Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[FurikoMaru]

Does this count as starting a relationship with Anko?

Click to shrink...

This counts as you doing Anko an accidental solid by vindicating her multiple requests that the surveillance room at the tower be manned right from the start of the exam and walkie-talkies be provided to everyone on staff. Extra expense her ass.

You have to remember, no one aside from you and Sasuke knows more about how not-on-the-ball Konoha's security can be than Mitarashi "1/10" Anko.

 

[katreus]

Anko's expression takes on a peculiar, measuring aspect. "And the moon-faced fake-crier joins the conversation. You're the big kenjutsu prodigy, yeah?"
Suigetsu
"Please answer my question," Ami says politely, but with a hint of her usual heat.

Click to shrink...

Well, we knew this OOC already, I think, but confirmation - kenjutsu prodigy, Suigetsu.

Anko nods, pulling out and unrolling a small mission scroll with the Hokage's seal stamped at the bottom. "There. My orders to serve as examiner. That a bright enough lantern for you?"
Hozuki

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I have no idea what this means w.r.t. to Hozuki. Bright enough lantern?

So it is a seal. An old one, too; she's had it a long time. But... it doesn't seem to be doing anything. It's like it's just a tattoo. What's that about?

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Hrmm. Maybe Ino will be more interested in fuinjutsu now?

"God, you're worse than the Kiri kids," the snake mistress grumbles as you pull back, heart still pounding.

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When did Anko get a chance to meet the Kiri kids personally?

"Have you settled your doubts yet, or do you want a blood sample, too?"
kekkei genkai

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Hrmm...?

Ami sets her jaw defiantly. "Transparent to a jounin, sure. But I wasn't facing a jounin. If it works, it isn't transparent."

Your eyes bug.

... did someone forget to mark Good Girls Find Their Backbone Day on my calendar or something? What's next, is Hinata going to introduce Lee-sempai to her father?

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Heh. Maybe Hinata should.

Also, Ino's infected her team. They're all going to be smart-alecks to their superiors now.

"... heh."

Oooooooh, that's a dark sound.

"Maybe you aren't a complete waste after all," Anko says, with a smirk that is half a glare. She turns and walks down the hall. "Keep the room. And while you're here, don't get your blood on my nice clean tower; the colour will be richer if you fall in the arena."

Click to shrink...

Anko at least knows we have pretty good speed now...

"Impossible!" you declare jubilantly, snapping open your fan dramatically. "I must have them both!"

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Well, this didn't work out so well for Kuno, but maybe Lupin!Ino will have better luck.

 

[Vindictus]

So, right now I'm thinking we help Chouji [mending bridges] and Hinata [Byakugan and the Ultimate Thief? Yeah, that's broken.]

 

[FurikoMaru]

Well, we knew this OOC already, I think, but confirmation - kenjutsu prodigy, Suigetsu.

Click to shrink...

OOC you guessed. I never confirmed it.

I have no idea what this means w.r.t. to Hozuki. Bright enough lantern?

Click to shrink...

Hozuki means demon lantern. It's a type of fruit.

When did Anko get a chance to meet the Kiri kids in person?

Click to shrink...

She didn't. That's part of the tip-off.

Hrmm...?

Click to shrink...

*Gendopose*

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Ugh, well, no offense uju but I don't think I'll be making a response tonight and it's at least partly a moot point.

As for what to do....Hyuuga and Ghetto Jyuuken, perhaps? Who knows maybe both can use it.

Maybe summoning our cats to give Ami and/or Menka some more swords lessons? They can always use more. That could be an easy freebie, getting our cats around to help share the workload. More blatant use though.

Chat up Temari, see if we can get some tessen stuff out of her? Or MAYBE share some of the Uchiha stuff Sasuke gave us? A trade perhaps. And getting in good graces.

EDIT: Also, how much you want to bet we could bum free medical jutsu off of Team Nurse? Learn crazy fast and with teachers. They owe us for the scrolls and we might be able to teach them tricks in return.

