Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[nightblade]

Everything you say about him just makes me like him more. ) 's like all the hate TTGL fans pour on Rossiu.

Click to shrink...

Also most of Madara's issues comes from the fact that Izuna died. He loved Izuna more than Itachi loved Sasuke. Like I said before Tobimaru killed Izuna.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Also most of Madara's issues comes from the fact that Izuna died. He loved Izuna more than Itachi loved Sasuke. Like I said before Tobimaru killed Izuna.

Click to shrink...

Well, yeah. Ninja. Tribal warfare.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Also most of Madara's issues comes from the fact that Izuna died. He loved Izuna more than Itachi loved Sasuke. Like I said before Tobimaru killed Izuna.

Click to shrink...

Oh work the shaft you dirty bitch! ;D

I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Stealing jokes is inappropriate.

 

[nightblade]

My point is that a lot of issues in Naruto can be laid at his feet.

 

[uju32]

And speaking of weakness, we are honestly a better character for it right now. We've had to be innovative to grow around our limitations and triumph via guile instead of overpowering force. Like that custom chakra scroll.
I very much doubt we'd have hit on that if we hadn't needed to think of a way to overcome our limitations.

Click to shrink...

I don't agree.
See Tsunade and her chakra storage/regeneration seal.

Plus our general sneaky tactics with Tenten. And soon enough, Yamanaka jutsu. Subtlety.

Click to shrink...

Dude, we could have smashed Tenten and we all know it.
Our restraint was to avoid showing off too much, too soon.

That's a lot more fun to play as. Necessity is the mother of invention and it'd be a lot more fun to repurpose what we have instead of start grinding combat jutsu.
Our flaws are pretty much the only thing keeping us from being a straight up Mary Sue y'know.
Or the ingenuity to do it with cleverness instead of combat prowess, or get someone else to do it for her.

Click to shrink...

I have confidence in the GM's balancing.

Lemme count the teens we've met:
Itachi straight up geased us through our S-rank thought shields.
Rapeboy disabled us with a brush of his fingers.
Neji is in our speed class(maybe) and trumps our taijutsu.
Gaara outclasses us so badly it's not even funny, and Lee is rocking senjutsu at 14.
All of these are teenagers from two of the five major Powers.

I'm not worried about running out of opponents.

Ino's idol is a kunoichi that spent pretty much her entire career undercover.

Click to shrink...

And Ino goes out of her way to draw attention.
Her entire play style is the direct opposite of that lady's career.
You can idolize someone's work and still not believe that it suits you.

Again, get someone else to do it, or find clever ways to win or just avoid fights to begin with.
Have you counted the number of legit fights in this story? It's vanishingly small for something that came from shounen, and is explicitly pretty much seinin now.

Click to shrink...

We've been genin for less than six months, and our first C-rank mission escalated to an A-rank mission, complete with a final battle and a god throwing dakka around.
If you think things are going to be quieter you need to speak to my real estate broker.

Do you really think Furiko gave us a bloodline for free if we weren't going to need it?

Conflict avoidance seems pretty damn viable. If we're clever, yeah, we probably could get by pretty good. Or again, get other people to do this shit for us while focus on other stuff.
If our only recourse is a straight fight, we have done something terribly wrong.

Click to shrink...

And we WILL do things terribly wrong.
Menka bailed us out after Itachi, and then against Rapeboy.
And we've yet to even really poke our nose outside the nest without supervision.

And this world is actually NICE! Hell the Rain trio actually won here, we haven't gotten a hint of any of the usual villains!

Click to shrink...

Kakashi got a Sharingan, so Obito/Tobi is out there with Madara's legacy.
And given that the Yondaime died, Tobi is still working on his collect the bijuu plan.
So no, the monsters are out there.
We just can't see them.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

I don't agree.
See Tsunade and her chakra storage/regeneration seal.

Click to shrink...

So? If we didn't need it now, we wouldn't have found such a convenient workaround so soon.

Dude, we could have smashed Tenten and we all know it.

Click to shrink...

I fail to see your point.

I have confidence in the GM's balancing.

