The Jounin Quest
is a Spacebattles Forum Quest created and told in the second person by Rihaku, set in the Narutoverse.
The quest revolves around Haigara Noboru, the eponymous Jounin, who was promoted despite a baffling case of amnesia. He literally stumbled into the Hidden Village half a decade ago, skills intact, and memory utterly blank... with the exception of the page quote. Noboru's empty eye-sockets are sealed with a seemingly innocuous prayer strip, the preservation of which is, in Noboru's mind, a higher priority than the orders of the Sandaime himself. Thus far, our intrepid protagonist has faced down Kakuzu of Akatsuki engaged in a ruthless battle with The King of all Summons in order to gain his loyalty, and is currently pursuing a relationship with Daimyo Koyuki Kazahana, of Snow/Spring Country. Simply by existing, Noboru has altered the course of history; the ship of canon has long since vanished into the distance. His past may be occluded, but we have the ability to chart his future.
Essentially, this is the story of an original character created by the collective minds of the Spacebattlers that frequent the BROB sub-forum; decisions are made in a semi-democratic fashion, but the GM may choose to grant greater weight to elaborate and well-articulated arguments. The thread is currently well on its way to breaking the five hundred page mark, and we are always looking for more participants; Spacebattles wants YOU to join this quest.
Recently gained the honor of being one of the few quests to be finished properly to its end, three days short of a month after it started, 820 pages in
- And I Must Scream: Obito's fate was not a pleasant one, although it's hard to feel sorry for him after he killed Shikamaru
- Audience Participation
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Noboru vs Zabuza and Haku. A shadow clone with a fifth of Noboru's chakra was able to incapacitate and capture both of them and take over Gato's shipping empire alone.
- Noboru has a rather...interesting definition of 'Incapacitate'. Namely it involves removing the limbs temporarily so the prisoner can not easily fight back.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Celestial Sage Mode. Even Baihu avoids prolonged use of it.
- Death by Adaptation:
- Gaara is matched up against Naruto and taunts him, saying that he'll kill everyone Naruto holds dear after the exams. Naruto promptly draws on his Cursed Seal and the Kyuubi chakra to utterly destroy him such that even Noboru couldn't heal him.
- Tobi kills Shikamaru to punish Noboru for not signing on to Akatsuki.
- Enemy Mine: Given the danger the existence of the Orochimaru/Kakuzu hybrid represents, Noboru has formally agreed to a truce with Itachi and Kisame, and has joined forces with the Acting Mizukage to hunt down the abomination.
- Eye Scream: the risk of purging Hinata's cursed seal. Also, part of what was done to Obito
- Fastball Special: Used against Orochikazu. Itachi is the 'ball', and Noboru throws him to create an opening to use the Sword of Totsuka to seal the Orochimaru half of the abomination.
- Kaiju: Kakuzumaru's final form is a one-hundred and eight headed hydra so massive it blots out the sky.
- Ninjas: Tons of them, with a smattering of the highly visible kind, which is expected of the setting.
- O.C. Stand-in: massive spoilers: Noboru used to be called Uchiha Shisui
- Panthera Awesome: Noboru forms a contract with the Great Cats, specifically with the King of all Beasts, Baihu, the Legendary White Tiger.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Literally every S-rank ninja that appears. Fights between two such colossi are visceral and terrifying, in addition to hard on the scenery.
- Playing with Fire: Fire is one of Noboru's chakra affinities, and the element of his most destructive techniques, Sheer Heat and Grand Annihilation.
- Renaissance Man: Noboru has mastered medical jutsu, has taijutsu skills that put Gai to shame, is possibly the best ninjutsu master in the world, and is no slouch when it comes to kenjutsu.
- Due to a quirk in his physiology, which is believed to be related to the seal, he is unable to use Genjutsu, but is still highly knowledgeable in its workings.
- You might read this and be tempted to call shenanigans, but when you consider the enemies he's made... All the talent in the world seems inadequate.
- Sadistic Choice: Tobi offers on to Noboru- either join Akatsuki (under a Magically-Binding Contract to force him to be loyal), or Tobi will try to break him emotionally and then kill him. Noboru chose to decline, which directly lead to Shikamaru's death.
- Super-Speed: Pretty much embodies Noboru's philosophy when it comes to life. For him, faster is always better.
- He has gone so far as to indoctrinate his Genin Team Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuga Hinata into his 'Doctrine of Speed.'
- In recent events, he's created an S-Rank 'Perpetual Body Flicker', which integrates his Body Flicker (or Shunshin) into his chakra circulatory system so it can be a continuous state at no chakra cost, which wouldn't be a problem except he's been growing practically addicted to his speed.
- Case in point, when meeting with Shikamaru, he complains that were it not him, the sluggishness of conversation would be unbearable. And that's before he actually creates the technique.
- He has gone so far as to indoctrinate his Genin Team Uzumaki Naruto, Nara Shikamaru, Hyuga Hinata into his 'Doctrine of Speed.'
- Tiger Versus Dragon: Baihu's backstory is this. Baihu is essentially the reason why there are no dragon summons in this story.
- Wham Episode: In the three months since his defeat Kakuzu defected from Akatsuki and has joined up with Orochimaru. They fused into a single being and attacked Noboru's genin during the Chunin exams and have marked them with a new and improved curse seal. Oh, and Jiraiya is dead, because this Kakuzu/Orochimaru hybrid wanted his heart.
- Yamato Nadeshiko: Haigara Noboru was named by Sarutobi Hiruzen, his name meaning 'rise from the ashes'; he only agrees on the 'ashes' part, but trusts that the Sandaime can see something of value inhim. He also stutters until he speeds up.
- Despite his stuttering, his knowledge and strength leave an interesting impression on fellow Yamato Nadeshiko and student Hyuga Hinata.Hinata: I’M GLAD THAT YOU’RE TOTALLY LAME BECAUSE I’M LAME TOO AND IT MAKES ME NOT SCARED TO LEARN AND I PROMISE I’LL WORK HARD TO REPAY YOU FOR ALL THE WORK YOU’VE DONE FOR ME!
- And of course, Noboru responds appropriately:
Noboru: Geez, it’s n-not like I think you’re a g-g-good student or anything. S-Stupid! It wasn’t even that much work!
- Despite his stuttering, his knowledge and strength leave an interesting impression on fellow Yamato Nadeshiko and student Hyuga Hinata.
