why the rush, Kaneki-san?” Sumirin asks calmly from the tree that shades Amaashi Mikazuki’s grave. “Most people would not be so quick to run from their rescuers.”

“Okay, what is this?” Suigetsu demands. “I thought you were coming after this serial killer here, but apparently you’re actually coming after all of us?”

>We have a few questions for Kaneki-san here, about the accident that killed Amaashi Mikazuki.
>We’re just going to take everyone here into custody. We can sort the details out later.
>This isn’t your job anymore, Suigetsu-san. This is a matter for law enforcement in the Land of Fire.
>Other?

>>5362768
>>We have a few questions for Kaneki-san here, about the accident that killed Amaashi Mikazuki.

>>5362768
>>We’re just going to take everyone here into custody. We can sort the details out later.
>>This isn’t your job anymore, Suigetsu-san. This is a matter for law enforcement in the Land of Fire.

>>5362768
>We have a few questions for Kaneki-san here, about the accident that killed Amaashi Mikazuki.
>You might want to listen to this as well, Suigetsu-san.

>>5362768

>We have a few questions for Kaneki-san here, about the accident that killed Amaashi Mikazuki.
>You might want to listen to this as well, Suigetsu-san.

>>5362768
“We have some questions for your client here,” you reply, still holding the chakra chain taut. “It’s regarding an incident the year before last, which killed one of his company’s head scientists.”

“Pardon?” Kaneki spits the word out, almost as though tempted to turn the denial into an accusation on the spot. That in and of itself tells you all you need to know.

“Amaashi Mikazuki,” you press. “She was killed at one of your company’s facilities. This is her grave. Does that jog your memory?”

“Ah, that,” Kaneki begins to recover. “A tragedy that should have been avoidable.”

“Is that so?” Wasabi-chan frowns down at her charge.

“I recommend telling the truth,” Sumirin chimes in from the tree. “Both the byakugan and the ryūmei can see through lies, or so the stories say.”

“This man killed several of my vice-presidents!” Kaneki counters.

“And he’ll answer for those crimes,” Hanabi-sensei replies, “I’ve seen to that already.”

“But we’re not talking about his crimes right now,” you insist sternly. “Kaneki-san, I know that you’re a liar. Every slight detail about you tells me that in different ways, painting a pretty little picture of a man with a terrible secret that’s on the verge of coming out… am I right in thinking you hired Suigetsu-san to eliminate Amaashi Samidare because you suspected he had evidence?”

Just before he can answer, Wasabi-chan interrupts. “Remember, my friend here and our sensei will know if you’re lying.”

You glare at him, with your hard eyes of rippled silver… you know from having seen Ryūzetsu-ue mad once or twice in your life how the ryūmei can look to others. The cold glint of restrained anger, the intense focus, the obvious outward manifestation of something not quite natural, not quite human.

“... am I right?”
>1/2

>>5363314
The pause is a long one, which is eventually broken by Suigetsu-san. “Okay, I’m takin’ it the answer’s gonna be a big old ‘yes’, but what does that have to do with me?”

“Not only would you be undertaking an unauthorized assassination within the Land of Fire,” Hanabi-sensei informs him, “which by itself could get your name placed in our bingo book, but it’d get you involved in a major corporate coverup. That means Guren-san would be pretty interested to talk to you.”

“I would be,” Guren-san agrees, joining you after taking a swift final step with a shunshin, essentially appearing near the base of the nearby tree in a blur. “You kill that guy, and I charge you with first-degree murder, banditry, and criminal obstruction. That’s good for…”

Guren-san counts on her fingers for a moment. “Twenty-five to fifty-five years in prison.”

“Hah, as if!” Suigetsu-san laughs. “I can turn my body into water, what’s Hōzuki’s warden gonna do to me?”

“Yukigakure uses the jisarenhyō,” you observe. “So you’d be sent there, not Hōzuki.”

Suigetsu’s expression changes, betraying some nervousness that wasn’t there before. “Ah… somehow, I keep forgetting about that.”

“They’re pretty low-key about it,” you offer.

“True. Definitely more than the Land of Grass is,” he agrees. “Wait, why am I agreeing with you?”

“Anyway,” Guren-san interrupts. “Wasabi-kun, would you mind helping me restrain Kaneki-san?”

“On what grounds?” he demands, immediately on-edge at having suddenly been remembered.

“Suspicion in the death of Amaashi Mikazuki and solicitation to commit murder,” Guren-san replies. “Should be more than enough.”