Lemme count the teens we've met:
Itachi straight up geased us through our S-rank thought shields.
Rapeboy disabled us with a brush of his fingers.
Neji is in our speed class(maybe) and trumps our taijutsu.
Gaara outclasses us so badly it's not even funny, and Lee is rocking senjutsu at 14.
All of these are teenagers from two of the five major Powers.

I'm not worried about running out of opponents.

Click to shrink...

And Sorato is probably the only one we would be forced to fight outside the chunin exams. By which I mean, dig up enough info and we can cold cock Itachi by ruining his suicide by cop scheme, and everyone else we can talk our way out of.

Hell, we use our mouth to get out of far more trouble than we use our jutsu.

And Ino goes out of her way to draw attention.
Her entire play style is the direct opposite of that lady's career.
You can idolize someone's work and still not believe that it suits you.

Click to shrink...

My point was that it is possible to specialize and avoid combat. We're just raising the difficulty.

We've been genin for less than six months, and our first C-rank mission escalated to an A-rank mission, complete with a final battle and a god throwing dakka around.

Click to shrink...

The only part of it that justified an A Rank, Asuma handled, and the god was on our side.

If you think things are going to be quieter you need to speak to my real estate broker.

Click to shrink...

I don't. I do think we can solve a lot more problems with our mouth than any amount of combat jutsu, including actual combat.

And that's not an innuendo.

Failing that, genjutsu which we are ace at.

Do you really think Furiko gave us a bloodline for free if we weren't going to need it?

Click to shrink...

No, I suspect she'll make us use it. She's dropped too many hints.

To be honest I kind of consider that a balancing problem in the story, if we need to be given a combat bloodline out of nowhere to rate with everyone else. Or she just thought it'd be cool. That's the justification for a lot of stories good and bad. But even Furiko has admitted she handed out way too many goodies and it's something she noted she needed to curb in other Quests.

Doesn't mean I'm not going to find ways around it. She's surrounding us with friends and allies, and ludicrous number of powerful friends and allies that kick around their canon couterparts like bowling pins, if we can't leverage that in our favor something is wrong.

And we WILL do things terribly wrong.
Menka bailed us out after Itachi, and then against Rapeboy.
And we've yet to even really poke our nose outside the nest without supervision.

Click to shrink...

We were a lot weaker then. We're getting a lot stronger and with enough experience and sneaking, we shouldn't need to.

Of course, we also should have known and prepared for a lot of twists Furiko just doesn't have Ino mention for the sake of narrative, and if the Quest survives past the chunin exam it's probably going to have similar stuff. So I take it with a grain of salt, but we are arming ourselves with much bigger guns now, to the point where the only people who can lolnope us are the people we never had a chance against to begin with.

Kakashi got a Sharingan, so Obito/Tobi is out there with Madara's legacy.

Click to shrink...

No, it means Kakashi has a Sharingan and nothing else. Trust nothing from canon, Furiko clearly considers them suggestions.

And given that the Yondaime died, Tobi is still working on his collect the bijuu plan.

Click to shrink...

See above. I do not doubt for a second Furiko will say balls to everything PTS, which I believe she said she never read/watched.

 

[FurikoMaru]

See above. I do not doubt for a second Furiko will say balls to everything PTS, which I believe she said she never read/watched.

Click to shrink...

Well, I hadn't when I started the quest, but that was in January. I've been doing some research in the meantime.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Well, I hadn't when I started the quest, but that was in January. I've been doing some research in the meantime.

Click to shrink...

I don't believe that invalidates the, "Views canon as more like suggestions," sentiment.

Look what you're done to the setting already.

 

[nightblade]

So? If we didn't need it now, we wouldn't have found such a convenient workaround so soon.

I fail to see your point.

And Sorato is probably the only one we would be forced to fight outside the chunin exams. By which I mean, dig up enough info and we can cold cock Itachi by ruining his suicide by cop scheme, and everyone else we can talk our way out of.

Hell, we use our mouth to get out of far more trouble than we use our jutsu.

My point was that it is possible to specialize and avoid combat. We're just raising the difficulty.

The only part of it that justified an A Rank, Asuma handled, and the god was on our side.

I don't. I do think we can solve a lot more problems with our mouth than any amount of combat jutsu, including actual combat.

And that's not an innuendo.

Failing that, genjutsu which we are ace at.

No, I suspect she'll make us use it. She's dropped too many hints.

