Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[Guile]

Guile already grabbed the references, so there isn't much here to talk about.
In order
-That was a fucking flashy display.
Mucho style points to Ino.
But that was needlessly cruel poetry, mocking not just Tenten but Lee as well.
Almost canon!Nejiesque.
Apologies are probably in order after the fight.

Click to shrink...

Ah, but we did it for a different REASON than Neji.

He'd do it because he's trying to get them to support his fatalistic world view.

Ino does it because it's such a cool idea she can't NOT.

Edit: Oh, but if we go the genjutsu route (seems popular) let's do Hell Viewing and not Heaven Viewing, huh? We know firsthand how much that can dropkick a person's psyche (thanks, mom!).

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Eh, if we go genjutsu False Surroundings seems the 'kindest' route. In the sense that it has the best chance of us straight up ending the fight with the proctor calling it.

Tenten won't like it, but that seems almost a given at this point.

Also, I may be recalling the names wrong, but doesn't Tenten mean heaven or connotations of heaven? If Ino's associated with flowers, the theme of that haiku seems somewhat self-defeating. Weird. Or unintentional. Or I'm misremembering.

Shame we don't have poisons. And frankly we totally didn't need our panic button so we might as well have taken Shintenshin instead of sealing. Against my expectations it would have actually been useful here. *huffs* Oh well. Kinda doubt we could pull it off now on Tenten, even as wounded as she is, it'd be more efficient to just do False Surroundings and finish her instead of showing off a Double False Surroundings and then finishing her.

Unless we can't hide the handsigns and the fact we're putting her under. Her Kai'ing her way out of it and us being back to square one would be annoying. Then Double False Surroundings has its benefits.

 

[Unclouded]

Part of me wants to attempt Therapy Jutsu (aka Naruto forces them to air there grievances then beat them and solve their issues). Somehow we've really got Tenten very angry at us and it's entirely unintentional. Possibly delaying tactics with Tessen and trying to get her to talk, although I guess that didn't really work well even outside of the arena.

Maybe it's just me coming back from the weekend and just catching up but it feels like I'm stumped in this situation. Makes sense for Ino to beat her but the method to doing that and getting the secondary goal of earning Tenten's respect seems to be very difficult to get.

Genjutsu seems to be the thing we've worked on the most and feels like the best way to finish things but again too quickly and she'll just hate us even more or worse get back up yet again and surprise us with something else.

[X]Delaying tactics with the Tessen to see if she'll talk (this is the Naruto Universe after all everyone has to talk in heated rival matches).
->If not genjutsu Double False Surroundings.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

....You know what, this has gone on long enough. Tenten's just going to be hurting herself even more by fighting on that ankle.

[X] Genjutsu-time!
-> [X] Double-False Surroundings
-> [X] If we cannot hide us doing Double False Surroundings via smoke bombs or other means, make the first one Ino either disappearing from view or attacking from an angle we are not.
-> [X] Second False Surroundings to make Tenten think she really has found us.
-> [X] While Tenten is distracted by our genjutsu, we put a cut on her neck to break the genjutsu and make our victory clear.

[X] If Tenten is dead-set on continuing to fight and hurt herself even after that, well, you'll decide then. You certainly respect egomaniacal determination to win at all costs. You let Lee fight his own battles even as he got his face punched in. But you're not inclined to let Tenten fight herself into a wheelchair against you.




Because I don't think Tenten is gonna stop fighting, and I'm also not inclined to let her continue to fight on an injured ankle. So make it a neat little victory, even if it is Double False Surroundings. If Tenten keeps attacking us even after we've won, and I suspect she will....we'll see then.

But yeah. I almost agreed with delaying tactics with tessen, but it seems to me that it just mans Tenten brutalizes her ankle even more. Frankly we might as well just keep hopping around if we're going for delaying tactics.

So unless Furiko says that Tenten's gonna be fine even if we lead her on a merry chase all over the arena as she tires herself out and airs her grievances, I'm inclined to go for the quick and clean victory, even if it does crush Tenten's heart. It's better than crushing her ankle into powder, although not by much.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I think I might have figured out why Tenten hates us so damn much. Besides our days in the Academy, what it is that has fanned her grudge even when she never sees us, or rarely sees us.

She feels like she's in our shadow.