“Hey, before you take him away, I’ve got something I wanna ask,” Suigetsu declares, leaning in to get right up in Kaneki’s face. “You’re still alive cause I stopped that guy from killing you, so I think I earned an answer.”

“The Kusanagi sword?” Kaneki-san smirks. “Sorry. All this excitement… seems I’ve forgotten.”

Suigetsu’s furious at the bold-faced lie. “Why you…”
>1d6, high roll, best three of four

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5364046

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5364046

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5364046
Suigetsu somewhat cooperated, let's help a little and separate on a high note

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5364046
So average, watch this!

>>5364046
You pull tight on the kongō fūsa, using it to help make sure Suigetsu doesn’t do anything everyone involved is going to regret. “You never said you were after the Kusanagi.”

“Yeah?” Suigetsu counters. “So what? I don’t have to tell you anything about my own business, you little…”

“Easy there,” Guren-san growls out a warning.

“What’s this Kusanagi sword thing anyway?” Wasabi-chan asks you curiously. “Why’s it such a big deal, and how come you’ve heard of it, Shikkun?”

That’s a new one. But you move on. “I was raised around famous swords, so I know a little about some of the more storied shinobi blades even if I’ve never handled them. Kusanagi-no-tō is supposed to be a ‘magic’ sword… very old and very powerful. So powerful in fact Orochimaru of the Sannin specifically sought it out.”

“It was considered lost when Uchiha Sasuke killed Orochimaru,” Hanabi-sensei adds. “Since Orochimaru used to store it within his own body.”

You glance at Kaneki… does this shitty old man really know anything about a legendary weapon like that? Was it a fake in the first place? Is he just lying to string Suigetsu along?

>If you really want to know what happened to Orochimaru’s sword, just ask Orochimaru?
>What do you want for the sword, Kaneki-san? How many years off your sentence is it worth?
>Guren-san, in exchange for the sword could we keep “antiquities trafficking” off his rap sheet?
>Other?

>>5365059
>>If you really want to know what happened to Orochimaru’s sword, just ask Orochimaru?

>>5365059
>>If you really want to know what happened to Orochimaru’s sword, just ask Orochimaru?

>>5365059
>If you really want to know what happened to Orochimaru’s sword, just ask Orochimaru?

>>5365059
>>If you really want to know what happened to Orochimaru’s sword, just ask Orochimaru?
Is it common knowledge that Orochimaru is still alive?

>>5365059
“If you wanted to know about Orochimaru’s sword, why not just ask Orochimaru?” you suggest, watching as Guren-san moves to handcuff Samidare-san, then calls in support from Konoha’s police force to take the prisoners away.

Suigetsu visibly blanches. “Nah, better just kill me now.”

“He was a comrade of Lord Jiraiya and Lady Tsunade, wasn’t he?” Sumirin asks curiously. “Is he really that bad?”

“He’s terrifying,” Suigetsu, who’s begun to melt slightly around his shoulders and forehead, insists. “You have no idea, girlie.”

“Well, he’d be the one who’d know where his sword is,” Wasabi-chan counters, hands on her hips. “I mean, Shikkun says he used to keep it… what, like in his stomach?”

“Something like that,” you shrug, “nobody ever explained how that worked… I just assume it was kind of gross.”

…

“... I still don’t like this,” Suigetsu grumbles.

“Oh, come on,” Hanabi-sensei smirks. “We’ll be right here.”

Orochimaru has, to your knowledge, basically been under lock and key since a little more than two years before you were born. But several years ago it seems he was released into house arrest, in a small compound in Konohagakure proper. That’s where you and your team have found yourselves, meeting an older man - dressed as a jōnin in the regular forces, with deep lines carved into his features.

“Yamato-san,” Hanabi-sensei greets him. “How have things been?”

“Quiet,” Yamato-san answers. “As usual. Will you be long?”

“Probably not,” sensei shakes her head. “May we head in?”

“Of course.”
>1/2

>>5365991
“I was told to expect visitors,” a man greets you… surprisingly young, with unnaturally smooth and pale skin almost like porcelain and jet-black hair, and with eyes emphasized by slender purple markings. “I hadn’t expected such interesting company, otherwise I might have brewed some good tea.”

“... interesting in what way?” Suigetsu asks nervously.

Orochimaru, dressed presently in something like a labcoat, walks slowly and calmly across the dim room, lit mainly by electronic screens and the internal lighting of various tubes filled with liquids and what look like biological samples.