To be honest I kind of consider that a balancing problem in the story, if we need to be given a combat bloodline out of nowhere to rate with everyone else. Or she just thought it'd be cool. That's the justification for a lot of stories good and bad. But even Furiko has admitted she handed out way too many goodies and it's something she noted she needed to curb in other Quests.

Doesn't mean I'm not going to find ways around it. She's surrounding us with friends and allies, and ludicrous number of powerful friends and allies that kick around their canon couterparts like bowling pins, if we can't leverage that in our favor something is wrong.

We were a lot weaker then. We're getting a lot stronger and with enough experience and sneaking, we shouldn't need to.

Of course, we also should have known and prepared for a lot of twists Furiko just doesn't have Ino mention for the sake of narrative, and if the Quest survives past the chunin exam it's probably going to have similar stuff. So I take it with a grain of salt, but we are arming ourselves with much bigger guns now, to the point where the only people who can lolnope us are the people we never had a chance against to begin with.

No, it means Kakashi has a Sharingan and nothing else. Trust nothing from canon, Furiko clearly considers them suggestions.

See above. I do not doubt for a second Furiko will say balls to everything PTS, which I believe she said she never read/watched.

Click to shrink...

We get it. For some reason you think we can get by with very few combat skills and letting our friends do the fighting for us. That by the way is a stupid idea in my opinion.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

We get it. For some reason you think we can get by with very few combat skills and letting our friends do the fighting for us. That by the way is a stupid idea in my opinion.

Click to shrink...

My point there was not to assume canon plotlines are in any way intact.

Congrats on taking something out of context.

 

[nightblade]

My point there was not to assume canon plotlines are in any way intact.

Congrats on taking something out of context.

Click to shrink...

Actually I just quoted the wrong post.

 

[Unclouded]

Long term I think infiltrator is our best bet, but I also agree that we need some combat to back us up if necessary. This isn't canon: that's a fact. That doesn't mean that we're going to live a peaceful life for the rest of the quest. I'm expecting at the least that Itachi will come back to do something with Sasuke and I can't see this Ino just sitting on the sidelines and not helping. Therefore I think it's reasonable to improve ourselves at a responsible pace. Focus on our best areas but don't over specialize. We need to be ready and not be caught flatfooted in the worst case scenario should Orochimaru or anyone else come to either kill us or our friends.

Personally, I'd love for us to be like Jiraya but I don't know how well we would manage it without help from either him or some other sensei. Regardless, I'll pick this conversation back up when we're at another training segment

 

[nightblade]

Long term I think infiltrator is our best bet, but I also agree that we need some combat to back us up if necessary. This isn't canon: that's a fact. That doesn't mean that we're going to live a peaceful life for the rest of the quest. I'm expecting at the least that Itachi will come back to do something with Sasuke and I can't see this Ino just sitting on the sidelines and not helping. Therefore I think it's reasonable to improve ourselves at a responsible pace. Focus on our best areas but don't over specialize. We need to be ready and not be caught flatfooted in the worst case scenario should Orochimaru or anyone else come to either kill us or our friends.

Personally, I'd love for us to be like Jiraya but I don't know how well we would manage it without help from either him or some other sensei. Regardless, I'll pick this conversation back up when we're at another training segment

Click to shrink...

We have Jiraya's interest. Also he thinks that we may be Minato reborn.

 

[Torgamous]

We get it. For some reason you think we can get by with very few combat skills and letting our friends do the fighting for us.

Click to shrink...

There's quite a wide range of options between "very few combat skills" and "Yondaime", which I understand is your favored build.
If uju's right about multiclassing having a negligible opportunity cost, that's great, but otherwise we are going to have to decide between being the best infiltrator we can be and being the best fighter we can be. If your intent is not to have an actual combat-build protagonist but just to be sure that we can take a wandering Akatsuki member in a straight fight, allow me to remind you that there is a relatively low-cost method of handling those encounters:

[embed=425,349]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_VZqZXImpQ[/embed]

Of course, it'd be inconvenient if we had to use that technique every time we ran into someone stronger than your average chunin, so we shouldn't completely neglect combat. But we don't need to be individually capable of fighting Madara.

 

[FurikoMaru]

We have Jiraya's interest. Also he thinks that we may be Minato reborn.

