Cosmos Quest (Naruto/Lupin III)

[uju32]

I do hope Inoichi doesn't monopolize ALL our time, though. With Gaara, Kankuro, Kiba and Ino working together on our off hours we could do terrible, terrible things (and also make pistols).

Click to shrink...

That gun becomes much more important now if a combat situation is imminent.

And we need to know which major village is sponsoring the Rebel Sound; this kind of op requires major backers.
So who is it? Earth, pissed at Deidara? Or Cloud, on general principles?
Maybe Mist, since they had an intelligence team masquerading as genin inside Konoha's chuunin exam; can't see a motive for them though.

Oh, they may be overconfident, but they aren't likely to attack Konoha when there's a fully-trained jinchuuriki onsite.

Click to shrink...

That presupposes a formidable amount of information on Team Suna's movements.

Speaking of which, we know at least one Sound genjutsu expert; Kibi's parents/family.
What are the odds that she's the Otokage's kid/kin?
Because good as she is, she needed a genjutsu expert to train her, and her jounin-sensei is not one.
Is that why Ira is there? As a close-in bodyguard?

Because if it is, I'm going for a firm no about letting them into Ino's head; someone who pushes a kid of her age that hard is someone either desperate or callous.
If desperate, they will be grasping for any advantage, up to planting triggers in our head.
If callous, same risk.

And let's not forget that we have a month to corrupt Kibi.

Click to shrink...

I wonder if she's the target of this strike; to get leverage against the current Otokage prior to a strike on Sound.
It would give a secondary reason why she's in this exam, and why a bodyguard is on her team.

 

[1234q1234q]

[X] If I took the offer, would we be able to catch any triggers that he places?

 

[Guile]

[X] If I took the offer, would we be able to catch any triggers that he places?

Click to shrink...

That seems like a silly thing to say.

Mystery Kage is competent enough to deal with a compulsion trigger that we can't, why would you think we could catch any he chose to implant?

Basically, if Kage > Itachi, and Itachi > Us, then there's no way it loops back around to Us > Kage

 

[1234q1234q]

That seems like a silly thing to say.

Mystery Kage is competent enough to deal with a compulsion trigger that we can't, why would you think we could catch any he chose to implant?

Basically, if Kage > Itachi, and Itachi > Us, then there's no way it loops back around to Us > Kage

Click to shrink...

Note that Itachi> Konohagakure was true and the triggers were discovered. They could not be fixed. But they were found to exist. So, asking if the same thing can be reliably repeated here makes sense. If the compulsion trigger can't be hide, then taking the offer makes sense. Because adding compulsions would hurt the Mystery Kage's negotiation position.

 

[Torgamous]

Note that Itachi> Konohagakure was true and the triggers were discovered.

Click to shrink...

They were discovered by a cat that saw Itachi make them in the first place. Before we got Menka's input, the possible presence of a compulsion could've just been common sense.

 

[The Nobody]

[X] If I took the offer, would we be able to catch any triggers that he places?

Click to shrink...

Valid question.

[X] Talk things over with Dad.

 

[Guile]

Oh hey, just a thing I'd forgotten about until I reread Cosmos Quest: When we signed on with Miun-chan, she said there'd be a formal dinner thing in a week. I reckon the chuunin 2nd exam took about 5-6 days…?

Other random thought: we had the opportunity to Throne Tenten during the prelims. What on earth would she have said when she saw Pops?

 

[uju32]

Valid question.
[X] Talk things over with Dad.

Click to shrink...

Not a valid question.
It's explicitly stated that the experts at the hospital, including everyone Inoichi could beg or bully, couldn't find a trace of genjutsu in our head
The only explicit reasoning we have for knowing about the compulsion is that our Cat summon/bodyguard was there to hear him put it there.

