<Snipped quote> BTW. Speaking of, what exactly are the AU of this setting. Can you give a general rundown? Are the Hokage still the canon Hokages?
<Snipped quote> For the bell test equivalent, Hikari would probably bring them to a training ground, and tell them to 'survive' for 30 minutes as she pelted them with blunted arrows.
I haven't really thought about it! I'm just making things up as I go along, haha. In my mind, the roles are still there but the people are different. You can contribute your ideas if you want, the lore can be a group effort.
Yessss!! - I love this idea! Pelt the children with arrows. I thought the bell test was the practical test.
I haven't really thought about it! I'm just making things up as I go along, haha. In my mind, the roles are still there but the people are different. You can contribute your ideas if you want, the lore can be a group effort.
Gotcha. All right, one more question. Just for the sake of uniformity, are we using the localized terminology (technique instead of jutsu, master instead of sensei, Mr. instead of -san and so on or...?
Yessss!! - I love this idea! Pelt the children with arrows. I thought the bell test was the practical test.
They should be glad it's pelted arrows, unlike the suna infiltrators, they don't have to say, 'I used to be a shinobi like you, then I took an arrow in the knee.
Anyway, I think in canon, they passed the academy tests and then were given the secret tests to be on a genin team with the teachers. Fanon often send those that fail to the 'genin corps' while afaik in canon failed ones were supposed to be sent back to the academy (at least that's what Kakashi said).
Gotcha. All right, one more question. Just for the sake of uniformity, are we using the localized terminology (technique instead of jutsu, master instead of sensei, Mr. instead of -san and so on or...?
Hmm, it doesn't bother me, if the group wants to uniform it, we can.
I get you! We can talk about it. The practical in Boruto was to ring a bell attached to Kakashi.
Oh, you meant the "Jonin test"? I was talking about the actual standardized Academy graduation test stuff. How a Jonin tests their potential team is another thing entirely and totally up to them, so I could easily see it being more "nonstandard" or whatever else they feel like.
@RandomguyWhen you write Shinya's reply, you should mention that he senses bug jutsu chakra from the paralyzed ninja.
You mean that the paralysis is caused by bug jutsu? Are the bugs still there and just paralyzing them or are they sucking enough to the point the ninjas can die?
You mean that the paralysis is caused by bug jutsu? Are the bugs still there and just paralyzing them or are they sucking enough to the point the ninjas can die?
There are no bugs there, just lingering bug jutsu chakra. Whoever paralyzed them has an affinity for bugs. Or bug.
I am waiting for @Lewascan2 before making my now-daily post, btw.
OK, don't worry! There's no post limit. I'll never kick anyone, haha.
Gotcha. All right, one more question. Just for the sake of uniformity, are we using the localized terminology (technique instead of jutsu, master instead of sensei, Mr. instead of -san and so on or...?
I'm planning to just use whatever I feel like tbh. When I feel like actually making an effort, I'll sprinkle in Japanese for funzies.
Ehh, if I look at it from a more objective perspective, I already rather dislike the original bell test. It's inherently unfair as a concept, since the testees are lied to and basically have to luck into passing. To actually standardize that nonsense? Bleh. Clearly some nepotism in play to have a final test based entirely on ideology, rather than actual practical skill. Kakashi basically says this outright; they passed the moment they worked together, regardless of skill or actual success. This is an incredibly unwise passing standard that would (in any real scenario) just get these students killed in the field. Having competent individual skill, a proper foundation, is far more important than teamwork, no matter what Kakashi would like to claim. Teamwork can easily come later, but it doesn't matter if you can't carry your own weight. Overreliance on teamwork just turns you into canon fodder to be mowed down by the newest badass on the block (which Naruto inhabitants should be well aware are a thing; literally the Bingo Book). That test just feels irresponsible, tbh.
Although, the bell test being used on Boruto's class is noted to be because his class was filled with "troublemakers" and students that otherwise don't take being a ninja seriously, something Kakashi blames Boruto for. The Bell Test (and derivatives) only seems to be broken out if the students actually look like they need it (or if Kakashi is given more influence than he should be :V).
P E R S O N A L I T Y Numachi is a young man who has always had to contend with high expectations. Even more so, he strove to meet those expectations with everything he had because he wanted to be the person who could do so, even if he did lack the natural talent or gifts that others seemed to be born with to make it all happen so easily. A quiet and serious person who never really had time to socialize or have fun growing up, Numachi is completely comfortable in a professional situation while awkward and bashful in more relaxed social environments.
Numachi is a religious follower of his clan's faith... through he is quite secretive about the details of his religion. He is just as secretive about what actually happens on Mure lands. He is somewhat new to teaching others, but if need be he will strive to take the time to actually help someone who clearly needs and wants the assistance.