Lee likes us. Neji seems like he has a grudging respect for us. How much you want to bet Tenten is aware of this and feels a bit like Ino could take her place, or that Lee and Neji would prefer to be on a team with Ino instead of Tenten.

Ino is a pain in the ass, a show off, someone who gets by on ridiculous prodigal talent and speed.....and she makes it work. We're ahead of the pack in raw, stupid talent and that's the truth.

All it would take would be a few off-hand mentions, "Shame Ino isn't here," or something like that. So Tenten keeps comparing herself to us and finds herself lacking, thus fueling such a urge to defeat us.

It makes a disturbing amount of sense to me. It's egotistical and thinking the world kind of revolves around us, but it would explain a lot. What does everyone else think?

 

[FurikoMaru]

[X] Cops and Robbers

That's it. This fight just turned from 'fun' to 'holy shit she legitimately hates me and wanted to get revenge today, what the hell?'

That's the only way to explain why she didn't just take the loss. It can't be that she thinks she's going to make chuunin pulling shit like this. You knew she didn't have much of a sense of humour where you're concerned, but you figured it was just her finding you annoying. You thought maybe you could immunize her by being even more annoying, but apparently the patient is refusing treatment on that one.

How can she not like you? You're the only one who made Taijutsu any fun for her!

You really don't want to hurt a Konoha shinobi, especially not one you rather like, so the obvious solution is a Double-False Surroundings while you circle behind with your tessen. These fights are supposed to simulate actual combat, after all, and that's probably how you would nonlethally take someone down.

You leap as Tenten charges, throwing out the genjutsu in mid-air and landing silently behind her. The first wave of nausea hits her so hard she drops to her knees and vomits right then and there; the acrid stench fills the room as she pulls herself back to her feet and manages to kai. Spotting the illusory Ino charging toward her, she brings up a kunai to hastily deflect, and begins dancing with a phantom.

You notice to your dismay that her taijutsu has gotten even better - no surprise there, considering the team she's on - and that those throws she's always favoured have gotten really aggressive. Definitely glad you decided to go for genjutsu, if this is what she can do on a busted ankle.

There's your opening! Tessen drawn, you run over to her and-

-clang!-

The jitte in her other hand meets your fan so quick you almost gasp.

"My lucky kunai," Tenten says, twirling the one she used on the fake Ino. "It cuts through bullshit. Its core is made of mahogany, so it sounds different from normal throwing knives when it strikes. If it hits something and sounds like it's pure metal, I know I'm in a genjutsu."

And she launches into a whirling dervish of dual-wielding death. You're on the defensive, now, ducking and deflecting and by all means switching it up to keep from being herded over to that floor-to-ceiling web of sticky wires she somehow had time to set up while she was bouncing around.

What the hell is she?!

An actual opponent, that's what! It's about time.

Got any advice?

Nope. Figure it out your own damn self. It builds character.

If I lack character it's completely your fault!

And now I'm takin' steps to correct it. Enjoy. 8)

"Gotta say, this is much more fun than I thought I was going to have," you admit aloud, smiling. "I'm really starting to like you, Tenten."

"'Fun'?!" You take the opportunity to drop and swing at her legs while she's seemingly off guard, but down comes the jitte to hook your collar and haul you back up. "You're just playing?!" she spits in your face.

"Well, yeah," you say. "I don't want you to die."

-kung!-

=

You are Arsène Lupin III (cue saxophone solo), and you've decided your little protégée needs to go bye-bye for a minute or two to recover from that nasty knockout blow.

You retreat, rubbing your aching skull. Examining your fingers, you determine that, while you're bleeding, there's no lasting damage. Ino should be in a state to wake up in the next two minutes. Which is handy, since you're not sure you can maintain control of her body much longer than that.

Tenten frowns. "How are you still conscious?!"

"That's my line!" you say. "Those seals back then should have had you out like a light."

She grins fiercely. "I'd never be able to face my mother and grandfather in the afterlife if I fell to such a weaksauce assault. Especially from someone like you."

You blink. Well, knowledge is power; let's see what she has to say. "'Like me'?"

"Parasites," Tenten says vehemently, "people who coast through life like nothing can touch them just because they have enough power to push everyone else around. It isn't right!" Her grip on the jitte tightens so much it trembles in her hand. "I'll bet the only reason you're even still on your feet right now is because of some secret Yamanaka technique!"

Wow. She really has your number.