Anyone good enough to find Itachi's implanted geas is more than good enough to hide his own.
We're certainly not good enough to go against an S-class genjutsu user, with a sub-specialty in long-term genjutsu.
And if Inoichi thought he could detect them, he wouldn't be so reluctant to even mention the possibility.

It would be one hell of a head fake to find out Itachi didn't actually put anything in our head
I can't see a motive why, though.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Oh hey, just a thing I'd forgotten about until I reread Cosmos Quest: When we signed on with Miun-chan, she said there'd be a formal dinner thing in a week. I reckon the chuunin 2nd exam took about 5-6 days…?

Click to shrink...

It happened offscreen during the training month.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

*taps fingers against desk*

Okay. Idea. Inoichi has a seal design that makes people straight up not see us in the room.

So, can we design a genjutsu/fuinjutsu to achieve a similar effect in the ring? Sure, Gaara may push us to excel, but if people can't see or remember our contribution to the fight then that could work for making both sides happy. Even knowing we can do that will just foster paranoia amongst enemies.

Except giving the way the whole, "Holy shit I can't remember what that girl did!" Not holding out much hope for getting away with that, but it seems like a nifty concept to explore.

If you want technobabble, something that targets a subject's short-term memory and knocks parts or all of it out of commission in such a fashion that things never get committed to long term memory.

Gaara's spectacular show-down: fighting an enemy in a big dramatic fashion no one can remember seeing, and being held in more awe for it.

Ino's contribution: pulling a retroactive disappearing act in plain sight.

Doesn't fool cameras, doesn't stop people from writing stuff down, but if successful in weaseling into most people the first time around, they won't know to do that.

 

[Guile]

Don't forget to plan for Kankuro; he's the guy we're actually fighting first. Gaara is locked behind Lee and Neji, who - let's be honest - are going to be training like madmen to ensure we have nothing to do with our favorite half-Devil.

It happened offscreen during the training month.

Click to shrink...

Aw, not even a scene where we get kitty-kisses for making one of our oldest friends immortal?

Take THAT, Menka, we're totally going to catch up in age after all!

 

[uju32]

*taps fingers against desk*
Okay. Idea. Inoichi has a seal design that makes people straight up not see us in the room.
So, can we design a genjutsu/fuinjutsu to achieve a similar effect in the ring? Sure, Gaara may push us to excel, but if people can't see or remember our contribution to the fight then that could work for making both sides happy. Even knowing we can do that will just foster paranoia amongst enemies.

Except giving the way the whole, "Holy shit I can't remember what that girl did!" Not holding out much hope for getting away with that, but it seems like a nifty concept to explore.
If you want technobabble, something that targets a subject's short-term memory and knocks parts or all of it out of commission in such a fashion that things never get committed to long term memory.

Gaara's spectacular show-down: fighting an enemy in a big dramatic fashion no one can remember seeing, and being held in more awe for it.
Ino's contribution: pulling a retroactive disappearing act in plain sight.
Doesn't fool cameras, doesn't stop people from writing stuff down, but if successful in weaseling into most people the first time around, they won't know to do that.

Click to shrink...

What does this achieve?
Suna don't get to brag over Gaara's performance, because no one can remember shit, which screams shenanigans.

Not to mention that this jutsu would of necessity be at least Temple of Nirvana strength ie A-rank, and any jounin worth the name would block it.
Hell, talented genin did so in canon.
And given the calibre of people you'd send to attack a major Village, there is better than even odds that any of their operatives will see through it anyway, which defeats the purpose of hiding Ino's abilities.

You'd be better off promising Gaara a fight some other time.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

What does this achieve?
Suna don't get to brag over Gaara's performance, because no one can remember shit, which screams shenanigans.

Click to shrink...

The point wasn't to block the entire fight. Just Ino in it. So everyone gets to see Gaara trying to pin down, from their perspective, a foe so elusive they slip entirely from memory.

Not to mention that this jutsu would of necessity be at least Temple of Nirvana strength ie A-rank, and any jounin worth the name would block it.