“Suigetsu, huh?” Orochimaru recognizes his former test subject. “No need to be so nervous. I already have samples for your kekkei genkai.”

“Oh, okay,” Suigetsu replies, seemingly a little put off. “Cool. I totally know what that means.”

“I’m not allowed to experiment on living people anymore,” Orochimaru explains, stopping for a moment to tap on a vessel. “Naruto-kun and Sasuke-kun considered that to be too inhumane of a method. However cloned cells from willing donors have proven to be much more suitable for long-term, controlled studies anyway.”

He then turns his attention to you. “Hello, Shiki-kun. It’s been a while.”

>My whole life, in fact. I don’t think my parents wanted me to meet you.
>We don’t know each other. Let’s just get this business concluded quickly.
>I know you were involved in my… ‘origin’. I’m fuzzy on the details.
>Other?

>>5366003
>>My whole life, in fact. I don’t think my parents wanted me to meet you.

>>5366003
>My whole life, in fact. I don’t think my parents wanted me to meet you.
>I know you were involved in my… ‘origin’. I’m fuzzy on the details.

>>5366003
>>My whole life, in fact. I don’t think my parents wanted me to meet you.
Others are probably quite confused about this

>>5365059
“My whole life, in fact,” you point out. “I get the impression my parents would’ve preferred Makoto and I never meet you.”

“I do not doubt that,” Orochimaru agrees candidly. “Uzumaki Naori-san is among the few who truly understand the scope of my work, particularly in terms of the manipulation of natural energy through juinjutsu.”

“What exactly was your role in the development of that technique?” you ask curiously, aware of the fact that you may not get another chance to assuage your curiosity.

“Many scientists understand the intricacies of genetics,” Orochimaru admits. “None also have experience with the catastrophic effects of natural energy on… unsuitable vessels.”

“Wait a minute,” Wasabi-chan interrupts. “What do you mean?”

“The overwhelming majority of people cannot handle natural energy without damaging their own bodies,” Orochimaru clarifies. “The body’s systems tend to degrade, and the mind begins to warp. These are the things which happened to many of my previous test subjects, at various rates and to varying degrees. Only three ended up surviving - Sasuke-kun, Anko-chan, and Tayuya-kun.”

Anko… does he mean Mitarashi-sensei?

“Do you mean Mitarashi-sensei?” Sumirin asks the question you had decided to keep to yourself.

“She was a genin of mine, a long time ago,” Orochimaru explains. “Back when I was still a Konoha jōnin, and my experiments were still within the bounds of agreed-upon ethical standards - for the most part anyway. I do find myself nostalgic for her company - she was such an inquisitive, curious child. Not especially intelligent… no, definitely not. But I have found that intelligence is wasted by the boring and the conventional minds, those who lack curiosity. I would prefer to answer a foolish question now and then rather than suffer a fool who chooses to remain foolish.”

“I see,” you frown. “So what kind of person would you say that makes you?”

“Who knows?” Orochimaru muses. “Interested as I am in how your senjutsu training has progressed, I suppose you didn’t come here to satisfy my curiosity?”

He knows about that? How does he know about that? Or could he simply guess that it’s likely given who your parents are, and how you came to exist in this world?
>1/2

>>5366664
He doesn't know. Don't tell him, he's baiting you!

>>5366664
“No,” you reply, ignoring that comment entirely. “Suigetsu-san had a question for you.”

Orochimaru glances at his former test subject. “Oh? Well then, in that case let’s hear it.”

After glaring sharply at you for reminding Orochimaru that he was here, Suigetsu blurts out “you know where the Kusanagi sword is?”

“Why, of course,” Orochimaru replies, tilting his head back and… oh, that’s not okay.

Orochimaru draws the sword out past his impossibly long tongue, a slender, double-edged blade in the ancient style. “I have it right here.”

“Wait, you were the buyer?” Suigetsu demands.

“I did buy it back recently yes,” Orochimaru admits. “Whether or not that makes me ‘the’ buyer depends.”

“How did you get that in there?” Wasabi-chan asks with a sense of almost dread fascination.

“Let’s not ask questions we don’t want to know the answer to?” Sumirin chides her quietly.

“Oh, right. Yeah, guess not.”

“It’s quite simple, really,” Orochimaru shrugs, still holding the legendary sword. “Once you know the trick that is.”

Instead of swallowing it, he places it on a nearby desk. “But it can be quite off-putting for viewers, in much the same way that many people dislike seeing a snake feed. I take no personal offense.”