B A C K S T O R Y When Numachi was born, his birth coincided with a number of omens of great fortune... at least according to Clan Mure's personal beliefs and faith. While this was unconnected to any prophecy or greater destiny, Numachi grew up with a great deal of expectation to live up to.
Numachi was not born talented or a genius like Hikari Hyuga or Satoshi Shimura. In fact in a number of important areas about being a shinobi, he was kind of dull or much slower to pick up on then other children his age in general, his clan or otherwise. However, his desire to live up to the hopes and expectations of his parents was a motivating force for him to try and remove distractions and focus as hard as possible in order to be worthy of the favored omens of Suwanpugōto. He was a somewhat lonely child as his focus on trying to improve himself always came first, leaving him very little time for friends or fun but he found he didn't mind the quiet and solitude that much.
Despite his efforts, Numachi wasn't the top of his class. Even once Hikari graduated early, Numachi was simply too much of an all rounder to really rise up to the top in any singular field. In the fullness of time he graduated and became a genin. However, unlike other Genin he didn't instantly start taking missions or jobs. Instead, he briefly withdrew into the Mure's holdings in order to undergo 'clan training'.
Exactly what this 'clan training' actually involved in a secret kept zealously by all members of clan Mure, but what can be revealed is that when Numachi walked out of the dark, swampy forest that they privately own he had been bestowed with a pair of strange horns that all shinobi of clan Mure possessed. He also seemed to have picked up a great deal of knowledge about Genjutsu that he didn't have before, favoring a more subtle usage of the art then most genjutsu 'masters' opted for.
While somewhat more aloof about things then he had been before, Numachi still took his responsibilities and desire to be better quite seriously. The relationship he had with his genin team was purely professional; While it was clear that they developed something of an understanding of each other and their abilities on missions or in combat situations, outside of work there was simply no social connection between Numachi and them. Once they had filed a mission report or finished up a training session, they just went their separate ways and did their own thing.
In time he was promoted in chuunin and once again disappeared into the realm of the Mure for 'clan training'. While he was gone for several days when he became a genin, he wasn't seen or heard from for over two months after his promotion. His return was without fanfare or explanation of his time 'missing', but he returned in much better physical shape then he had left... and a new trick. At some point, he had signed the mysterious summoning contract of the Mure clan.
Somewhat more recently, Numachi earned a promotion to Tokubetsu Jonin at the age of eighteen. He has only recently started the job and it is unclear how suited he is to it at this stage. Time will tell.
C H A K R A Earth and Water
A B I L I T I E S
Ninja Basics: Numachi has managed to build up and refine the basic requirements of being a shinobi to serve as a Tokubetsu Jonin.
Genjutsu Expert: Despite his own insistence and the insistence of other 'masters' that Numachi is not a genjutsu master, there is an argument to be made that he is one of the best genjutsu users in Konoha. Where other genjutsu users seem to prize the strength to trap enemies in big, often flashy illusions that they cannot break out of, Numachi favors subtly and tricking the mind into supporting the illusion. A personal favorite is to make his opponent think they are winning the fight; Make them believe attacks they launched connected when they didn't or blows they suffered they were able to dodge. Trick the mind into believing the fight is very much going in their favor... until it isn't.
Taijutsu Expert: The ultimate fundamental of all warriors, shinobi or otherwise. Numachi seems to know several different fighting styles that he is practiced and knowledgeable enough to make use of and flow between them as required. He doesn't seem to be a master of any individual style however.
Summoner: Numachi is a summoner of the Mure family contract. The popular theory is that the Mure family have a contract with goat summons, however the summons themselves are... strange. While they tend to be goat like in whatever form they take, they seem to be some sort of fusion of plant and animal, through no one outside of the Mure clan seem to have any idea what kind of plants are involved.
E Q U I P M E N T
Standard Shinobi Kit The standard kit shinobi carry for fieldwork. Contains pouches with kunai and shuriken, basic first aid and some rations.
What little is known about Clan Mure.
Clan Mure is secretive by its nature and actual facts are hard to come by. Rumors surround the clan and its practices, but politically they have long been champions for the rights of individuals and privacy. While this has largely been on a clan level, they have fought for non-clan shinobi and even common people on occasion.
The clan joined Konoha shortly after the 1st Great War came to a close and have been apart of the village ever since. Occasionally one of their members will pop up in the villages history as a person of note, but normally as a 'side character' or 'supporting actor' to a more historically recognized figure.
Mure shinobi are instantly recognizable because they all have horns. Whenever a member of the clan becomes a recognized shinobi, they disappear into the swampy forest lands of their clan for an unknown period of time for 'training'. When they return, they will have a pair of horns growing out of their head. As they grow older, the horns will naturally start to grow more goat like. Exactly how and why this happens, the clan keeps secret... through it has to be said, some degree of training seems to be happening because when they reappear, the shinobi in question has developed in some manner in a noticeable amount.
