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The Waves Arisen
The Waves Arisen is a complete novel-length work of Rationalist Naruto Fanfiction. No prior knowledge of the Naruto universe is necessary to follow along.
A young Naruto found refuge in the village library, and grew up smart, but by blood he is Ninja, and what place is there for curiosity and calculation in this brutal world of warring states?
A young Naruto found refuge in the village library, and grew up smart, but by blood he is Ninja, and what place is there for curiosity and calculation in this brutal world of warring states?
322 pages, ebook
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 26, 2019
I realised I really enjoy reading stories where characters figure out how to exploit the rules / systems inside their fictional universe, and just take it to the absolute extreme.
I think the best word I can I can find to describe this phenomenon is 'munchkining' - a word which is usually used as more of a derogative term (in terms of anti-social tabletop gamers). It's defined along the lines of a player that metagames or optimises their way to winning the game, by means of loopholes in rules or bending them to their extreme. The sort of thing where someone might dig through the rulebook to find a way to combine spells which result in an infinite cycle of wish spells.
I like to I think this term could be used in a positive light too (this probably says more about my gaming preferences than anything...). Some systems & rules are so arbitrary and silly that they unfortunately lead to some really screwed up incentive structures (like the ninja world politics in Naruto). When things like organisational inertia, entrenched ideologies and dangerous traditions exist in real life, perhaps a bit of creative munchkining is just what we need.
Anyway, back to The Waves Arisen... I found it really fun to explore some truly absurd outcomes as a result of munchkining. If I had to summarise, Naruto basically uses algebra to game his power regeneration & cloning to take over the world.
I think the best word I can I can find to describe this phenomenon is 'munchkining' - a word which is usually used as more of a derogative term (in terms of anti-social tabletop gamers). It's defined along the lines of a player that metagames or optimises their way to winning the game, by means of loopholes in rules or bending them to their extreme. The sort of thing where someone might dig through the rulebook to find a way to combine spells which result in an infinite cycle of wish spells.
I like to I think this term could be used in a positive light too (this probably says more about my gaming preferences than anything...). Some systems & rules are so arbitrary and silly that they unfortunately lead to some really screwed up incentive structures (like the ninja world politics in Naruto). When things like organisational inertia, entrenched ideologies and dangerous traditions exist in real life, perhaps a bit of creative munchkining is just what we need.
Anyway, back to The Waves Arisen... I found it really fun to explore some truly absurd outcomes as a result of munchkining. If I had to summarise, Naruto basically uses algebra to game his power regeneration & cloning to take over the world.
August 22, 2021
I'd give this book 3.5 stars. My expectations going in were that this would be a HMPOR like book set in the world of Naruto. I sort of got what I wanted.
The protagonist is indeed rational and it's fun exploring the world of shinobi through the lens of such a protagonist. Seeing certain ideas dissected and simple algebra applied to solve problems related to fights was interesting. However, I felt like this novel massively overpowered the main characters and Naruto felt a little like a Gary Stu. In short, I enjoyed the exploration of the world, but the characters didn't feel properly developed and the problems were overcome a little too easily for my liking.
Also, I'd like to note that I watched Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden, so I had an idea about some of the things the author revealed. I think that it's a really good idea to first watch those two anime in full and then if you wanted a fun exploration of the world, read this book. Don't do it the other way around because too many important reveals are tossed out casually in the book.
The protagonist is indeed rational and it's fun exploring the world of shinobi through the lens of such a protagonist. Seeing certain ideas dissected and simple algebra applied to solve problems related to fights was interesting. However, I felt like this novel massively overpowered the main characters and Naruto felt a little like a Gary Stu. In short, I enjoyed the exploration of the world, but the characters didn't feel properly developed and the problems were overcome a little too easily for my liking.
Also, I'd like to note that I watched Naruto and Naruto Shippuuden, so I had an idea about some of the things the author revealed. I think that it's a really good idea to first watch those two anime in full and then if you wanted a fun exploration of the world, read this book. Don't do it the other way around because too many important reveals are tossed out casually in the book.
July 28, 2020
Good stuff.
Will read again, and again, ain again.
Will read again, and again, ain again.