“Man, and I was so sure I was gonna get my hands on it…” Suigetsu grumbles. “This whole day’s gone to hell!”

>So… what are you actually trying to ‘research’ here, anyway?
>So why did you want your old sword back, and how much did it cost?
>I’m just not going to say anything or touch anything. Just gonna stand here.
>Other?

>>5367124
>>So… what are you actually trying to ‘research’ here, anyway?
>>So why did you want your old sword back, and how much did it cost?
Curiosity wins over caution

>>5367124

>So… what are you actually trying to ‘research’ here, anyway?
>So why did you want your old sword back, and how much did it cost?

>>5367140
>>5367124
>this right here

>>5367124
“So, what are you researching here anyway?” you ask, curiosity momentarily overwhelming your good sense to just not ask any questions or start any trouble.

Orochimaru seems amused by your sudden change in expression, having no doubt realized that you’d spoken without thinking. “Too late to regret asking a question now, Shiki-kun. Come along, I will introduce you to my work.”

In another room, Orochimaru shows you a larger vessel full of slightly-luminous green fluid. Suspended within that fluid, hooked up to a mess of cables and sensors which put out readings on maybe a dozen separate displays at stations all around the room, is a boy - apparently around your own age. His hair and skin are very pale, and he appears to be alive based on his vitals, but shows no signs of awareness.

“Is that… a person?” you ask.

“Not yet,” Orochimaru replies calmly. “But when I am finished, he will be as much a person as you or I are.”

“What exactly is this?” Hanabi-sensei demands with a frown.

“Make no mistake, this is not a child test subject,” Orochimaru insists sternly. “Mitsuki-kun is an artificial being, based predominantly off of my own genetic sequence.”

“So, a little like a son?” Wasabi-kun guesses.

“Not particularly,” Orochimaru admits, “unless one were to subscribe to the notion that a ‘child’ is merely a tool for continuing one’s own genetic lineage, and nothing more. Which is, of course, only half the truth.”

“So he’s what I would be were it not for Ryūzetsu-ue’s involvement?” you reason.

“That would be a fair statement.”

>Is he aware?
>Why do this?
>Can we talk to him?
>Other?

>>5367888
>>Is he aware?
>Other?
When will he be able to leave the tank?

>>5367888
>Is he aware?
>Can we talk to him?
>When will he be able to leave the tank?

>>5367888
>Is he aware?
And if he is
>Can we talk to him?

>>5367888
>1d6, high roll, first three

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5369361

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5369361

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5369361
I SAID HIGH DAMN IT!

>>5369361
You take a few steps closer to the tank within which this boy, ‘Mitsuki’, is enclosed - resisting the powerful urge to tap on the glass. “Is he aware of us?”

Orochimaru takes a few seconds to consider the question. “On some level I believe so. Though, without having spoken to him it remains difficult to confirm the degree of his awareness.”

“You’re not sure?” Wasabi-chan asks, also examining the subject and equipment. “How can you not be sure?”

“The nature of ‘consciousness’ is still somewhat of a mystery,” Orochimaru explains thoughtfully. “There are two inanimate objects which I very much suspect are self-aware but which are not, as traditionally defined, ‘alive’. However I cannot be certain that these objects have ‘souls’, which I personally know to be real.”

“Wait, really?” Sumirin asks curiously. “You would think that would be more public knowledge, if true.”

“No, that one’s definitely true,” you offer. “Naori-ue can summon the souls of the dead, and I believe that technique was based on a version used by Orochimaru-san.”

“Orochimaru-san,” Orochimaru muses, clearly entertained. “It has been some time since anyone called me that - it would have been Minato-san. But to answer your question, the use of Edo Tensei and its related senjutsu technique is rarely discussed in depth, nor are the implications of their use. This is partly due to the fact that the Second Hokage created the Edo Tensei in the first place, which by his own admission is a barbaric style of battle not suitable for the modern age.”

“If he is aware, I wonder if that tube comprises his entire known world,” you wonder aloud. “When will he be able to leave it?”

Orochimaru stops to consider again. “Perhaps another three to six months. After that this lab will become his ‘world’, as he will need to be monitored for any health issues, and given at least basic training to prepare him to interact with the world outside.”

“It would be cruel to kick him out of the nest too soon,” Wasabi-chan interprets. “Is that what you’re thinking?”

“Plenty of species do precisely that,” Orochimaru shrugs, “without any ill effect. Birds and turtles fall into that category.”