Click to shrink...

*points to Inoichi's trick*

If Sasuke has his Sharingan (or rather, remembers he has it), that implies Inoichi believes it can defeat even that. Even if he doesn't, I'm still getting the feeling he's confident this will defeat anyone who may be listening in, who are also presumed to be very talented.

Hell, Kiba's trick was subtle enough it got one over on us and others for a while, so it's possible to slip stuff right on in. Just need to make it better.

 

[Torgamous]

If Sasuke has his Sharingan (or rather, remembers he has it)

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Unless Sasuke picked it up while we were in the exam, this is not the case. Even if it were, applying that effect to the whole stadium would be more trouble than it'd be worth. A technique like that is certainly worth looking into, but it's almost definitely not going to help us in this specific way.
We've still got the Battle of the Bands, though.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Unless Sasuke picked it up while we were in the exam, this is not the case.

Click to shrink...

He did technically pick it up on the night of the Massacre, IIRC. I just don't remember whether it was ever mentioned, but if you do...

Even if it were, applying that effect to the whole stadium would be more trouble than it'd be worth. A technique like that is certainly worth looking into, but it's almost definitely not going to help us in this specific way.

Click to shrink...

Ehhh....a tech like this, if rooted in fuinjutsu, is pretty much only possible when you have enough prep time to set it up. Will it be troublesome? Yes, definitely. For enough dramatic effect, it may be worth it.

Plus, stealing the memory of an entire stadium, or at least parts of it? Delightful.

We've still got the Battle of the Bands, though.

Click to shrink...

We do, but I was hoping to present a strategy to Inoichi that assuages his concerns and convinces him to give his blessing, rather than deliver a coup.

 

[uju32]

The point wasn't to block the entire fight. Just Ino in it. So everyone gets to see Gaara trying to pin down, from their perspective, a foe so elusive they slip entirely from memory.

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Doesn't that defeat the purpose of Inoichi's warning by making Ino look even more formidable than she would otherwise?

And it still runs into the problem that I would expect a reasonably competent specialist to break something like that, given that it's AoE, not targeted.
Plus, if it was really effective, you have the trouble of not making S-class nin react to it as an attack.

*points to Inoichi's trick*

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Inoichi's trick, as I understand it, is preventing our image/sound/chakra from getting out.
What you're suggesting would require going into the heads of an array of civilians and shinobi without their knowledge.
With onlookers including Kages, multiple jounin and intelligence specialists.
Not something I expect we can pull off.

If Sasuke has his Sharingan (or rather, remembers he has it), that implies Inoichi believes it can defeat even that. Even if he doesn't, I'm still getting the feeling he's confident this will defeat anyone who may be listening in, who are also presumed to be very talented.

Click to shrink...

Remember that Inoichi is head of Intelligence, or at least one of the heads.
If Sasuke has his Sharingan, he would know; that suggests he doesn't, or this has been tested against Sharingan.

Hell, Kiba's trick was subtle enough it got one over on us and others for a while, so it's possible to slip stuff right on in. Just need to make it better.

Click to shrink...

What Kiba's trick?

We do, but I was hoping to present a strategy to Inoichi that assuages his concerns and convinces him to give his blessing, rather than deliver a coup.

Click to shrink...

Admittedly, it will look more than a little suspicious to have every single one of Konoha's future heavy hitters pull out of a demonstration match for village pride against an ally.
Suspicious enough to make said invaders extra cautious even.
But I can't see a solution as of yet, besides perhaps going Battle of the Bands.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of Inoichi's warning by making Ino look even more formidable than she would otherwise?

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Furiko said fighting Gaara would push us to excel. It's not about us looking weak, as I see it, it's about not revealing all the cards in our hand before shit hits the fan.

If they don't remember what we did, seems to me that Inoichi's real worry is satisfied.

And it still runs into the problem that I would expect a reasonably competent specialist to break something like that, given that it's AoE, not targeted.

