"Better than you, Sensei?" Shoma asked in surprise.
Fujin smiled and nodded. He said, "Anyway, all of you are exhausted. Take today off. We'll start our training session tomorrow."
As excited as the kids were, they were barely able to stand. The clash with Hoka had left them completely drained. They nodded and went to their rooms to take a nice long nap. Luckily, none of them were injured as Hoka was careful to ensure he didn't hurt them too much and Fujin had healed whatever injuries they still got.
Standing alone in the training ground, Fujin entered deep in thought. If his students or Hoka saw him at this moment, they would think Fujin was planning the training of his students based on their recent talks. However, Fujin's mind was in an entirely different place. He wondered, 'Now then, how do I get my hands on Edo Tensei jutsu?'
The problem was a rather complicated one. There was a reason Fujin wanted to gain it easily by leveraging his relationship with Hiruzen. Unfortunately, Hiruzen had displayed that he had no intention of giving forbidden jutsus of that level to Fujin just yet. The old man was adamant. Fujin couldn't weasel his way in with some sort of deal like he usually did.
Of course, it wasn't as if Fujin didn't have an idea of the reason behind Hiruzen's decision. It hadn't been too long since Konoha was attacked by one of his former students. Unlike a village like Kumogakure, the danger Konoha faced was far more often from within than outside. This had especially increased a lot in the latter part of Hiruzen's regime, with several Konoha ninjas being a victim of his or Danzo's policies. So, it wasn't as if he was completely innocent in this matter either. Regardless, he didn't want this state of affairs to continue in the next generation.
Fujin sighed and returned to his home to relax and make a thorough plan. He sat in his meditation room as several ideas clashed in his mind. Needless to say, the very first idea in his mind was the most obvious one - using his Akuro identity to steal the techniques from Konoha, just like he had done in Kumogakure.
However, Fujin shook his head and sighed again, 'No, there are too many complications. There's a lot of scope for things to go horribly wrong…'
The very first complication was Akuro's nature. He had brutally killed Kumogakure ninjas to get what he wanted. Even though he had tapered down recently, his bloodthirsty nature was well known.
If Fujin were to use his Akuro's disguise to steal from Konoha, he would be expected to mercilessly cut down any one in his path, irrespective of whether he was close to that person or not. Any hesitation or refusal to kill would raise suspicions. Especially since Fujin planned on teaching Yuji the Lightning Chakra Mode.
Fujin thought, 'That said, I could side-step this complication by simply not fighting. Other villages should soon learn of my recent clash against Darui's squad and that I spared all their lives. I don't think they'll learn of Akuro's belief in karma, but that shouldn't matter much.
Not to mention, Kumogakure didn't have a single rank S ninja when I ransacked it. By comparison, Tsunade and Hiruzen always stay within the village. My absence from the village isn't known to others, so I'll be expected to be here as well. Kakashi and Guy are also in the village when not on missions. And there's Danzo, the Shinobi of Darkness, who's current strength is a mystery to almost everyone.
Akuro not wanting to pick up a fight here wouldn't be too strange. No famous ninja in the world would dare to take on such a line up. Forget the rest, just Hiruzen, who is back on his feet after defeating Orochimaru and sealing a dozen former Kages, is a massive deterrent for any ninja at that level.
So, Akuro escaping immediately after being discovered won't raise too many eyebrows. Of course, there will be a small drawback of Akuro's prestige being slightly lowered, but that wouldn't be much. After all, Darui's squad is still alive despite so many clashes with me. And, Akuro hasn't fought against a ninja at the top of the ninja world like Ay or Onoki. Most villages, including Konoha, speculate Akuro to be a ninja at that level and not someone beyond it.
So, this can deal with the first problem. Unfortunately, this is just the start…'
The next problem for Fujin was a rather peculiar one. It was Fuinjutsu! Konoha's Fuinjutsu was ahead of the other villages by an entire level. Fujin had benefited heavily from it. However, therein lay the problem.