 

[FurikoMaru]

[10] You have this idea about converting storage seals to hold chakra in reserve until you need it. Let's see if that's feasible...

[6] Shintenshin. Hey, are you the clan heir or not? Get it up and running.

[6] Work on your Sasuke army. (Choose up to two.)

-> [5] What's say you add some more... 'exotic' predators to the mix?
--> [3] One of each
--> [3] Multiples (Lupin!)
-> [1] Figure out if you can leak your mental static into a memory palace and subject people to it intentionally.
-> [4] Write in: We need some kind of construct that's really good at chasing people down. Sort of like the Konoha police, except even more annoyingly single-minded in the pursuit. And for some reason, you're remembering that pin from Tanzaku Gai...

[1] Make a genjutsu of your own, you lazy brat. (Write in subject to GM approval.)

Chakra-storage experimentation looks like a go, and so does Zenigata. Now if you crazy kids could decide whether you want all four with impairments or one Lupin, I could get started planning tomorrow's update.

 

[Vindictus]

Chakra-storage experimentation looks like a go, and so does Zenigata. Now if you crazy kids could decide whether you want all four with impairments or one Lupin, I could get started planning tomorrow's update.

Click to shrink...

Well, Shintenshin could still win- It's actually tied with the Sasuke Army.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Oh, bugger, I didn't notice that.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I am surprised people want it.

Well, who knows, maybe with Bringer of Darkness we'd have a chance in hell of landing a hit. If we weren't perfecting it before the exams with Inoichi's presumable help, we certainly aren't now.

 

[uju32]

... hell with it. You have the full attention of a beautiful woman and whether she decides to kill you or not, the most important thing is to make an impression! Cool, Ino; think cool! The nervous smile drops off your face.
[X] "... yeah, actually."

Click to shrink...

Thank you for making me guffaw at night.
Almost woke up everyone else too
Good to see my estimation of Anko was correct.

So we have Hozuki Suigetsu, a bloodline user, here from Mist.
Hydrification bloodline, brother of the most senior Seven Swordsman, and possibly an apprentice.
That should be interesting.
Time to hit the library for possible counters and weaknesses.

And her mention of the Sound kid suggests she may be one of our immediate opponents as well.

[X]Share intel with Shikamaru
[X]Kenjutsu practice Menka/Ami if we can spare the chakra to summon; if not, they practice against each other.
[X]Hinata/Kiba/Choji taijutsu practice
[X]Team Office Lady: Genjutsu suppression? Or just intelligence?

Team Sand are not, strictly speaking, teammates; I see no reason to share.
Gaara will certainly be abusing the Third Eye to gather intelligence.

 

[Selias]

Come on, people! Sasuke Army!

 

[hunter09]

Kiba keeps dropping one liners that crack me up.

 

[Unclouded]

First of all changed my vote to all Lupin from one of each not sure if that was registered or not.

[X]Share intel with Shikamaru

A no brainier, one good mind is good two is better.

[X]Kenjutsu practice Menka/Ami if we can spare the chakra to summon; if not, they practice against each other.

Helping Ami and Menka is always good and if possible helps our summons as well as the both of them.

[X]Hinata/Kiba/Choji taijutsu practice

I agree with helping the rest of our gang that helps with heists. Hopefully we can get Hinata up to where she's going to win over her opponent if fate doesn't interfere

[X]Team Office Lady

Personally I want to help Team Office Ladies as well but I just don't know what they do. So something along the lines of a general help to them sounds good. I mean we can always point out the extra scroll we left them if they don't trust us. Getting into their good graces could always help.

 

[Guile]

I’m kinda glad Ino doesn’t still have that lock of hair, she’d probably put it in a scrapbook or wear it as a lady’s favour.

Okay, what have we learned from Anko?

