Chapter 842 : Emotional Rollercoaster!

‘Not only does Fujin have terrifying combat capabilities, but he also has an innovative mind. He also had early success as a diplomat and managed to restrict Danzo. Though it should be the clan leaders who forced Sensei's hand, it still shows his political acuity…

No wonder Sensei has such high hopes for him and has taken so many steps to improve Fujin's political standing. Creating a new position of the council, giving him Root trainees and letting him experience diplomacy at a young age... He must have also worked in the background to shield Fujin from political moves from the ones not happy about this.

Considering our next goal is to improve the village's strength to the next level, Fujin will be critical in more than one way.’

Until a few minutes ago, Tsunade just admired Fujin's combat strength, perseverance and found his diplomatic tactics amusing. However, her focus had changed to his innovative nature. She knew that Konoha would experience a period of peace. Combat prowess won't be too useful during such a period. Instead, the nurturing skills would take forefront until the world became chaotic again.

She could see that just the changes to the academy and the establishment of the Guidance Hall would result in a qualitative change in Konoha's forces. Unless the other Great Villages copied them, Konoha would have a terrifying edge in the next war.

Tsunade continued analyzing, ‘Also, just as I thought, he isn't greedy. Despite having an opportunity to earn hundreds of millions of Ryo or even over a billion, he selflessly gave everything to the village. He just gets a kick out of making deals like those…’

Tsunade’s hunch was confirmed when Shikaku informed her that Fujin didn't try to make any money from the Guidance Hall. As a result, his impression on her mind became much better. However, if she knew Fujin treated corrupt nobles as his personal bank, who could say what her thoughts would be? Or, if she knew that the ‘Hokage’ wasn't safe from Fujin's tendencies, would she still have such an impression of Fujin?

She said, “That's impressive. I didn't expect Fujin to have so many talents. Did he take any missions while in the Council?”

Shikaku nodded, “Yes, but very few were voluntarily. He just takes all elimination missions in a particular area once a while to kill his boredom. The rest were all specifically requested by Lord Third.”

Tsunade nodded and said, “Once again, just tell me the important ones.”

Shikaku said, “Well, the first one was in the Land of Hot Water, where he went to solve the mysteries of several missing ninjas. It ended up being a hunt for a Jashin fanatic called Hidan, who also attracted Akatsuki's attention.

Fujin solved the mystery and chased after him in the Land of Frost, until he had another encounter with Akatsuki. He took on Kakuzu, a formidable rogue ninja, and destroyed one of his hearts. Unfortunately, the two were evenly matched and Fujin couldn't destroy his remaining 4 hearts. He retreated after Itachi and a rank S kunoichi showed up. As per our reports, Hidan has joined Akatsuki and became Kakuzu's partner.”

Tsunade sighed, “His ability still feels so weird. A ninja with five hearts, who kills teammates like Kaminari… Who could have created such a messed up group?”

Shikaku answered, “Unfortunately, we have no idea. Fujin's speculation is the first clue we have about any possible leaders of that organization. In the future, we have to pay careful attention to any news coming from them. I have a gut feeling that they'll be a greater threat than other villages.”

Tsunade nodded. An organization with so many rank S ninjas was a great threat to every village. While a small group of rank S ninjas couldn't take on thousands of ninjas led by a couple of rank S ninjas, they could easily kill hundreds and retreat before the village could mobilize their entire force.

Shikaku continued, “Regardless, this mission brought us an unexpected surprise. The cave where Hidan did his ritual was filled with seals that are completely new to us. Fujin copied some and we sent a couple of Grandmasters to get the remaining. Unfortunately, none of our Grandmasters have had much luck in cracking these seals.”

Tsunade muttered, “Interesting, I'll take a look at them later...”

Shikaku nodded and said, “That also makes Hidan important for us. If we can capture him and read his mind, we may get clues regarding this seal. Unfortunately, that's easier said than done. We don't even know what his abilities are…”

Tsunade said, “Alright, we'll keep an eye out for him. Which other missions did Fujin go on?”