“Don’t a ridiculous majority of baby turtles get eaten before even making it to the ocean?” Hanabi-sensei asks, raising a skeptical eyebrow.
>1/2

>>5370100
“Certain snakes are also known to eat their own eggs after laying them,” Orochimaru observes. “Fortunately for Mitsuki I am not a snake - I merely work with them.”

That’s not quite as reassuring as he (... ‘he’?) probably intended.

“Well, that’s all fascinating and horrifying,” Suigetsu interjects, “and I’m sure you’re all terribly interested in this whole wacky process, so if you don’t mind I’ll just…”

“Suigetsu,” Orochimaru interrupts him

There’s a long pause. “... yeah?”

“You wanted my sword,” Orochimaru observes calmly. “Is that still true?”

“... sorta?”

“Is that a ‘no’, or a ‘qualified yes’, please.”

“Yeah, it’s the latter,” Suigetsu admits. “I want it, but I’m not sure I want the heat that goes with it, now that I know who’s got it.”

“I have an offer for you,” Orochimaru continues. “Assuming Konohagakure approves of it, I would like to hire you to be my full-time research assistant.”

“... say what?” Suigetsu replies, skepticism on full display.

“In addition to the sword I can offer you housing, a modest stipend, and healthcare benefits including dental.”

“... you’re serious?”

“At all times.”

After a moment, it seems like Suigetsu comes to a difficult decision. “Okay, I’m in.”
>1d6
>best three of four
>high roll

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5370739
GO HIGH MY BEAUTIFUL DICE!

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5370739

Rolled 6 (1d6)

>>5370739

Rolled 2 (1d6)

>>5370739
Swinging for the fences!

>>5370827
you barely hit the ball

>>5370739
For several months you’re able to more fully devote yourself to intensive training with Makoto and your parents - fighting as a team with Kiburi and Momo-chan, learning their strengths and their weaknesses, is a part of that. Kiburi it seems has an unusual ability to treat her feathers as though they were fūin tags, which can rapidly regrow. Basically what that can do right now is drop explosive tags from above, in surprising numbers, but you figure there must be other applications as well that you’re just not versed enough in fūinjutsu to make use of - yet. Momo has grown bigger, big enough now that a small child could probably ride on his back, not like that’s a good idea. He moves surprisingly quickly underground, and seems to have an easier time extending and retracting his bony spines.

In terms of techniques you feel like you’re gaining a greater comfort with senjutsu, much quicker than you anticipated. It’s not quite enough to call yourself a ‘sage’ just yet, let alone the sort of sage that Naori-ue or Naruto-san can claim to be, but you and Makoto can both honestly say you’re making real progress towards that goal. You’ve also been studying the hiraishin extensively, both the principles behind spacetime ninjutsu as well as the multiple layers of simplification and reduction and shorthanding that you need to go through to reduce the full formula and key to something small enough to mark the handle of a kunai.

But the real breakthroughs come when you and Makoto continue training to master Kakashi-sensei’s ‘shiden’ technique - a powerful but deceptively simple combination of lightning nature transformation and high-frequency vibration as a shape transformation to amplify its power.

“Hey Shiki!” Makoto greets you cheerfully one morning. “Check this out!”

She then splits a nearby rock with a powerful arc of purple lightning - a perfect example of one of the very few techniques Kakashi-sensei ever created for himself.

You let out a low whistle. “Nice. I’m still struggling with the lightning release part.”

“How about your kekkei genkai?” she asks you curiously. “Have you made any progress there?”

>I’ve been trying to duplicate Mei-dono’s technique, the “skilled mist”.
>I figured it might be easier to modify a simple water-based technique.
>I’ve been taking time to study acids, bases, and other types of chemicals.
>Other?

>>5371279
>>I’ve been taking time to study acids, bases, and other types of chemicals.

I'm curious about taking a more scientific bent on things.

>>5371279
>>I’ve been taking time to study acids, bases, and other types of chemicals.
!!SCIENCE!!

>>5371279
>I’ve been taking time to study acids, bases, and other types of chemicals.
Orochimaru dun got us

>>5371279
“I’ve actually been reviewing biochemistry,” you admit. “Specifically the production of gastric acid and its buffer, bicarbonate.”

“Tell me about it,” Makoto insists, taking a seat on a rock in the garden of Naori-ue’s old forest safehouse. “Chemistry isn’t exactly my strongest subject, so maybe explaining it to me will help you come to a realization of your own.”