Gaara’s the one to watch. She mentioned him first. His sister can ‘blow us into the stratosphere’ – Wind or just plain explosions? We saw Orochimaru’s mark, and that it’s currently inactive; OOC, this may mean Orochimaru didn’t infiltrate the exam, which means our ‘monster in the forest’ is someone else. Anko mentioned the arena, which means matches; although they could be team or single-elimination.

Have everyone hang onto their blood (it’s supposed to stay on the inside, guys), just in case; on the other side of things, what bloodlines do the opposing sides have? The Sabaku bloodline has been shared by two kazekages, we should know it. Hozuki is another kage bloodline, in addition to kenjutsu (we also know the Seven Mist Swords on sight, thanks to our art book). An eight year old presumably has both exceptional training and magical ninja bullshit to back it up. The others… who knows? Do bloodlines show up in chakra chords?

[X] Gather up the Konoha nin (Office Lady, HSC and Lee’s group too if they make it), and run a debrief on the three enemy teams: Whispering Mist, the Sand clan, and the Sound dudes. Poll them for anything we missed; office gossip, book knowledge, Akimichi spy-ring knowledge (covertly), Maito Gai gossip, whatever. That won’t noticeably cut into our training time, and this is still a ninja game; information can save lives.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Man, if these people have significant intel we don't have despite us doubling down on our intel gathering, I am going to cry shenanigans. That just ain't fair.

Considering how we went a lolnoped the exam, we may have been better off training our ass into the ground. Could have had Ranton or poisons and something else. Maybe Wind or Water jutsu for spreading poisons, if we didn't get Ranton, or just poisons.

Or maybe I'm just bitching and forgetting a useful info dump we've had. I know Furiko has dropped a few, but come on, the Kazekage's kids? We should be all over that shit.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Sorry, I just don't like dropping huge chunks of As You Know in the text proper; I like to reserve my blocks of exposition for stuff that's new or ads extra elements to the world.

And sometimes I like to fuck with you by playing on your assumptions and not mentioning things until you ask.

You do know that Gaara can use sand, but you don't know if it's a bloodline limit or just a set of family techniques like Shikamaru's shadow powers. And you know the basic effect of the Hydrafication kekkei genkai. You're a little surprised it's still in play, but then, there is no continuity, only Kiri.

Do bloodlines show up in chakra chords?

Click to shrink...

Not always. It's like searching for specific fanfics; you need to know what you're looking for. Some of the minor ones are outright impossible to detect, some of them can only be detected when they're in use, and there are various methods of keeping the more blatant ones under wraps.

I'm reasonably sure this has to be canon, because otherwise Kishimoto has to admit how much stuff he makes up as he goes along based on what would be most dramatic.

 

[Guile]

Man, if these people have significant intel we don't have despite us doubling down on our intel gathering, I am going to cry shenanigans. That just ain't fair.

Click to shrink...

They have different sources of info than we would have. Certain jounin, hospital gossip, etcetera.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

They have different sources of info than we would have. Certain jounin, hospital gossip, etcetera.

Click to shrink...

And if they did have sources of info we didn't, you think we wouldn't have asked them while we were researching? So short of the hospital group....

No, I'd still be annoyed even if it was unreasonable of me to be annoyed, no offense intended Furiko. I mean come on, two training slots. We might not be a spymaster but I should hope what we got is pretty comprehensive considering we're a clan heir of the Yamanaka's and know all sorts of people.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Shall I just itemize everything you know about your likely opponents, then?

Italics are for things you're just sure enough about to keep in mind but not sure enough about to treat as fact.

Gaara:

- Kazekage's son

- on fair-to-middling terms with his dad but excellent ones with his sister; typical sibling rivalry between him and his older brother

- uses Sand

- when not in the desert, probably limited to the amount he carries in that gourd on his back

- can form weapons and other things out of the sand

- can summon weapons not made of sand - a sword of some kind?

- demonic connection?