Click to shrink...

If they don't expect it, it can get on by.

Plus, if it was really effective, you have the trouble of not making S-class nin react to it as an attack.

Inoichi's trick, as I understand it, is preventing our image/sound/chakra from getting out.

Click to shrink...

Nope, everyone who walks inside the room gets nothing. Not just about outside observers, people inside too.

What you're suggesting would require going into the heads of an array of civilians and shinobi without their knowledge.
With onlookers including Kages, multiple jounin and intelligence specialists.
Not something I expect we can pull off.

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Fuinjutsu means we don't need to do it directly. And given that it's an unexpected attack....yeah, I expect at least partial success from how genjutsu has been portrayed so far. Maybe Sarutobi will stop it dead, because he's Sarutobi, or someone really really good at genjutsu. But for something like this, barring the fuinjutsu being directly discovered I would expect people wouldn't realize something is up until they realize their memory ain't working right. THEN they start putting pieces together.

What Kiba's trick?

Click to shrink...

Misspell. Kibi's. The gentaijutsu bit.

Admittedly, it will look more than a little suspicious to have every single one of Konoha's future heavy hitters pull out of a demonstration match for village pride against an ally.
Suspicious enough to make said invaders extra cautious even.
But I can't see a solution as of yet, besides perhaps going Battle of the Bands.

Click to shrink...

We could throw the fight. Focus on making Gaara as impressive as possible. Limit our arsenal to make people misjudge our true limits.

Example, unload enough hidden explosive tags so that Gaara let the dust fade, show himself utterly unharmed. That kind of stuff.

 

[FurikoMaru]

[X] Can you take me down off the hook that you've been hangin' me on?

"Is Sasuke getting this offer too?" you ask.

"No," Dad says, frowning.

... that makes no sense. Anyone who believes the rumours that Itachi messed with you before he skipped town will also believe the rumours that he messed with his brother - the stories go hand in hand. It's conceivable someone might have heard that Sasuke got the mojo, but not you; the other way around strains credulity.

Unless.

Unless they didn't just hear. They know for certain what did or didn't happen. Because they were there.

...fffffffffffffffffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu-


Ino? Kiddo? I know you're not really in the mood to talk, but your dad is asking if you're okay.

-uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

So. How do you wanna play this?

[X] Continue on with the conversation like you didn't just figure out something huge. It doesn't even make any damn sense, you need time to do some background research before you say anything stupid out loud.

[X] Play on the parental guilt and see what you can overhear from Dad's chakra. "Dad? ... if the Otokage were Uchiha Itachi... you'd tell me, right?"

[X] Oh-ho, screw subtle. You are pissed. Time to take full advantage of that little genjutsu Dad mentioned. "UCHIHA FUCKING ITACHI? THAT'S OUR NEW ALLY TO THE EAST?!"

 

[Silversun17]

[X] "Hey dad, did I ever tell you about a letter I sent to Uchiha Itachi after the massacre? It contained an oath to turn his skull into a beer mug." Stare at your father for a moment. "Now should I be worried about that oath becoming relvent in the near future?"
also HA I KNEW IT!

 

[MrGazzer]

[X] Play on the parental guilt and see what you can overhear from Dad's chakra. "Dad? ... if the Otokage were Uchiha Itachi... you'd tell me, right?"

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Wait, Itachi was the right answer?

That....still makes no fucking sense. Beyond the leap in logic Ino had.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Wait, Itachi was the right answer?

That....still makes no fucking sense. Beyond the leap in logic Ino had.

Click to shrink...

Yeah. I was slightly disappointed that you guys managed to accidentally ask the right question at the right time. I had this grand scene in my head of the Kazekage and Otokage taking their seats beside Sarutobi in the box and you and Sasuke losing your collective shit.