Click to shrink...

At the very least, he was strongly reminded of Minato when he met you.

 

[nightblade]

Deleted post cause didn't think my response through.

 

[uju32]

So? If we didn't need it now, we wouldn't have found such a convenient workaround so soon.

Click to shrink...

We would have found it as soon as we needed it.
We just didn't because we had not been using ninjutsu/summoning.

I fail to see your point.

Click to shrink...

My point was that we were hiding the breadth of our skill, not working out of a limited toolset.
It was a choice, not a necessity.

And Sorato is probably the only one we would be forced to fight outside the chunin exams. By which I mean, dig up enough info and we can cold cock Itachi by ruining his suicide by cop scheme, and everyone else we can talk our way out of.

Click to shrink...

Speculation at best.
Which relies on your opponent making a mistake, and being rational enough to be amenable to talk.
We are good, but we are not Naruto good.

As for information, canon Jiraiya ran his networks for at least sixteen years, and never caught more than a whiff of everything from Madara/Tobi's takeover of Mist to Pain's takeover of Rain.
He didn't even hear of Orochimaru being boss of Sound.
Ninja.
They're not all incompetent.

Hell, we use our mouth to get out of far more trouble than we use our jutsu.

Click to shrink...

Like with Itachi?
I will reiterate, we have not stepped out of the training pond yet.

My point was that it is possible to specialize and avoid combat. We're just raising the difficulty.

Click to shrink...

Mine is that not all of us want to.
Certainly not all of the time.

And it is distinctly against the character of the hot headed, loudmouthed, take any challenge character people have been making Lupin out to be.

The only part of it that justified an A Rank, Asuma handled, and the god was on our side.

Click to shrink...

This time.
There will be other encounters, much more competently led, and with us having fewer allies.
Even with the force advantage on her side, Ino ended up killing two mooks despite running in the background.
We will not always have the luxury of overwhelming force.

I don't. I do think we can solve a lot more problems with our mouth than any amount of combat jutsu, including actual combat.

Click to shrink...

We are not Naruto.
We do not have Therapy no Jutsu.
Words will fail, or we'll run into the irrational, or the True Believer.

I need to remind you, we have been on ONE mission outside the village; all the rest were D-ranks in and around Konoha.
In the real world, sooner or later we'll have to put up.
Repeatedly.

And that's not an innuendo.
Failing that, genjutsu which we are ace at.

Click to shrink...

So is Itachi.
Nor do we have a monopoly on it, and there will be people who are resistant or immune.
Only those incapable of more limit their repertoire to one type of technique.

Neither Kurenai, nor Itachi, nor Orochimaru, limited their arsenal to genjutsu, and they are ace at it.
Nor did Tobirama, and he invented Bringer of Darkness.
I suggest we follow their example.

To be honest I kind of consider that a balancing problem in the story, if we need to be given a combat bloodline out of nowhere to rate with everyone else. Or she just thought it'd be cool. That's the justification for a lot of stories good and bad. But even Furiko has admitted she handed out way too many goodies and it's something she noted she needed to curb in other Quests.

Click to shrink...

As I said before, the GM has balanced it fine thus far.
All of the Suna 3 are credible threats, Gaara could stomp us, Haku could blitz us, and we lacked the sheer firepower to go up against Suigetsu, especially in his Mist.
The Kaguya we didn't see.

These are just people in our age range.
So no, not a problem thus far.

Doesn't mean I'm not going to find ways around it. She's surrounding us with friends and allies, and ludicrous number of powerful friends and allies that kick around their canon couterparts like bowling pins, if we can't leverage that in our favor something is wrong.

Click to shrink...

Speak for yourself then.
Sometimes there is a certain release in beating the ever-loving crap out of people.

And the known ability to beat the shit out of people makes one a more credible negotiator/diplomat anyway because people take you more seriously.

We were a lot weaker then. We're getting a lot stronger and with enough experience and sneaking, we shouldn't need to.
Of course, we also should have known and prepared for a lot of twists Furiko just doesn't have Ino mention for the sake of narrative, and if the Quest survives past the chunin exam it's probably going to have similar stuff. So I take it with a grain of salt, but we are arming ourselves with much bigger guns now, to the point where the only people who can lolnope us are the people we never had a chance against to begin with.

