You are Uzumaki Shiki, currently posing as ‘Kagerō’ – a first-year student at the Konohagakure Academy. The goal of this undercover ploy is to serve as a bodyguard to Yukiwari Kae, the young princess of a small kingdom allied with both Konoha and your own homeland of Amegakure, while she’s here being kept out of an internal power struggle at home. It was you and your team’s role to observe Kae-hime, to provide security, and to root out any hypothetical assassins who might be sent after her and deal with them.While it’s been a little bit amusing being back at the Academy after having been promoted all the way up to jōnin over the last two years, there have also been some problems. Your identity was already blown when your cousin Himawari started to figure out who you were despite having changed your face, frame, and most importantly your hair color to try and avoid being recognized, so you let her in on your secret. A few other students seem to suspect that you’re more than you appear to be as well, though most are simply annoyed by your popularity, or by your ‘talent’ as a shinobi, or by some combination of the two.More troubling however is that the ‘hypothetical’ assassin you were embedded into Kae-hime and Hima-chan’s class to deal with may not be so hypothetical after all. You were followed most of the way to ‘your’ apartment (as Kagerō) a few days ago by someone with self-evident bloodlust – as well as the skills to evade your teammates and back off without being seen.…“Hey, sensei,” you begin, having waited until after class when all the other students have already left. Hana-sensei, perhaps sensing your intent, also stayed behind. “Do you have a moment?”She nods once, “Of course, Kagerō-kun. What do you need?”You close the door, and lock it from inside, before approaching your ‘teacher’ at her desk. “I have to explain something to you – something you have to swear will not leave this room.”“I promise,” Hana-sensei replies, watching you somewhat nervously. “This… sounds kind of serious.”“You know how Kae-hime is an actual princess from a different country?” you ask.She nods, so you continue. “Well, there’s a power struggle going on in that country, and so she’s here for her own safety. And I’m not an Academy student.”“You aren’t?” Hana-sensei asks with a confused frown. “Is Kae-chan?”“Yes,” you confirm, “and I’m actually a jōnin. My orders to watch out for her while she’s here came directly from Seventh-dono.”“… who else have you told?” she asks you.>1/2
>>6046571“Iruka-sensei knows,” you tell her, “as does my own former teacher. One student in our class figured it out, and another probably suspects but has the good sense not to say anything.”You leave your team out deliberately – not so much a ‘lie’ since they were in the room when you received the initial orders, but it’s a piece of information that Hana-sensei doesn’t need to know right now. Knowing any of those specific names isn’t just more information than she needs to know, it’s information that she couldn’t do anything with anyway.“So… something must have changed, right?” she observes. “To explain why you’re suddenly including me in this?”You nod once. “Several days ago I was followed home by a shinobi. I couldn’t determine their identity, but I know that they picked me up shortly after leaving the Academy building.”“It couldn’t have been ANBU?” Hana-sensei ponders, rubbing her chin.You shake your head. “No. If ANBU were involved I’d know.”“I see,” she replies. “So… what do you need me to do?”“I just need you to keep your eyes open for anything suspicious,” you answer, “and let me know if you see anything.”“I can do that, of course,” Hana-sensei assures you. “Thank you for trusting me with this.”…After you leave the Academy building, you take a moment to get a drink and a bag of chips at a nearby convenience store and take a break in a nearby park. Clearing your mind, you turn your attention to what needs to be done next...>You should check in with your teammates, do one final round at ‘work’ before going to your apartment.>It makes sense to meet with Kae-hime and her own bodyguard from their homeland, touch base with them.>This might be a good moment to check in with either the Hokage or with Sasuke-san. You want to know how things are developing in Kae-hime’s homeland.>Other?
>>6046573>>This might be a good moment to check in with either the Hokage or with Sasuke-san. You want to know how things are developing in Kae-hime’s homeland.
>>6046573>>This might be a good moment to check in with either the Hokage or with Sasuke-san. You want to know how things are developing in Kae-hime’s homeland.Can we get creative with our sage mode ghost clones?Naruto would be the only one able to actually notice and respond to them, so maybe get one into his office and then communicate with jutsu's or chakra shenanigans.
>>6046573>>You should check in with your teammates, do one final round at ‘work’ before going to your apartment.