As they grow older and receive higher ranks, Mure shinobi will return to their clan lands for additional training. There is a persist rumor about the clan that sometimes a shinobi will disappear into their clan lands for training and never return. The clan neither confirms or deny the rumor.
Clan Mure has a personal religion that it adheres to, but which they are also highly secretive about. By and large, Konoha at large only knows one solid detail about the Mure Clan's faith: It involves an entity called Suwanpugōto. Everything else about it is rumor and guesswork, since Clan Mure don't speak about it with outsiders. The Hokage and a select number of important figures of Konoha's government have been enlightened as to the nature of their religion and its practices. Not all of them, but enough to make it clear that Mure is loyal to Konoha and that its faith isn't a security threat to it or its citizens.
The Truth about Suwanpugōto
No one really knows what Suwanpugōto is. Some claim it is a demon, others that it is a god or deity... and yet more believe it might be something completely different from both. What is known is that it isn't a tailed beast, for Suwanpugōto was old when they started to walk the world.
Suwanpugōto normally takes the form of a giant goat made out of meat and plant matter. Suwanpugōto slumbers in a temple dedicated to it that lays hidden away in the swampy forest lands of Clan Mure; It has slept in that temple since before the ancestors of Clan Mure found it and it has not awoken to this day. But Suwanpugōto dreams... and it is possible to reach out and enter their dream and become infused with their power and inhuman knowledge. As far as deities are concerned, Suwanpugōto is actually fairly friendly towards humans that interact with it... through there are still dangers to doing so.
More then once, a shinobi of Clan Mure has had their mind shatter due to the knowledge that Suwanpugōto gave them. Not because it intended to do so, but simply because the human mind couldn't handle it. Much rarer, someone communing with Suwanpugōto will be completely overwhelmed and physically transformed, losing their humanity completely in order to become a young version of the creature Suwanpugōto is. The clan views this transformation in a positive light, for it means they were selected to become apart of Suwanpugōto's herd, adding not just an extra summon to the contract but possibly creating a whole new family of summons to call upon in the future.
Communing with Suwanpugōto successfully still physically alters the human in the process. The clear sign of this is a pair of horns that will start growing out of their head and become more goat like with age, but there is a subtle transformation as well; Suwanpugōto's chakra alters the chakra of the human body to be much like itself, giving them affinity towards water and earth.
Clan Mure keep Suwanpugōto secret for a reason: They fear that if the wider village knew about them, some of them would attempt to weaponize Suwanpugōto in the manner of the tailed beasts... or worse, wake it up. They don't know what will happen if Suwanpugōto is forcefully awoken from their slumber, but know deep in their soul that it would be Bad.
@Lewascan2OK, haha! You're really passionate about it. We can do whatever, I don't mind!
I'm just of the school of thought that though Kakashi is a good person, he's a really not a very good teacher unless he's forced to be. He's an unideal instructor to use as an example for the masses, evidenced in no small part by the fact that all three of his students ended up having to abandon him as a teacher to actually get anywhere notable.
I like it. Suwanpugōto feels very Lovecraftian horror. From the backstory I guess he's part of the class Hikari would be in if she didn't graduate early, so they probably have talked at one point or another.
Also, is he supposed to be a jonin teacher? I guess this opens up a spot for @Vertigo (?)
I'm just of the school of thought that though Kakashi is a good person, he's a really not a very good teacher unless he's forced to be. He's an unideal instructor to use as an example for the masses, evidenced in no small part by the fact that all three of his students ended up having to abandon him as a teacher to actually get anywhere notable.
Funnily enough, out of Asuma, Kurenai, and Kakashi...Kakashi is probably the best teacher out of them? He got sasuke to be on Lee's level of speed in a month, while teaching him chidori on top of it. Sakura was also implied to have been trained on genjutsu by Kakashi to the point she dispelled a genjutsu that had many veteran ninja falling asleep to during the Suna invasion. And Naruto...well Jiraiya got Naruto to do a bigger rasengan in 3 years, Kakashi had a few days (weeks?) and had Naruto making rasenshuriken, something Minato couldn't do.
Meanwhile, I haven't seen any of Kurenai's team displaying anything that seems like was learned from her. I get they're not genjutsu users but come on, would be cool if they'd have a scene of them dispelling genjutsu and going, 'Pfft...it's nothing compared to Kurenai's'. While Asuma, uh...why none of team 10 had a knife with chakra conducting metal like Asuma is kinda weird. Considering after he died, Shikamaru used the knife and do stuff like pinning people by stabbing their shadow with the knife while having his chakra on it.
I rather like some of the fanon interpretation that the Jonin teacher is less a technical teacher but more mentor for shinobi life. So more taking them on mission, imparting the 'will of fire' and all that, with some extra training on the side. But yeah, the bell test is definitely more ideological. IIRC it's supposed to be passed down from Tobirama to Hiruzen to Jiraiya to Minato to Kakashi.