Click to shrink...

When your GM gives you a pistol, she gives your opponents a Death Star.
It has worked so far.

No, it means Kakashi has a Sharingan and nothing else. Trust nothing from canon, Furiko clearly considers them suggestions.

Click to shrink...

It's a Naruto AU.
Barring the GM explicitly ruling things out, they're still possible elements.
That's why for example, I consider Root a possible danger, and that Tobi is still running around, especially as I did not see a body.

See above. I do not doubt for a second Furiko will say balls to everything PTS, which I believe she said she never read/watched.

Click to shrink...

Really?
Let me go through what we've seen from Shippuden thus far, IC and out of it:
Deidara of the Bakuton.
Kakuzu(omake).
Terumi Mei.
Suigetsu and his connection to the Swordsmen.
Karin-nee chan and her connection to Sound, and being an Uzumaki.
Nekomata, cat summons and their connection to the Uchiha clan.
Senjutsu and their connection to summons clans.
The history/nature of the Uzumaki.
Chiyo and her ranking vis a vis Tsunade(Kiba talk).
Sai(Painting unlock).
I could go on.

Furiko has been spinning elements of Shippuden from the very beginning.
Of course there will be changes, but if she does not explicitly rule stuff out in this continuity, I consider it in.
That's why this is a Naruto AU, not a ninja AU.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Tally?

 

[uju32]

Tally?

Click to shrink...

[X] "... Jigen-san?!"
Delwgun, The Nobody,Selias

[X] "JIGEN!" *tacklehug*
Disminded, Tetsuro

[X] Hey, if he'd rather talk to Lupin first, that's cool... you guess...
Unclouded, iamnuff , uju32, hunter09, Serous

[X] Party at the Throne at the Heart of the Mountain in the World Inside the Gourd! Wooooooooooooo!
Hymn

[X] "OhmygodJIGEN?" Have a total fangirl breakdown.
-->[X] Assuming Direct Control. "Oh, hey buddy. How've ya been?"
Vindictus

[X] "Jigen-san?!" Tackle-hug. "Holy shit Lupin didn't know anybody was still around well I guess you aren't technically you don't think ossan is actually in Tenten do you?!"
-[X] "Oh, hold on, let me make this a four-way call." Throne at the Heart of the Mountain. With all the Sasukes staring at them forbiddingly.
Guile, nightblade

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

We would have found it as soon as we needed it.
We just didn't because we had not been using ninjutsu/summoning.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, that's my point. Because we NEEDED it. Our flaws and weaknesses make us play smart and find ways around things, which is much more interesting.

My point was that we were hiding the breadth of our skill, not working out of a limited toolset.
It was a choice, not a necessity.

Click to shrink...

No, I got that the first time, I just don't see how that matters. We still played smart and sneaky and it was frankly more interesting for it.

Speculation at best.

Click to shrink...

No, if we uncover Itachi's scheme, and this much seems pretty identical to canon, I'm pretty sure we can make him dance to our tune like a bitch. Or just go public and set fire to all his plans.

Which relies on your opponent making a mistake, and being rational enough to be amenable to talk.
We are good, but we are not Naruto good.

Click to shrink...

We're not trying to rehabilitate people, nor would we have to do all our talking in combat.

As for information, canon Jiraiya ran his networks for at least sixteen years, and never caught more than a whiff of everything from Madara/Tobi's takeover of Mist to Pain's takeover of Rain.
He didn't even hear of Orochimaru being boss of Sound.
Ninja.
They're not all incompetent.

Click to shrink...

Also canon, we're a PC. Quest logic, and I have no doubt Furiko will withhold information from us as she deems necessary/entertaining, but this is still a thing we can do. Less ninja battle and more caper flick.

Even you have to admit, we're more likely to do capers with over the top plans than epic battles.

We're gonna be better than Jiraiya at infiltration, no question.

Like with Itachi?
I will reiterate, we have not stepped out of the training pond yet.

Click to shrink...

Get the right info and leverage on him, and yeah. He's our bitch.

Sasuke owns Itachi's balls.

Mine is that not all of us want to.
Certainly not all of the time.

And it is distinctly against the character of the hot headed, loudmouthed, take any challenge character people have been making Lupin out to be.