July 3, 2017
The Waves Arisen is to me one of, if not THE best Naruto story ever written. It does suffer from some fairly hefty flaws, but the good parts more than make up for it and really cement it as one of the all-time greats.
The downsides are pretty recognizable, as this story suffers from some of the most common flaws that rationalist stories are known for among critics. The Hokage starts out by name dropping “game theory” for no real reason, though I’ll admit that the blend of modern aspects with feudal Japan does make for a really neat setting. Several overly long explanations later, the main character goes on to do what rationalist characters do best and starts to munchkin the setting by… calculating how much chakra is used up by various techniques. Huh?
Look, I get that the story is written for a very specific audience, but the geekery and number crunching does have to serve an actual point. As it is, the author writes several chapters with extended scenes in which Naruto does nothing but solve math problems. It’s not interesting to read, and it serves no real purpose to the story – the only payoff happens when Naruto exploits a technique in a way that’s so obvious that literally any other ninja could have done the same even without having any technical background, making all of the earlier setup scenes completely pointless. This also highlights the problem of having only one main character who is allowed to figure things out, while everyone else is designated NPC.
But, that about sums it up for the story’s problems. Sure, there is quite a bit of canon bashing, but occasionally it’s pretty funny and I know some people really enjoy it. And the good parts of the story more than make up for the issues: For one thing, the pacing is AMAZING. I have never before read a story where the plot goes along at such a breakneck pace, keeping the reader riveted at every step along the way. Part of this is due to the fact that the author is fantastically skilled at provoking reactions by using “show, not tell”. The ending to chapter 17 had me choking up in a way that few stories ever managed, rational or otherwise, and it did it with but a few words. Fantastic.
The setting is also really interesting and immersive. The characters are likable and have enough depth, and the story beautifully tackles the problem of having a ridiculous overpowered protagonist by making him a believable person with real flaws, and then placing him in a setting that is uniquely harsh and sometimes hilariously unforgiving. The end result is truly something to behold.
The downsides are pretty recognizable, as this story suffers from some of the most common flaws that rationalist stories are known for among critics. The Hokage starts out by name dropping “game theory” for no real reason, though I’ll admit that the blend of modern aspects with feudal Japan does make for a really neat setting. Several overly long explanations later, the main character goes on to do what rationalist characters do best and starts to munchkin the setting by… calculating how much chakra is used up by various techniques. Huh?
Look, I get that the story is written for a very specific audience, but the geekery and number crunching does have to serve an actual point. As it is, the author writes several chapters with extended scenes in which Naruto does nothing but solve math problems. It’s not interesting to read, and it serves no real purpose to the story – the only payoff happens when Naruto exploits a technique in a way that’s so obvious that literally any other ninja could have done the same even without having any technical background, making all of the earlier setup scenes completely pointless. This also highlights the problem of having only one main character who is allowed to figure things out, while everyone else is designated NPC.
But, that about sums it up for the story’s problems. Sure, there is quite a bit of canon bashing, but occasionally it’s pretty funny and I know some people really enjoy it. And the good parts of the story more than make up for the issues: For one thing, the pacing is AMAZING. I have never before read a story where the plot goes along at such a breakneck pace, keeping the reader riveted at every step along the way. Part of this is due to the fact that the author is fantastically skilled at provoking reactions by using “show, not tell”. The ending to chapter 17 had me choking up in a way that few stories ever managed, rational or otherwise, and it did it with but a few words. Fantastic.
The setting is also really interesting and immersive. The characters are likable and have enough depth, and the story beautifully tackles the problem of having a ridiculous overpowered protagonist by making him a believable person with real flaws, and then placing him in a setting that is uniquely harsh and sometimes hilariously unforgiving. The end result is truly something to behold.
January 2, 2018
3.6 stars.
I liked this story as a rational fiction.
The story isn't that amusing, there isn't much character development or interesting interactions. But it was enjoyable enough that kept me reading at a fast pace. There are some unique scenes that I enjoyed, but there were parts that I didn't like, even parts that I hated.
But I rated this book as a rational fiction. I've read HPMoR and this book definitely reminds me of it, but HPMoR was much more educational than the Waves Arisen, even if you consider their respective volume. but it was better than a lot of other so-called "rational" fictions out there.
So I recommend it to people who like a rational protagonist.
I liked this story as a rational fiction.
