Comment on Connecting the Dots

  1. Holmlock_Shears on Chapter 33 Wed 05 Jun 2024 09:41PM UTC

    I'm almost a little sad that we couldn't find an excuse to use Spectre's assertion "At no time did I offer you hope."

    But, this was a pretty fun ride, although even with the time skip, the Sasuke redemption feels... Abrupt. I get that the Spectre put him on course to reevaluate his life, but by that time he had committed a LOT of serious crimes in his world, was outlawing manufacturing of firearms really such a big concession that the other Kages were willing to pardon Sasuke's history as an international terrorist AND let him take on the role of a bona fide Head of State for a newly established "Hidden Village"?

    I suppose odder has happened in this world, and the way this version of the war went, war weariness was probably a big factor, paired with concerns about the fact that civilians were now armed and capable of protecting themselves, too.

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    1. JD_Kloosterman on Chapter 33 Thu 06 Jun 2024 08:58PM UTC

      Artistic Ogre

      It's perhaps a stretch, yeah. Honestly this last chapter was a tag-on, I submitted it nearly a year after the others just so I could announce that I was re-releasing the fanfic on DevART, which was maybe a bit crass of me. The story is probably stronger without it.

      I took the ninja's reaction to firearms from Edo Japan's own reaction to Western firearms--the ruling samurai class utterly banned their usage apart from specific licensed workers who created them only for the shogun. They were seen as too dangerous and something that could completely break down the established social order in Japan. Similarly here--the shinobi arguably don't like guns for the very specific reason that they eliminate the need for ninja. If anyone can use a grenade launcher, then rasengan is suddenly much less unique and Naruto much less in demand. So Tenten's arms business has the potential to entirely destroy the whole ninja way of life, as any savvy kage would know.

      Now, that being said, your real concern here is: is that still enough to let loose an armed terrorist like Sasuke? I suppose my assumption is that something like in canon happened and Sasuke helped the ninja alliance in some huge way that allowed for his pardoning. There's probably also an element of practicality here--who exactly are they going to send to take him down, if they decide to keep him on the wanted nin list? So they have a choice between constantly losing ninja to trying to bring him to justice or just saying "fine, we're even, but don't do it again." In which case, the main concession is the creation of a new ninja village.

      On reflection, that's probably the largest problem here: Who is Sasuke's Sound Village actually working for? The other villages are working for Elemental Countries, but it's not like you can invent a new Country. What sort of employment is Sasuke actually going to find for his ninja?

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