“Gastric fluid includes hydrochloric acid, HCl,” you begin to explain, “which can be buffered by the production of bicarbonate, HCO3. That acid-base reaction produces carbonic acid, H2CO3, which decomposes rapidly even at freezing ambient temperatures.”

“Okay, that sounds useful to know,” Makoto nods in agreement. “The body creates these things naturally, right? So it sounds ideal.”

“The problem is that hydrochloric acid isn’t particularly strong compared to other acids out there,” you muse. “I think the trick will be to use perchloric acid, HClO4, by using my chakra to forcefully bond oxygen from the air into hydrochloric acid, like what the body itself would produce. Then to neutralize it I could use sodium bicarbonate, basically producing a mix of water vapor, table salt, and oxygen.”

“Why would you use perchloric acid specifically?” Makoto asks you curiously. “Does it have any other properties?”

“The building blocks are all produced naturally by the body,” you continue your explanation. “It’s a colorless, odorless liquid at room temperature, and at high temperatures it’s a strong oxidizer.”

“... you think you can use this to amplify your fire release,” Makoto realizes, “same as vibrating it would do, but maybe even more efficient.”

You nod in agreement. “I didn’t not think that.”

“Do you… think you can do that?” she wonders. “Like right now?”

“There are a few out of the way places I could try it,” you realize.
>1d6, high roll, first three

Rolled 3 (1d6)

>>5371582
And here. We. Go.

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5371582

Rolled 4 (1d6)

>>5371582

>>5371582
After excusing yourselves from dinner and stepping out into the forest outside the safehouse’s protective barriers, you select a reasonably large boulder - you’d rather not test this on anything alive if you can avoid it. Kneading the chakra in your stomach and mouth, you weave two single-handed seals with your left hand - dragon, followed by tiger.

Then you spit a senbon-sized needle of compressed fluid out at the boulder, which hits hard and spreads. It’s somewhat viscous, almost like a slime, and a moment later it starts to bubble and steam angrily. After a few seconds the compound breaks down, leaving a nasty-looking scar in the stone.

“Tenkyū, right?” Makoto recognizes.

You nod. “That would make the name “Futton: Kōtengyū”, I think.”

“If someone tries to parry that it’ll probably spatter, right?” she guesses.

“Probably.”

“Huh,” Makoto muses thoughtfully. “It’s hard to reckon which of our kekkei genkais is nastier.”

“Chakra absorption probably,” you shrug.

“Against most shinobi, sure,” Makoto agrees. “I’d imagine you’re right. But for us?”

“Point,” you admit. “I’m sure shinobi on a certain level can come up with counters for each of our techniques.”

“Which is why I think it makes sense to train broadly,” Makoto suggests. “So I’m definitely going to help you figure out shiden, Shiki. Even if it takes years.”

“It may come to that at this rate,” you grumble.

“Baby steps, brother.”

…

Three months of mostly boring missions and individual training pass before you get a mission that piques your interest. Hanabi-sensei calls you and your teammates together over lunch at a specialty place - a stall for grilled eel.
>2/3

>>5371703
How many Hanabi stamps do we have now?

>>5371707
The score is in a super postion of 'more than necessary' and 'clearly not enough to be useful'

>>5371707
Never not enough! We need more!

>>5371707
The ideal amount is always one more than we have

>>5371703
“So this is going to be a cooperative mission with Team Konohamaru,” Hanabi-sensei tells you over a steaming bowl of rice, grilled eel, and root vegetables. “Shiki-kun, you’ll be reporting directly to Konohamaru-sensei, but Team 15 will be under your leadership this time.”

“You have another mission?” Wasabi-chan wonders.

She nods to confirm it. “I do… sorry, but I can’t tell you about it. It’s kind of sensitive, so I’ll tell you about it when we all get back.”

“What sort of mission is it?” Sumirin asks curiously. “One that Lord Seventh doesn’t think Team 3 can complete on its own?”

“Not quite,” sensei admits. “It’s actually a mission where Shiki-kun’s one of the few experts we can send.”

“... an expert?” you frown. “Don’t tell me…”

Sensei nods. “Yeah, it has to do with natural energy.”

“That’s… unusual,” you reply, sort of at a loss to explain what she means. “Help me out here, how is that possible?”

“Are you familiar with curse marks?”

>Sort of. They’re related to sealing formulae, right?
>Not really. It’s a bit too brutal a style for my tastes.
>Let me guess, this has something to do with Orochimaru.
>Other?

>>5372038
>>Sort of. They’re related to sealing formulae, right?

>>5372038
>Sort of. They’re related to sealing formulae, right?