Click to shrink...

Thief, not a fighter. We strike me as the 'show off and then run away laughing with all your swag and your fortress rigged to blow' type.

This time.
There will be other encounters, much more competently led, and with us having fewer allies.
Even with the force advantage on her side, Ino ended up killing two mooks despite running in the background.
We will not always have the luxury of overwhelming force.

Click to shrink...

Haxx genjutsu, stealth, et cetera. We'll use it more often than fighting people. Pick up poisons and even better.

We are not Naruto.
We do not have Therapy no Jutsu.

Click to shrink...

Why would we want it? Not our style.

Words will fail, or we'll run into the irrational, or the True Believer.

Click to shrink...

Who says we need to convert them? Lie, cheat, steal, and a million other ways to approach this kind of stuff. More ways to skin a cat than Naruto's show and dance, that's for sure.

I need to remind you, we have been on ONE mission outside the village; all the rest were D-ranks in and around Konoha.
In the real world, sooner or later we'll have to put up.
Repeatedly.

Click to shrink...

And I see no reason to do it on the field of battle when we're infiltration with disguise, genjutsu, and shittons of stealth.

So is Itachi.
Nor do we have a monopoly on it, and there will be people who are resistant or immune.
Only those incapable of more limit their repertoire to one type of technique.

Neither Kurenai, nor Itachi, nor Orochimaru, limited their arsenal to genjutsu, and they are ace at it.
Nor did Tobirama, and he invented Bringer of Darkness.
I suggest we follow their example.

Click to shrink...

I will not lose sleep over not following the example of ninjutsu spam. Yamanaka dickery, Throne, genjutsu, yeah, I think we could manage. In fact I think they'll be boatloads more fun than blasty stuff. I'm sure we'll be picking up Ranton but...

You know what, come back to this topic once we pick up Ranton. Which I'm pretty sure will be next training round.

As I said before, the GM has balanced it fine thus far.
All of the Suna 3 are credible threats, Gaara could stomp us, Haku could blitz us, and we lacked the sheer firepower to go up against Suigetsu, especially in his Mist.
The Kaguya we didn't see.

These are just people in our age range.
So no, not a problem thus far.

Click to shrink...

See above.

Speak for yourself then.
Sometimes there is a certain release in beating the ever-loving crap out of people.

Click to shrink...

Yeah, but we are really not the right character for it. We're not the bruiser type where just wailing on someone is exactly their style and perfectly cathartic.

Thief, not fighter. We should be pulling capers more than fights.

It's a Naruto AU.
Barring the GM explicitly ruling things out, they're still possible elements.

Click to shrink...

Key word there: possible. You talk as if they are definitively out there, when we honestly don't know one way or another.

Really?
Let me go through what we've seen from Shippuden thus far, IC and out of it:
Deidara of the Bakuton.
Kakuzu(omake).
Terumi Mei.
Suigetsu and his connection to the Swordsmen.
Karin-nee chan and her connection to Sound, and being an Uzumaki.
Nekomata, cat summons and their connection to the Uchiha clan.
Senjutsu and their connection to summons clans.
The history/nature of the Uzumaki.
Chiyo and her ranking vis a vis Tsunade(Kiba talk).
Sai(Painting unlock).
I could go on.

Furiko has been spinning elements of Shippuden from the very beginning.
Of course there will be changes, but if she does not explicitly rule stuff out in this continuity, I consider it in.
That's why this is a Naruto AU, not a ninja AU.

Click to shrink...

Pretty much everyone is doing something different or is not where they're supposed to be. Some characters have been showing up, but even the governing bodies of all these place have changed.

So yeah, assuming the canon plots are in place? When Furiko has been carving a warpath via canon and from where I'm sitting is setting things up to avoid canon retreads.

Would not count on any canon plots surviving intact, if for no other reason than Furiko having avoided a retread of canon in anything but broad strokes.

 

[Guile]

Tobi may still be around, but if so Akatsuki won't be backing him up. Pain is running Rain, Deidara is in Sound, I assume most of the other S-rank shitkickers are still in the village system from a few comments that have been made.