The story isn't that amusing, there isn't much character development or interesting interactions. But it was enjoyable enough that kept me reading at a fast pace. There are some unique scenes that I enjoyed, but there were parts that I didn't like, even parts that I hated.
But I rated this book as a rational fiction. I've read HPMoR and this book definitely reminds me of it, but HPMoR was much more educational than the Waves Arisen, even if you consider their respective volume. but it was better than a lot of other so-called "rational" fictions out there.
So I recommend it to people who like a rational protagonist.
September 16, 2018
Started out well, but hiccuped a lot in the last few chapters when the author's sense of power scaling completely fell apart. (They're also pretty far from canon in a power-level sense in other areas, in a way that can be jarring -- in one case, two characters with no significant departures from the actual story fight and the results are dramatically different.)
Reasonably entertaining pseudo-rationalfic, which recognizes (like many other Naruto fics) that shadow clones are an inherently broken jutsu, but I'm still waiting for the Great American Naruto Rationalfic (as it were), which integrates more characters and builds a bigger world at a more realistic pace.
Reasonably entertaining pseudo-rationalfic, which recognizes (like many other Naruto fics) that shadow clones are an inherently broken jutsu, but I'm still waiting for the Great American Naruto Rationalfic (as it were), which integrates more characters and builds a bigger world at a more realistic pace.
September 26, 2020
The question everyone's been asking: is this actually written by the man E.Y. himself under a pseudonym?
I don't think so. Sure, the style is similar, with the awkward geekiness, preachiness, and the cool 7-colour theorem for tori. But the writing was somewhat shoddy, especially in the second half of the story; the explanations were not dumbed-down enough, and you just know that E.Y. would have lingered over the death scenes, various POV scenes, and liberally sprinkled about some Bayesian priors for good measure.
I don't think so. Sure, the style is similar, with the awkward geekiness, preachiness, and the cool 7-colour theorem for tori. But the writing was somewhat shoddy, especially in the second half of the story; the explanations were not dumbed-down enough, and you just know that E.Y. would have lingered over the death scenes, various POV scenes, and liberally sprinkled about some Bayesian priors for good measure.
November 17, 2018
Just incredible, I couldn't have asked for more. It over delivered on everything.
May 21, 2019
This was good. It could’ve been more fleshed out. I wish there was more focus on character development and slower plot progression. Even so, this was good.
May 15, 2025
Rating: [A]
I really enjoyed this, excellent ratfic 🐀.
I really enjoyed this, excellent ratfic 🐀.
December 31, 2025
A fun and easy read. Recommended if you like rat-fic.
November 10, 2023
A Naruto fanfic recommended by a friend after I complained about delays in the release of Jack Voraces's excellent Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality audiobook serialization. The Waves Arisen scratches one of the same itches as HPMR (playing with the rules of the source material's magic system), but with a disappointingly shallow insight into the characters. Only Naruto himself got some depth, and the author glossed over some big interesting questions (what are the tailed beasts and why do they want what they want? How can njinja and non-magic "civilians" coexist?) in favor of magic ninja battles. They were fun battles, but I'd recommend Will Wight's Cradle instead.
March 27, 2015
Has some really neat ideas for battles and power exploits, while still having credible threats to keep tension up. I’ve never seen a story where Shadow Clones work like this, and it did a good job of exploring the idea. The story also did a good job of communicating the problem with the world, the poor incentives that make everyone fight and die for ill-defined, connected reasons.
At first I thought there were some loose ends left, but when I thought about each of them, either they were resolved by tying into some later event, or their being unresolved helped to communicate the pointlessness of the world. So I don’t really have complaints on that front.
At first I thought there were some loose ends left, but when I thought about each of them, either they were resolved by tying into some later event, or their being unresolved helped to communicate the pointlessness of the world. So I don’t really have complaints on that front.
March 27, 2021
I started this off without any prior Naruto knowledge to contrast the rationalist experience with HPMOR. With a fleshed out magic system and characters with common sense who actually try to exploit magic in clever ways, this is hands down one of the funniest and wittiest fanfics. Simply put waves arisen is canon for me.
It still holds up well after a reread
It still holds up well after a reread
April 18, 2017
Rationalist approach to Naruto
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews