Chapter 863 : Negotiations!

‘I knew it!’ Hiruzen thought as he was once again caught off guard by Fujin's request! At the same time, Tsunade's eyes widened. She never anticipated Fujin to make such a request.

The Edo Tensei jutsu was a forbidden jutsu. And, it was the most dreaded one among all of Konoha's forbidden jutsus. As for how many ethical lines it crossed, there was no need for anyone to debate that. The jutsu was downright disgusting and extremely dark. It wasn't a jutsu that could be passed along lightly.

Tsunade thought, ‘First souls, then cellular activity, then hormonal manipulation and now the Edo Tensei jutsu… How long has it been since I returned to the village? Since when did it become normal to ask for so many favors from the Hokage? Even Orochimaru was given access to them over a few decades despite being so close to Sensei. Did Sensei become more generous in his later years?’

She glanced towards Hiruzen and his expression immediately gave her the answer. She thought, ‘So, Sensei faced this problem too. The Edo Tensei jutsu… Should I allow him access to it?’

Tsunade wondered the question deeply. Hiruzen could only sigh at being trapped again by Fujin and pondered the same question. Their initial thoughts were the same - a clear ‘No’!

Even if they ignored the chaos and danger such a jutsu may cause, the jutsu was so dark that it could affect the casters' mentality. Orochimaru was the best example of this. He delved into so many forbidden jutsus that his mind was thoroughly corrupted by them.

His corruption was so drastic that Hiruzen, who once wanted Orochimaru to succeed him, firmly opposed his candidacy for the Fourth Hokage's seat, preferring Jiraiya and Minato over him. Even after Minato's death, Hiruzen didn't hand Orochimaru the seat. Eventually, Orochimaru not only experimented illegally on Konoha's citizens but also attacked the village and attempted to kill Hiruzen, his Sensei.

While Hiruzen and Tsunade didn't think Fujin would follow Orochimaru's path, Fujin was still very young. They didn't want him to be exposed to such jutsus for the time being. However, before they could decline Fujin's request, they faced a dilemma.

Even though Fujin's request seemed absurd at first glance, it wasn't so. Fujin wasn't just a young ninja. He was a rank S ninja and a terrifying one at that. While he lacked experience, there was no doubt that his strength was sufficient for the Hokage position. His performance in negotiations with Kusagakure and Sunagakure also showed he wasn't lacking in maturity needed for the seat either.

Considering these factors, Fujin's request was reasonable, especially considering he wanted it to deal with a grave danger the village was facing. So, they couldn't dismiss him like they could dismiss someone like Naruto.

Thinking quickly, Hiruzen sighed and said, “It's useless. The jutsu has no weakness. You can deal it only by sealing the reanimated ninjas or forcing the caster to release the jutsu.”

Fujin frowned, “How could you force the caster to release the jutsu?”

Hiruzen answered, “One way is Genjutsu. The Sharingan can be used to place him under a Genjutsu and make him release the jutsu. Unfortunately, all the Uchiha in the village are still in the academy. We can only wait for them to mature so that we can explore this option.”

Fujin raised an eyebrow and said, “Even if they mature, I doubt Genjutsu would work much on Orochimaru if he gets Sasuke's body. The only way then would be if you can hire the Akatsuki and make them send Itachi to take care of it. However, I suspect that isn't exactly an option for us, is it?”

Once again, Fujin left the teacher-student duo speechless. Both were more than startled by his words. Though it was momentarily, Fujin noticed Tsunade's expression and thought, ‘My speculations were on point. Hiruzen told her. That is why Koharu and Homura are so quiet after being dismissed from the council…’

While Fujin wasn't supposed to know Itachi's truth, Hiruzen and Tsunade knew Itachi was still loyal to the village. In addition, Orochimaru was also being hunted down by Akatsuki. So, there was a chance that this bizarre scenario could happen, though they would need to scheme a lot in the background. However, it wasn't something they could say to Fujin.

Tsunade coughed, “Of course not. It'd be equivalent to inviting more trouble than resolving our current ones.”

Fujin immediately said, “Exactly! That is why we need to find alternative ways to counter the Edo Tensei jutsu. If we don't and Orochimaru begins using it again and maintains the same alertness, then our losses will keep increasing!”

Needless to say, since Fujin finally decided that it was the right time to ask, he didn't intend to back off easily. His words forced Tsunade to think, ‘He's right. We can't simply wait hoping things work in our favor. However, this is a jutsu Granduncle created. No one ever found a weakness in this jutsu including him. Could Fujin find one?’

Unlike her, Hiruzen's thoughts were entirely different. He thought, ‘He hasn't changed one bit. As usual, he has the perfect arguments to get what he wants. It's just like the time he forced me to fund his sword. Unfortunately, the jutsu is just too dark. I can't risk him following Orochimaru's path. It'll be too big of a risk.’

Before Tsunade could fall into Fujin's trap, Hiruzen shook his head and said, “As I said, it is pointless. This isn't a newly created jutsu. It has been over half a century and no one in the village or outside it found a counter. Edo Tensei has no other weakness.”

Tsunade turned her head towards Hiruzen and wondered, ‘He's still refusing?’
Fujin sighed internally, ‘As I suspected, he doesn't want to give it to me… Sigh, this will be tough…’

Fujin softly said, “If there is no other counter, then we can only use it as a counter.”
Hiruzen's expressions became serious, “Are you suggesting what you think I am?”
Fujin nodded. Tsunade realized, ‘No wonder he rejected Fujin's request…’
Hiruzen shook his head and said, “Using Edo Tensei is a humiliation and an insult of our predecessors. We shouldn't…”
Fujin interrupted him, “We don't need to reanimate our predecessors. We can reanimate our enemies and use them to fight Orochimaru when he uses Edo Tensei against us. Only then will we limit our losses.”

Hiruzen replied, “That could have worked, if we could increase the power that the reanimated ninjas possess. The Edo Tensei jutsu that we have barely reanimates the ninjas with a fraction of their power. Orochimaru could maintain rank S strength in his reanimations. The most we can do with our reanimations is use them for performing suicide attacks.”

Fujin frowned and asked, “Since Orochimaru could improve upon the jutsu, why can't we improve it too? While there is no telling what sort of experiments he did after leaving the village, I don't think his expertise in Ninjutsu should be anywhere close to yours. Not to mention, you have an entire village to help you.”

Since Fujin realized Hiruzen didn't want to give him the Edo Tensei jutsu, he could only think of other ways to make Hiruzen cough it out. The best method was none other than making Hiruzen improve it. Not only would it reduce Fujin's work, he could also get insights on how forbidden jutsus were researched.

And since he wasn't directly asking for the jutsu, there was a high chance Hiruzen would be more accommodating. As he expected, Hiruzen had fallen into a deep thought. Tsunade glanced at him and thought, ‘Now that Sasuke is no longer in the village, he won't have much to do after he remasters his chakra control. This could be a good way to spend time. However, his soul is still injured. Researching Edo Tensei in his state isn't recommended. Unfortunately, I don't think he'll care much about his health. I'll need to properly monitor his health if he decides to do it…’

Much as Tsunade speculated, Hiruzen was considering it seriously. He glanced at Fujin and thought, ‘Not a bad idea. I can't think of a disadvantage of accepting it. However, there's no doubt he wants in on the research. Keeping him out of it for years will be a headache. I could lie about the progress to avoid him from pestering me, but I'm worried he might convert those over hundred Anbu Trainees into hundred pranksters like Naruto if I decline his requests for too long. The village will be a mess!’

Hiruzen sighed and said, “In my current state, I'm not sure if I can handle such a research. However, this is a good idea, Fujin. Once I recover to an extent, I'll start working on this.”