It's probably not wise to even assume Itachi's weakness is Sasuke anymore- remember that Eternal Mangekyo needs the eyes you take to ALSO be the Mangekyo, so 'die by his hand' could go either way. He might be planning to give Sasuke his eyes, or take Sasuke's.

 

[uju32]

Tobi may still be around, but if so Akatsuki won't be backing him up. Pain is running Rain, Deidara is in Sound, I assume most of the other S-rank shitkickers are still in the village system from a few comments that have been made.
It's probably not wise to even assume Itachi's weakness is Sasuke anymore- remember that Eternal Mangekyo needs the eyes you take to ALSO be the Mangekyo, so 'die by his hand' could go either way. He might be planning to give Sasuke his eyes, or take Sasuke's.

Click to shrink...

Canon!Akatsuki has had a shifting roster; Orochimaru was a member before he left, and Kakuzu killed at least one partner of his.
As long as he still has his base and Zetsu, he can rebuild.
Remember, Nagato rejected the initial approach by Tobi in canon; he'll have contingencies.

Your point about Itachi's motivations is well taken though.

 

[Guile]

Canon!Akatsuki has had a shifting roster; Orochimaru was a member before he left, and Kakuzu killed at least one partner of his.
As long as he still has his base and Zetsu, he can rebuild.
Remember, Nagato rejected the initial approach by Tobi in canon; he'll have contingencies.

Your point about Itachi's motivations is well taken though.

Click to shrink...

Tobi with just his Zetsu army isn't terribly impressive. I fully expect Furiko will stick with 'village intrigue' rather than go into a 'zombie arc'.

 

[uju32]

Tobi with just his Zetsu army isn't terribly impressive. I fully expect Furiko will stick with 'village intrigue' rather than go into a 'zombie arc'.

Click to shrink...

Methinks you underestimate him.
Badly.
Zetsus have shown themselves to be infiltrators par excellence, and S-class combatants at need.
EDIT And of course he will be recruiting; Orochimaru is still unaccounted for, as are Hidan and Kakuzu.

Will he be the only threat? Doubtful.
Will he be one of several? Bet on it.

 

[Guile]

Methinks you underestimate him.
Badly.
Zetsus have shown themselves to be infiltrators par excellence, and S-class combatants at need.
EDIT And of course he will be recruiting; Orochimaru is still unaccounted for, as are Hidan and Kakuzu.

Will he be the only threat? Doubtful.
Will he be one of several? Bet on it.

Click to shrink...

When did the Zetsus fight at the S-class level? All I remember him being able to do is travel through the ground (which 'erases his presence'; somehow nobody ever seems to notice a plant man sticking out of things) and use weak Mokuton techniques.

Not that this really matters at the moment, given the Zetsu army won't be deployed for years, if it exists.

 

[uju32]

When did the Zetsus fight at the S-class level? All I remember him being able to do is travel through the ground (which 'erases his presence'; somehow nobody ever seems to notice a plant man sticking out of things) and use weak Mokuton techniques.
Not that this really matters at the moment, given the Zetsu army won't be deployed for years, if it exists.

Click to shrink...

Five Kage conference, where he drained the Mizukage of chakra and bound the rest.
If he'd chosen to, most of them would have died there.

And he maintained the ability to track both Kabuto and Sasuke by planting spores on them, spores that grew into full Zetsu.
He doesn't need the army except as mook fodder.
If his intent is assassination, he could cut a wide swathe now.

 

[uju32]

Yeah, that's my point. Because we NEEDED it. Our flaws and weaknesses make us play smart and find ways around things, which is much more interesting.
No, I got that the first time, I just don't see how that matters. We still played smart and sneaky and it was frankly more interesting for it.

Click to shrink...

It matters because it was a choice.
Our choice.
We were not compelled to do so, and it was but one of several possible paths.
I do not believe in artificially limiting our choices.

No, if we uncover Itachi's scheme, and this much seems pretty identical to canon, I'm pretty sure we can make him dance to our tune like a bitch. Or just go public and set fire to all his plans.

Click to shrink...

Ah yes.
Publicly ruin the plans of the yandere Uchiha who killed an entire clan while he has a trojan horse in your brain.
And you lack the combat power to be more than a speed bump, and are digging in your heels about acquiring more.
That'll end well.

We're not trying to rehabilitate people, nor would we have to do all our talking in combat.