- jounin-ranked taijutsu, elite jounin-ranked speed and strength, Kage-level chakra reserves

- prefers melee

- healing factor?

- likes to 'play' with his opponents; will often prolong a fight against a much weaker person in order to see what they can do

- very popular with the younger people in Sunagakure, especially the girls

- the head of his fanclub is named Matsuri and she keeps cat treats in her pocket

Temari:

- uses fan techniques to boost her Wind jutsu

- can fly/glide on that fan for short distances?

- has a band. Sings contralto. They play what we would consider '70s rock with some metal influences, though they occasionally do bluesier stuff to showcase Temari's voice. Four piece with her on vocals, Gaara on guitar, some chick named Ponzu on bass, and a puppet of Kankuro's design on drums

- highly protective of her family

- very much a combat-build nin; not so hot at politics, codebreaking, infiltration, etc. - the ninja-y parts of ninja-ing

- reputedly quite skilled at on-the-fly analysis of an opponent's strengths and weaknesses

- has a couple of B and A-rank Fuuton techniques but lacks the necessary reserves to spam them constantly; will most likely stick to C-rank jutsu unless she perceives her opponent to be capable of defeating her shortly

- holds a summoning contract with at least one large weasel, possibly more

- she gives nice headpets but she stops too quickly

Kankuro:

- puppets. Likes to switch places with his favourite humanoid one.

- has some way of temporarily binding his chakra to his puppets that makes them appear to be genuinely human unless you're paying close attention

- more introverted than his siblings, much less social data on him

- his taijutsu, like most puppeteers, is really lacklustre, though if an opponent can't get close enough or is unable to determine which is Kankuro and which is the puppet-double, the point is somewhat moot

- he makes hilarious mousetraps in his free time

The littlest Oto-nin

- bad news

- genjutsu specialization, because Anko specifically commented on how lame your taijutsu and ninjutsu are, meaning she thinks the kid's got the genjutsu angle covered. Granted, Anko doesn't know exactly how good you are, but still, you don't get considered for chuunin before puberty unless you really are something else

Houzuki Suigetsu

- hydrafication bloodline limit. Can only be countered, in most people's experience, by Raiton jutsu

- kenjutsu prodigy

- VIP? He's from the First/Second* Mizukage's clan, after all

* Yeah, Konoha still isn't sure if the First (?) Secret Civil War actually happened or if the Shodai Mizukage just decided on a Mark Wahlberg-esque image change one day.

I might remember other stuff you're supposed to know, but for now this should do you.

 

[FurikoMaru]

[10] You have this idea about converting storage seals to hold chakra in reserve until you need it. Let's see if that's feasible...

[6] Shintenshin. Hey, are you the clan heir or not? Get it up and running.

[6] Work on your Sasuke army. (Choose up to two.)

-> [5] What's say you add some more... 'exotic' predators to the mix?
--> [3] One of each
--> [3] Multiples (Lupin!)
-> [1] Figure out if you can leak your mental static into a memory palace and subject people to it intentionally.
-> [4] Write in: We need some kind of construct that's really good at chasing people down. Sort of like the Konoha police, except even more annoyingly single-minded in the pursuit. And for some reason, you're remembering that pin from Tanzaku Gai...

[1] Make a genjutsu of your own, you lazy brat. (Write in subject to GM approval.)

Still need a tie-breaker, here.

 

[Selias]

Can I cancel my vote for the chakra storage seals, and add it to the sasuke army?

 

[FurikoMaru]

Which option? Lupin-multiples or the full set?

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Hell yeah baby, that's what I like to see!

Ahh, sweet intel. Now I have a better idea on how well informed Ino is. Much better. Thank you.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Incidentally, Gaara is now hahahaha sweet fucking christ. Prefers melee? Jounin level melee? Elite jounin strength and speed?

.....No.

NO NO NO.

DO NOT TELL ME GAARA IS THE REINCARNATION OF FUCKING DANTE.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

On one hand, DANTE. He's awesome. On the other hand, if it's Dante!Gaara we may well be in some serious fucking shit.

Fuck me. I hope I'm seeing things again but this makes way too much sense. The sword, melee, strength, speed, fangirls, interest in music, the whole jink thing which SOUNDS like normal jink stuff is really hiding Dante's ridiculous powers.

Argh. Just.....ARGH!

 

[Selias]

Which option? Lupin-multiples or the full set?

Click to shrink...

The full set. The Zenigata one would go insane with that many Lupins.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Incidentally, Gaara is now hahahaha sweet fucking christ. Prefers melee? Jounin level melee? Elite jounin strength and speed?

.....No.

NO NO NO.

DO NOT TELL ME GAARA IS THE REINCARNATION OF FUCKING DANTE.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

Click to shrink...

> ) > ) > ) > ) >

Now, Vindictus, you have my permission to ship. 8)

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

> ) > ) > ) > ) >

Now, Vindictus, you have my permission to ship. 8)

Click to shrink...

Sometimes I love being right. Sometimes I hate being right.

Right now I am both.

God damn it. Whelp, my Gaara snippet is now outclassed from the word go. And we've encountered an opponent that our skills or trump cards are not going to stop, period. Chakra singing in harmony with itself? Great. If Gaara went and turned Shukaku into a Devil Arm we are so many kinds of boned. Bringer of Darkness? Jink doesn't care to begin with and now he's Dante. Housecat clan? Don't make me laugh. Throne?

....Yeah, no. Just fucking no. Even without the bijuu I wouldn't want to match wills with Dante's reincarnation.

And with the bijuu, if the bijuu can Kai for Gaara, our genjutsu is also screwed.

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

 

[FurikoMaru]

You didn't think I was going to take it easy on you, did you? :3

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

You didn't think I was going to take it easy on you, did you? :3

Click to shrink...

There's throwing a monster at us, and then there's taking the canon monster and making him the reincarnation of an even greater monster, and giving him a background that gives him some of his old OP'd abilities.

No. I did not expect this level of monster in the exam. Congrats, you've surprised me and you've surprised me good.

Right. Only one way I see us beating Dante!Gaara and that's a rock contest. Us playing Koto and possibly using genjutsu, Gaara using what's hopefully a guitar made of sand or something, battle of the music skills. Better hope Gaara is willing to do it for the lulz, we get our ass beat in a straight up match.

Shame Koto isn't a properly metal instrument, but I'm sure gratuitous genjutsu can make up for some deficiencies. Some.

.....God damn it now I kinda wish I'd gone for monkeys, narrative be damned, cause with them we might actually have the firepower to combat Gaara. Enma, anyone? Could really use him, although whether he'd listen....

God damn this is bad. Better hope Gaara is about as good natured as Dante or if Lee fights him this could go even worse than canon.

 

[Guile]

Incidentally, Gaara is now hahahaha sweet fucking christ. Prefers melee? Jounin level melee? Elite jounin strength and speed?

.....No.

NO NO NO.

DO NOT TELL ME GAARA IS THE REINCARNATION OF FUCKING DANTE.

ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!

On one hand, DANTE. He's awesome. On the other hand, if it's Dante!Gaara we may well be in some serious fucking shit.

Fuck me. I hope I'm seeing things again but this makes way too much sense. The sword, melee, strength, speed, fangirls, interest in music, the whole jink thing which SOUNDS like normal jink stuff is really hiding Dante's ridiculous powers.

Argh. Just.....ARGH!

Click to shrink...

Does that mean Ninja Neo Serenity is around here somewhere?

Also,
>some chick named Ponzu on bass, and a puppet of Kankuro's design on drums
Drum Puppet is hilarious, and I thought bee bloodline was an Iwa thing? I mean, what else would someone named Ponzu use?