Ah, well. This is slightly more seinen-y. It'd be an even better fit if I cut away to a scene involving Itachi right now, back in Otogakure, to build tension.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

Whelp. Inoichi is never going to give his daughter hints like that again. She just blows the entire scheme wide open. At very least Ino has to keep her trap shut on account of her father having given her the Eureka moment.

Sarutobi will still probably know and will subtly chew Inoichi out. Too bad Sarutobi is nice. So he won't be inviting Inoichi to have a chat in his own garden, smoking his pipe, sprinkling the ashes over some of the plants. A not so subtle reminder that he is the God of Shinobi, the Fire Shadow in the Land of Fire, and so help him if this shit happens again he'll burn Inoichi so bad his own clan won't remember him.

At least Itachi APPARENTLY feels that he better go cut his loses on some things. Still. I was really looking forward to killing him with Sasuke. Oh well.

 

[FurikoMaru]

Still. I was really looking forward to killing him with Sasuke. Oh well.

Click to shrink...

What makes you think that option isn't still on the table? ^_^

 

[Guile]

Hey Ino!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KThlYHfIVa8

Ino and Sasuke losing their shit at Itachi having a seat at the grownups table would be amazing.


[X] So, is this one of those 'two wrongs make a right' things? Like, Itachi gets to dive back into my head, and that somehow makes everything okay?
[X] I mean, obviously if you trust him to fix it it's not an issue in the first place because he can be trusted. Though that does bring up the question of why he did it in the first place, unless you don't trust him and he expected he'd need a bargaining chip for this very gambit... how far ahead was he planning this?
[X] ... Are the other Uchiha still dead?

Alternatively,

[X] Holy shit the head guys were right Oto is one of ours fuck my brain.
[X] So this is what it's like being on the receiving end for once. Not an experience I'd recommend- I may have to apologize to... like... everybody.

 

[Hymn of Ragnarok]

What makes you think that option isn't still on the table? ^_^

Click to shrink...

Well, I figure Itachi's plotting is gonna start unraveling like grandma's sweater soon.....

 

[uju32]

[X] Can you take me down off the hook that you've been hangin' me on?

Click to shrink...

Sarah Harmer- New Enemy.

"Is Sasuke getting this offer too?" you ask.
"No," Dad says, frowning.
... that makes no sense. Anyone who believes the rumours that Itachi messed with you before he skipped town will also believe the rumours that he messed with his brother - the stories go hand in hand. It's conceivable someone might have heard that Sasuke got the mojo, but not you; the other way around strains credulity.

Click to shrink...

Option 3: He/she knows there's mojo there and chooses to leave it alone.

What kind of non-village threat would compel Konoha to make nice with a very public thumb in the eye?
And risk the loyalty of their last Uchiha and of every other clan to boot?
The Uchiha may have been dicks, but they were our dicks, and nobility to boot; if they don't get loyalty, who does?

And why did Itachi approach Konoha for backing instead of a village less motivated to kill him?
Even if Itachi is a deep cover agent, his actions as a whole don't make sense.
Unless he's flatout insane.

And just how deep is Sound's bench that Itachi was just one of several options?

Well, it's a good thing we're beginning to make some lower level connections there.
Pity we didn't invite Kibi to dinner; we could use intel on just what kind of jungle Oto is to put Itachi on the throne.

 

[Tetsurō]

[X] "Hey dad, did I ever tell you about a letter I sent to Uchiha Itachi after the massacre? It contained an oath to turn his skull into a beer mug." Stare at your father for a moment. "Now should I be worried about that oath becoming relvent in the near future?"

 

[mkire]

[X] Holy shit the head guys were right Oto is one of ours fuck my brain.
[X] So this is what it's like being on the receiving end for once. Not an experience I'd recommend- I may have to apologize to... like... everybody.

 

[Vindictus]

[X] "No offense, dad- But I don't trust the guy who put the shit in to take it out without leaving some other present behind for me to find later. Besides, I've kind of sworn an oath to kill him dead, and I take that sort of thing serious-like."