Click to shrink...

You are trying to bend them to your will by vocal persuasion, and make that a regular strategy.
You need Naruto-level Cha for that.

Also canon, we're a PC. Quest logic, and I have no doubt Furiko will withhold information from us as she deems necessary/entertaining, but this is still a thing we can do. Less ninja battle and more caper flick.

Click to shrink...

This is a Naruto AU.
With Lupin the flamboyant loudmouth as MC scion of a ninja clan.
Caper flick is but a percentage of what goes into this menu.
A small percentage.

We're gonna be better than Jiraiya at infiltration, no question.

Click to shrink...

By the time we're his age?
Sure.
We're not his age yet, or anytime soon.

Get the right info and leverage on him, and yeah. He's our bitch.
Sasuke owns Itachi's balls.

Click to shrink...

You do realize that Itachi runs Mind Rape r Us?
Genjutsu so subtle that it infects you when you talk to someone else?

Thief, not a fighter. We strike me as the 'show off and then run away laughing with all your swag and your fortress rigged to blow' type.
Haxx genjutsu, stealth, et cetera. We'll use it more often than fighting people. Pick up poisons and even better.

Click to shrink...

Rogue, not thief.
Stealing shit is a hobby, not our raison d'etre.

And no,most skills are not often used. It only means that when you do use them, you will need them badly.

Why would we want it? Not our style.
Who says we need to convert them? Lie, cheat, steal, and a million other ways to approach this kind of stuff. More ways to skin a cat than Naruto's show and dance, that's for sure.

Click to shrink...

Again, you are the one trying talk your way across the quest.
You want to do that, you need to be Naruto good.
Or do the Itachi thing.

And I see no reason to do it on the field of battle when we're infiltration with disguise, genjutsu, and shittons of stealth.

Click to shrink...

Because this is a Naruto Quest.
Desperate ninjutsu battles are par for the course here.
Your disguise will fail, something unexpected will happen, and you'll find yourself in a firefight with people looking to take your head.
Stealth? Other people train for it too.
Ditto genjutsu.
You need to quit assuming they are OCPs in a world of battlemages.

Yeah, but we are really not the right character for it. We're not the bruiser type where just wailing on someone is exactly their style and perfectly cathartic.
Thief, not fighter. We should be pulling capers more than fights.

Click to shrink...

Not Bruiser.
Rogue.
And while you may have a hankering for an all-caper course, I prefer a more balanced diet.

Key word there: possible. You talk as if they are definitively out there, when we honestly don't know one way or another.

Click to shrink...

And you talk like everything's changed, despite the fact that the broadstrokes geopolitical situation remains the same.
Changes are subtle so far; Bloody Mist became Whispering Mist, but didn't morph into another village altogether.
But there was still a Mist Civil War.
The Uzumaki still went kaput.
There was still a war in Rain, only with the Rain 3 winning without losing their soul.

Pretty much everyone is doing something different or is not where they're supposed to be. Some characters have been showing up, but even the governing bodies of all these place have changed.
So yeah, assuming the canon plots are in place? When Furiko has been carving a warpath via canon and from where I'm sitting is setting things up to avoid canon retreads.
Would not count on any canon plots surviving intact, if for no other reason than Furiko having avoided a retread of canon in anything but broad strokes.

Click to shrink...

Again, if there are no clear plotlines contradicting them, it's safe to assume canon rules.
Tsunade is still AWOL. Orochimaru is still nukenin. Kakashi still got a sharingan. The Yondaime still fought Kyuubi and died.
Shisui still died.
Itachi still killed his clan.
The sharingan eyes(or the bodies) still vanished.
Until we get rulings or indications otherwise, canon remains our only guide.

Tobi didn't die here, so he will be out there plotting.
Some of the faces will be different, but you will run into him sooner or later.

 

[iamnuff]

personally, I don't favor a massive combat build, i want some combat skills for when shit goes down, but not as our primary focus.

but this is getting nowhere, can we drop it and get back to voting and stuff?

 

[nightblade]

Hey Jigen's text in the latest update isn't blue in the quest archive thread.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Hey Jigen's text in the latest update isn't blue in the quest archive thread.

Click to shrink...

Thanks, I'll fix it.