Shikaku said, “The next important mission he went to was in the Land of Rivers. There were reports of Suna ninjas being spotted around Yamakawa town and a couple of our squads went missing in that country.

Fujin went to investigate and found 22 Suna ninjas, including a Grandmaster, hiding in a base under the Yamakawa family's mansion. However, the town was assaulted by Sasori before Fujin could take action.”

Shizune muttered, “Another encounter with Akatsuki? Isn't it too frequent?”

Shikaku replied, “Not really, the missions were a long time apart. Also, he was sent because they were tricky and could attract a lot of curious gazes, something proven true by Akatsuki's involvement. Anyway, he killed the Sunagakure ninjas using the distraction provided by Sasori and later confronted him. I'm not aware of the details, but he escaped after stealing around fifty of Sasori's puppets.”

Shikaku's tone was a bit awkward towards the end. Needless to say, Tsunade and Shizune, especially Tsunade, were looking at Shikaku with disbelief. She asked, “Can you repeat that again?”

Shikaku sighed, “You heard it right. It should be the Wind jutsu he displayed during the attack on the village. Fujin probably used it to cut Sasori's chakra threads. But yeah, I was as shocked as you.”

Shizune thought, ‘What a crazy guy! Puppeteers treat their puppets like their own children. And yet, he stole around fifty? I'm surprised Sasori didn't assault Konoha before Orochimaru did!’

Tsunade was at a loss for words. The good feeling she had earlier was once again shaky. Thankfully, Shikaku added, “He gave most of the puppets to Lord Third since he wanted to establish a puppeteer division in Konoha. Several talented ninjas with interest in puppets are currently working with them and getting used to their mechanics.”

Tsunade thought, ‘Alright… Though bizarre, he did it for the village. It'll make Konoha stronger.’

Shikaku continued, “His next major was a diplomatic one to Kusagakure. I know you know the terms of the deal, but you should know how he made it…”

His wording intrigued Tsunade and Shizune. They listened carefully as Shikaku described the scenario as Homura had described it to him long ago. The ladies were horrified to learn how he threatened their entire leadership! Neither had anything to say. They could only silently wonder whether Fujin went for diplomacy or to declare war. What was even more absurd was that they already knew the talks were a success and Kusagakure had accepted this unfair proposal!

Tsunade had stopped drinking by now. The barrage of shocking revelations forced her to stay sober. She asked, “What all crazy things did he do?”

Shikaku said, “Quite a few, though here onwards, most of it was sanctioned by Lord Third or me. That said, he exceeded our expectations each time.

Feeling something off, Lord Third asked Fujin to proctor the second round of Chunin Exams. He ended up facing Orochimaru in the Forest of Death and surprised everyone by forcing him to retreat.”

Tsunade and Shizune nodded. They had heard about this battle in detail from Jiraiya. Of course, it was what followed that shocked them to their core.

Shikaku continued, “Lord Third used this surprising event to trap the curious spies. As we expected, all Iwagakure and Kumogakure spies stepped into it and were captured. We read their memories and destroyed their intelligence network in and around the Land of Fire.

However, we first used it to trick Kumogakure into sending their Raikage and Killer Bee to hunt Fujin. While they travelled to our border, Fujin sneaked alone into the Land of Lightning and closed in on the forward bases Kumogakure had created.

Lord Third wanted to weaken Kumogakure to ensure that they wouldn't be in a position to take advantage if Sunagakure and Orochimaru attacked us. So, Fujin's mission was to eliminate every Kumogakure ninja in at least 3 of the 10 bases.”

The mission shocked Shizune, but Tsunade wasn't too surprised. She had seen Hiruzen and Danzo do such stuff too frequently to ensure Konoha held an advantage. Yet, even her pupils dilated and eyes widened in horror as she heard Shikaku's next words.

Shikaku stated, “He exceeded our expectations and eliminated 6 bases, killing 658 Kumogakure ninjas and another 83 from the traps he placed.”