>>6046573>1d6 taking the first three
Rolled 6 (1d6)>>6047842
Rolled 4 (1d6)>>6047842
Rolled 5 (1d6)>>6047842
>>6047842After getting ‘home’, you find a spot in your apartment that will allow you to perform ninjutsu without being visible from outside, and do so in a way that will avoid being audible – the technique you choose, your mother’s Ryūmei, creates a purely spiritual ‘clone’ that you send to the Hokage’s office in mere seconds. Since it’s not truly ‘chakra’ in that it lacks the physical component provided by your body’s vitality it should be extremely difficult to detect, even if you assume your opponent is a very skilled shinobi, but because in order to share its senses you need to close your eyes it could be obvious by looking at you that you were up to something.When your ghost clone reaches the Hokage’s office, you have it draw in natural energy to compensate for the lack of the physical – just enough so that it can use the wave transmission technique.[Lord Seventh, I think now is a good time for an update.]“… Shiki-kun?” he realizes, looking up from whatever document he’s been working through. “How are you talking to me right now?”[I’m using the wave transmission at the same time as the Ryūmei.]“I see,” he grumbles. “That’d certainly make my job easier sometimes, ya know… anyway, how’s your team holding up?”[It’s been quiet since the incident I reported earlier.]“You guys must’ve gotten close to capturing whoever it was,” Naruto muses. “That would explain their suddenly getting skittish.”[It would,] you agree. [I’ve also informed Hana-sensei of the situation, to enlist her help in possibly identifying the threat.]“I guess that makes sense,” Naruto nods. “It’s her class that all this affects after all.”[And what about the Land of Bamboo?] you ask. [I haven’t seen it in the news so I assume the worst has yet to happen, but other than that I don’t know anything.]“I sent Sasuke to help with their investigations,” Naruto tells you. “The Shinobi Union got behind the intervention fairly quickly, since it doesn’t impact any of our members – the Land of Bamboo may have some friends among the shinobi nations, but it really isn’t that important a player.”[So the delay came from the Land of Bamboo itself?]Naruto nods. “That’s right. Think about it this way – when someone like Sasuke-kun or Naori-kun shows up somewhere unannounced, many of the smaller nations have to immediately assume the possibility that it’s an invasion.”[Because single shinobi have conquered nations in the past.]“Your mom isn’t entirely to blame either,” Naruto observes. “She was hardly the first. But still, especially these days it’s a misunderstanding that we try to avoid, ya know?”>1/2
>>6049112[So has Sasuke-san sent a report on the situation?]Naruto shakes his head. “Only his preliminary report. For anything you could call ‘findings’, that’s gonna be tomorrow at the earliest.”[And what does the preliminary report say?]“The situation doesn’t look as bad as you might imagine,” Naruto informs you. “The problems are all beneath the surface.”[Was there any early indication why there would be a threat now? I mean, as opposed to a year ago, or a year from now?]“Nothing clear,” he replies. “The economy looks good, no controversial laws passed recently, no terrorist threats. Sasuke told me he’ll be looking into individual ministers and their families to find any with possible personal motives, which is why it’s going to take a little while.”[I assume there’s no sign that it’s Kara?]“None.”[So it could actually just be a personal grudge?]“Hopefully,” Naruto sighs. “The alternative is that kind of unpredictable psychopath that shows up from time to time.”[The kind who’s in it for reasons only they themselves know?]“Exactly.”[Great.]“The good news is that we have more reason to believe it’s a personal grudge,” Naruto observes. “And if it’s the psychopath… well, that’s why we have you and your team on it, ya know?”[Well, in any event please be sure to keep me in the loop with Sasuke-san’s findings?]“I’m sure I can find a way to do that quietly enough,” Naruto-san agrees.[Thank you.]>Get some rest. You have no idea what might happen tomorrow.>Go check in with your teammates, discuss recent events with them.>Go speak with Kae-hime and her ward – see if they know anything.>Other?
>>6049965>>Go check in with your teammates, discuss recent events with them.
>>6049965>>Go check in with your teammates, discuss recent events with them.Finally caught back up and can vote after months of nothing but uni; how old are 1st year students supposed to be? Gotta be real weird spending most of the day as a little kid again
>>6050004Like nine-ish. It's often shown as "whenever they're ready" particularly in times of war though, with Kakashi being an extreme case.
>>6049965>1d6 taking the first three
Rolled 4 (1d6)>>6050535
Rolled 6 (1d6)>>6050535
Rolled 5 (1d6)>>6050535
>>6050535What you’re going to do is a little bit complicated – the problem at hand is that you want to communicate with your three teammates without alerting anyone who might be observing you that you’re doing so. And since your ghost clone has no physical energy, that limits your options to just two at least in theory. You could split your ghost clone into three, but that’s just ‘in theory’ because of what it takes to share your senses with a detached fragment of your soul. Even Ryūzetsu-ue is limited to three, and she has decades of experience with your shared kekkei genkai that you lack. You could speak with each of the three of them in turn, but that would be slower and would rob you of the simple pleasure of being around your friends (even if it’s for ‘business’ purposes).That means the plan is going to be a bit overly complicated.As you’ve learned over the years by switching places with your ghost clone using hiraishin, that clone can still be moved around to any location where you’ve already left a marking. In this case, you want to send it to the shrike forest to find your partner Kiburi.She’s in the middle of preening herself when you do find her. [Kiburi-san, I need your help with something.]She starts for a moment before quickly collecting herself. “Shiki-san, to what do I owe the surprise?”[Sorry to bother, but I’m trying to create some shadow clones without drawing attention to myself – would you be willing to do a cooperative ninjutsu, lending me your physical energy?]“Sure, not a problem.”After ‘possessing’ Kiburi through your ghost and synchronizing (as close as is possible) your spiritual energy with her own, you perform the shadow clone technique to spawn three copies of her body, which then transform themselves into versions of you. But given the unusual method of doing this, you have to ask…[So are the three of you…]“You?” one asks.“Yeah, we’re you,” the second assures you.“It was definitely interesting being a bird though,” the third muses. “But yeah, we’re all Shiki clones, not Kiburi clones.”“This is always weird to watch,” Kiburi-san admits. “Isn’t it weird to you to have a conversation with yourself?”[Sometimes,] you acknowledge.“It’d be worse if Shiki weren’t a generally agreeable person,” the second clone points out.“True,” the first agrees.>1/2