In terms of using Fuinjutsu in the battlefield, Fujin had a clear edge over other Grandmasters. With the exception of forbidden techniques like the Reaper Death Seal, no one came close to how Fujin had incorporated Fuinjutsu into his combat style.
However, that didn't imply Fujin was the best Grandmaster. Unlike Fujin, the remaining Grandmasters focused on creating seals that had other applications. Every Grandmaster had created several such unique seals, which they rarely shared with others. Fujin was still in the dark about what they could do.
For several years, Fujin fell short of the other Grandmasters in this area purely due to his youth. He only overcame it when he created the Myriad Tetragram Seal, which was unarguably one of the most powerful seals ever created by ninjas. However, just creating such a seal didn't mean Fujin could magically deal with the seals created by other Grandmasters without studying them.
Due to the vast number of Grandmasters who lived in Konoha, the vast heritage of the many ninja clans in the village, and most importantly, their relationship with the Uzumaki Clan, Konoha had a vast collection of such seals. Though Fujin studied some, either openly or in secret, there were many he couldn't.
While those seals couldn't be used for village walls, there were several of them used within important places inside the village. Those were the places he would have to search, making his job much more difficult. The difficulty would be several levels higher than what he had done in Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Fujin thought, 'If it was just these issues, it still wouldn't have stopped me. These seals can't stop Flying Thunder God jutsu. I'd escape and retry until I figured out every secret of these seals. Unfortunately…'
A helpless smile appeared on Fujin's face. He didn't know where the scrolls for Edo Tensei and other forbidden techniques were kept… the Scroll of Sealing was merely a bait to lure greedy individuals. Fujin didn't know where the real scrolls were. It was important to remember that Fujin found no traces of Dust Release when he ransacked the Tsuchikage building. Though he found the Third Raikage's notes on how he created the Lightning Chakra Mode, he found nothing about the final version of the Lightning Chakra Mode in Kumogakure.
So, finding what he wanted in Konoha would be equally difficult, if not harder due to the above complications. Fujin decided, 'No, Akuro's way wouldn't work in Konoha. I'll needlessly expose myself too much. Also, Akuro appearing after Hiruzen refused to give me Edo Tensei will create even more suspicions. Sigh… I need to think of another way. I don't mind if that way creates even more suspicion as long as I have a higher chance of getting what I want…'
Fujin continued sitting in the meditation room, thinking of every possible way he could get his hands on the Edo Tensei jutsu. Minutes turned into hours as Fujin sat like a statue. The Sun eventually set and a couple of hours later, the last candle in his room burnt out, engulfing the room in complete darkness.
At that very instant, an idea clicked in Fujin's mind. Fujin tossed the idea away almost immediately due to how absurd and risky it was. However, he couldn't help but come back to it. As he analyzed it, the idea took root deep within him. Eventually, Fujin muttered, "Yeah… Why not? It'll be like killing two birds with one stone. If it works, I'll get everything I want from Hiruzen and perhaps even more. However, can this even be done? If so, how can I do this?"
Once again, Fujin fell deep into thoughts, thinking of ways to bring his absurd idea to life. Fujin analyzed for another half an hour before concluding, 'Not only is this absurdly difficult to implement, but there are so many variables and risks that it's almost impossible for things to happen how I want… I need something. Something impactful and alluring. However, what can that be?'
Fujin continued thinking through the night, thinking of countless ways to implement his idea and tossing all of them out. As the Sun rose, Fujin sighed, 'Whatever, there's no hurry to implement this… No, I can't hurry even if I could implement this idea. Hiruzen has just rejected me. I need to wait for at least a month or two before making my move. It gives me plenty of time to create a good plan. I can only hope it'll work…'
Fujin stretched his body as he finally got up. He left his basement and was greeted by the sunrays. Surprise appeared on his face as he thought, 'Jeez, I stayed up through the night planning this… Oh well, at least I have an idea of where to start. It's time to guide them and make my exit.'
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