"You really think a room full of assassins is the right place to take a moral stand?" you ask, a bit embarrassed on her behalf. "I mean, props for being a good guy and everything, but the timing is a little..."

"Funny you should mention timing." She snaps her fingers.

And four sets of honest-to-god Chubb Custom Long-Range Detainer cuffs punch through the floor tiles to clamp around your wrists and ankles.

You're so shocked to see them you don't even try to dodge.

"Did you think you were going to just step over me on the way to the dangerous opponents?" Tenten demands, pulling out two more weapons scrolls from a pouch on her leg. "Well guess what, clan heiress? You're facing one of them right now."

Laying the scrolls upright, she launches herself into the air. The scrolls follow, twining around her rapidly-spinning form.

"I won't let you look down on me!" she roars. "I'm not Tenten the Orphan! I'm not 'just Tenten' or 'Uzumaki Tenten'; I have a family! I have a name! I am Zenigata Tenten, and clan techniques or no clan techniques, you are under arrest!"

Soushouryuu - Twin Rising Dragons!

[X] Take the loss. Ino's head needs a bit of deflating and Tenten needs some closure.

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] Write in.

-----

8)

 

[Guile]

Well, that's a thing.

[X] Tottsan bred? Woah. My brain. I need to stop and think about this.
-[X] Slip the cuffs. Dodge the double dragons. Give up.

 

[Selias]

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

Under arrest? I'm betting that sounded cooler in her head. Anyway, yeah. No way are we losing to a Zenigata. Not unless we have an actual reason to.

 

[Guile]

Way I see it, it's more like Lupin doesn't have a reason NOT to quit. What does he care about being chuunin? Particularly when it involves beating up a pretty girl.

So he makes a good show of it (cuz, I mean, handcuffs? Really?) then gives in.

 

[MrGazzer]

Tenten has what appears to be a massive inferiority complex.

That explains a lot.

 

[Tetsurō]

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

 

[katreus]

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Okay, awesome a reveal as that is? You better have a good explanation for this Furiko. You opened with Tenten having no surname in the fight. I shrugged and went with it.

So, why did we not know her name here? Is it not on public record? Is this the first time she's introducing herself by it? We even worked on the Zenigata construct so we should have recognized the name.

I probably know more of your backstory and world building better than some other people here so I know why Uzumaki Tenten was dropped. Hell, maybe that is her publicly known name. Zenigata though? Why is this bombshell only hitting us NOW? If this topic means so much to her why have we never heard this before?

I am pretty damn peeved that we went to all the trouble to be thorough in our info-gathering and we are still being blindsided by shit we did not know. I'm sure you have an explanation for why it works that way. Still annoyed.

If Tenten turns out to be the reincarnation of Zenigata....well, I admit, it'd be pretty cool. I'm glad there's more reincarnations than just us, and from our world. You've even got our number about arrogance in stepping over Tenten.

If she's from the Zenigata line, or was adopted by the Zenigata family? How, with our perfect memory and Lupin in our subconscious, did we never notice that?!

I am sorely tempted to make my vote be:

[ ] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [ ] Slip the cuffs.
--> [ ] "Tottsan, is that you?"

But, probably unwise, especially in the stadium.

EDIT: Reading up on what Zenigata is capable of, I am more and more convinced that is exactly what Tenten is: Zenigata's reincarnation. The jitte, the cuffs....

 

[overmind]

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

 

[katreus]

I'm starting to think we shouldn't have spent time slots on info at all. I haven't seen where it has helped much anyway, and we could have used those slots to up our other skills.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Its core is made of mahogany, so it sounds different from normal throwing knives when it strikes.

Click to shrink...

Is this a DBZ:A reference to King Yama's desk?

Also, do we NEED a detailed write-in for Lupin to have a chance at winning here? Is this gonna come down to a roll of the dice or what to see if we win while Lupin's in the seat?

 

[FurikoMaru]

Is this a DBZ:A reference to King Yama's desk?

Click to shrink...

It didn't start out as one; initially I was just thinking of Asian hardwoods that wouldn't make a kunai totally unusable.

'Cause abridged series or no, mahogany is tough as balls. You don't want to get hacked in the shin with a mahogany field hockey stick, lemme tell ya.

 

[iamnuff]

honestly, Tenten's whole spiel only pisses me off.

"going through life with no effort"

does she think that our clan techniques are why we are so strong? because newsflash, we never fucking used them in combat yet.

hell, we learned it less than a week ago! (don't tell me the lupin stuff is clan based, tenten is doing exactly the same shit, perhaps she can't have hers pilot her body, but she's still using his knowledge to build restraints)

besides, does she think that ripping out your own soul and throwing it at hostile ninja, praying it doesn't miss and get you killed, is easy?

Clan kid =/= Genius, though i'm pinning the blame for this generalization squarely on Neji.

the only "God given power" that we demonstrated is the reincarnation bullshit, and she's pulling exactly the same fucking trick!


but let me guess, she works harder, right? her sweat is heavier, her tears saltier, her blood more red and her efforts more real than ours, yeah?

I call bullshit, you want to be stronger, then get fucking stronger. you have advantages, leverage them or stop whining about how easy everyone else has it.

the grass is no greener on our side than it is on yours, grow the fuck up and deal with it.

who's the arrogant bitch again, because from where I'm standing, its not fucking us!

also, restrained and with her most powerful (and bladed, did I mention bladed?) technique heading right for us?

I assume the "take the loss" means "die"? and the part about head-deflating is literal? because I'm not seeing any way that mass impalement isn't going to kill us.

unless she's throwing water balloons or more handcuffs at us or some shit, then she is genuinely taking her "clan kid issues" out on us by trying to straight up execute us.


[X] that's quite enough out of her.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

 

[mc2rpg]

[X] Okay, that settles it. No Lupin, not even one that's technically a Yamanaka, is publicly losing to a Zenigata, not even an unprecedentedly pretty one.
-> [X] Slip the cuffs.
--> [X] If she wants us to take her seriously, that's what we'll do.

 

[FurikoMaru]

ANGRY EYES

Click to shrink...

Of course she's not gonna kill ya. She's just going to demonstrate to everyone that she totally could.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

It didn't start out as one; initially I was just thinking of Asian hardwoods that wouldn't make a kunai totally unusable.

'Cause abridged series or no, mahogany is tough as balls. You don't want to get hacked in the shin with a mahogany field hockey stick, lemme tell ya.

Click to shrink...

Huh. If it didn't start as one, did it end up as one and still count as a shout out?

 

[iamnuff]

Of course she's not gonna kill ya. She's just going to demonstrate to everyone that she totally could.

Click to shrink...

by repeatedly stabbing us with knives?

she just used a move that throws a tornado of swords at us, that's not the sort of punch you can pull. Combined with her seeming pissed when we admitted that we didn't want to kill her?

forgive me if i'm not expecting restraint from her at the moment (barring the handcuffs, obviously)

regardless, if this move is somehow non-lethal, then all my other points still stand.

we got some advantages, yes, but we had to work to make them useful, and they sure as hell didn't make us "strong enough to push people around" or we would have crushed her in one hit.

She has advantages too, her teacher for a start, natural proficiency with ranged weapons, her own reincarnated-soul-cope, possibly natural sealing talent?

saying we didn't work for anything we did is just insulting.

unless she's pissed at us for not wanting to blow all of our tricks in a single fight? but that's basic tournament practice, if she's not doing the same thing then that's her fucking problem (or it will be, if she manages to beat us)




besides, "taking the loss" means letting her win when we know we could dodge this attack. thats taking a dive, she wouldn't want that, right? >

 

[FurikoMaru]

Huh. If it didn't start as one, did it end up as one and still count as a shout out?

Click to shrink...

Yes it did. Feel free to count it.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Yes it did. Feel free to count it.

Click to shrink...

Neato. I think that brings me up to 1 2/3 Z-Slashes.

Preeeeetty sure I earned back a Z-Slash after using it at the first exam, although my memory isn't recalling the exact shout-outs. I'll check later to be sure.

 

[Guile]

Yes it did. Feel free to count it.

Click to shrink...

Speaking of Z slash stuff, does the Cosmos flower/celestial body thing count as one and the fireworks exploding/hanabi blooming count as one?

by repeatedly stabbing us with knives?

she just used a move that throws a tornado of swords at us, that's not the sort of punch you can pull. Combined with her seeming pissed when we admitted that we didn't want to kill her?

Click to shrink...

As I recall, this technique somehow lets her manipulate those hundreds of swords like puppets via ninja wire (somehow; whyyyy is she not a puppet-master with that kind of multitasking ability and seal scroll technique?). So she could conceivably pull the attack.

Stuff.

Click to shrink...

Look, I love Ino, but she has a ridiculous number of advantages. Not quite as many as say, Naruto or Sasuke. But still, LOTS of advantages. She's born with reserves that are on the low side, but she's also a crazy-fast contortionist, and that's something that's at least partially inborn. She's born to a clan that is training her in techniques (which we don't use, true), but is training her sensor skills, and just being born into the Yamanaka gives us a BIG safety net in the form of the Nara and Akimichi.

She's that particular brand of genius that ninja clans get sometimes; stuff does come easier to Ino than to another person putting in the same effort. She learns quicker.

And then there's the reincarnation thing, which isn't really applicable in this context, but you can't deny it's an advantage, particularly now that Lupin's our full-blown roomie.

We're not specced for combat, we've been focusing on sneaky stuff for years- and yet, we have a pretty good chance of beating the combat-specced Tenten. Can Tenten throw her voice and change her face and bodysnatch people and all the rest? No, she put everything she had into kicking ass, and we've still had the edge this fight.

And simply speaking, Ino wants to find shortcuts rather than put in hard work, because that's what logical people do. Laudable, really. But which is tailor made to piss certain people off.

 

[Guile]

Incidentally, I'm actually pretty happy with how Ino's done this fight. She was pretty truthful to Tenten; putting more effort into this thing means we WOULD need to be pulling out the deadly stuff. Not that we really have much in the way of that.

We've used genjutsu, holding back only our trump card; we've used speed and master thieving techniques (and the liplock of doom) to run off with her gear; we've used smoke bombs and seals and the tessen. Aside from Menka and Bringer of Darkness (or trying to drag her into the Throne, which might not have worked on a pure fighter anyway), we haven't really been holding back.

We don't really HAVE deadly techniques, and we wouldn't want to use them even if we could bring out a pistol or Ranton. Because despite all this? I bet Ino still wants to be Tenten's friend, and doesn't get why that isn't going to happen.

Also, hilariously, Tenten and Ino would probably be AMAZING together as a tagteam, for much the same reason Ino-Shika-Cho is.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Eh. Tenten would have been pretty much utterly screwed if we'd started with our high level stuff, including our summoning contract.

I mean really. We have a sealing tech that lets us store chakra and blow it all on a big horde of badass kitties. Bringer of Darkness would just be the cherry on top.

Although I will note that if we had Tree Binding Death, this fight would have been over long ago, and we wouldn't have to hide it like a dirty secret because we don't want people in the finals to know we can cause blindness. We have so many trump cards we're holding in reserve I think we've weakened ourself overall.

But yeah. We really were holding back. No, we don't have Ranton or a gun. We do have a summoning contract though, and with us playing support for our kitties Tenten would probably be doomed if we'd opened strong. Tenten might have caught the cats in traps, maybe, but we could have invented Ghetto Jyuuken with her as a test dummy or dropped an army on her head. Hell, we could have dropped an army on her head and with genjutsu she'd never realize it's on the field.

Or we could have been a lot less nice about bombing the ground Tenten is in. We made it mostly harmless, we definitely did not have to.

 

[Guile]

Oh, we totally could have opened stronger. Should have, probably.

Agree to disagree on the summoning though, I guess.

I wouldn't want to bring the kitty army out against someone who can do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmK8g08Vz7o

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Oh, we totally could have opened stronger. Should have, probably.

Agree to disagree on the summoning though, I guess.

I wouldn't want to bring the kitty army out against someone who can do this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmK8g08Vz7o

Click to shrink...

Genjutsu dude. False Surroundings prior to summoning means Tenten doesn't realize there's an army until she's already swarmed. She's not coming back from that and nobody is gonna give her any room to retreat. Lee may not come back from that.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

You know I'm not sure these things were ever cashed in.....lemme see how many I can get.

Alignment: Chaotic Child

Click to shrink...

Wallflower Quest.

Hyuuga Hinata, Confirmed Wallflower, Hyuuga Heiress.

Click to shrink...

Another Wallflower Quest? But could go either way.

Jiraiya of the Sannin, Legendary Creature: Perverted Sage.

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Magic: the Gathering.

If it's been too long to call them in, or because it's been too long you can't be sure if they were cashed in, no big. Just figured I'd give it a try.

Incidentally, I think we've graduated from newly-minted genin if we're not in the chunin exams.