Chapter 841 : A Terrifying Mission Record (2)

“So Fujin was the one who forced Roshi to use the Tailed Beast Bomb in a foreign country…” Tsunade muttered in disbelief.

That incident had created shockwaves throughout the minor villages. A Great Village like Iwagakure sending their Jinchuriki to neighboring countries alarmed them. Most people knew it, though almost no one knew why it happened. It was the first time Tsunade and Shizune heard it.

Tsunade thought for a moment and asked, “Was he already rank S back then?”

Shizune was surprised. She thought, ‘She's right. Only rank S ninjas could force a monster like Roshi to this extent. Still, attaining rank S at just 14 despite not showing any overwhelming talent until he joined Anbu… Didn't his strength increase too rapidly since joining the Anbu?’

Shikaku answered, “I had the same doubts, but Lord Third didn't think so. Even though he pushed Roshi to that extent, he was defeated in the end. From what Fujin said, he barely managed to get away and was severely injured too.”

Tsunade realized, ‘I see. So it wasn't overwhelming strength, but rather his combat skills must be overwhelming to force Roshi into a corner. However, this is even more impressive. No wonder he managed to face Orochimaru multiple times without losing.’

Shikaku continued, moving on to the incident in the Land of Water where Fujin's squad was sent to make a deal with Terumi Mei and rescue Renjiro's team. After learning all the details, Tsunade said, “Not bad. Having Terumi Mei, who’ll likely be the Fifth Mizukage if the rebels win, owe him a favor is very handy. Sensei made a good move. Though, I didn't expect Sensei to ‘rescue’ the Kiri orphans. I suppose these are the same kids that Inoichi referred to in the meeting.”

Shikaku nodded, “Yes. They were initially given to Elder Danzo since he was the one who continued the operations until it became too risky. Due to a strange twist of fate, they eventually ended up in Fujin's care.”

His words intrigued Tsunade, who thought, ‘He stole Danzo's recruits? That's even more impressive than forcing Roshi!’

She quickly said, “That sounds interesting. What happened?”

Shikaku explained the way in which Root was targeted by an unknown ninja. The scale of the attack surprised her and Shizune, but what shocked Shizune more was Danzo spying on a Council Member without any permission. Of course, Tsunade wasn't surprised by it. What surprised her was how badly such a small misdemeanor forced Danzo to pay a heavy price.

She thought, ‘Incredible! After all the shit he has done, he lost merely for spying on Fujin? I guess the clan leaders took the opportunity to gang up on him. No wonder he hasn't shown his face yet.’

She asked, “Who was the mysterious attacker?”
Shikaku answered, “We didn't know for a long time. Even now, we aren't sure. But, we suspect that it was Akuro, the ninja who humiliated Kumogakure. Sadly, Elder Danzo refused to acknowledge anything his subordinates might have done to piss off that blight.”
Tsunade frowned and grumbled, “That's troublesome… Akuro's actions in Kumogakure were so disgusting that even I heard everything about that incident. When did this happen? Did he do anything after that attack?”
Shikaku answered, “It's been slightly over a year. And no, there have been no attacks since Root was officially disbanded, except for 10 ninjas who still follow Danzo and maintain his laboratory.”
Tsunade thought and said, “Good. It must not have been too serious then. Continue.”

Shikaku said, “The next major event also involves Iwagakure. Due to his clash with Roshi, they somehow deduced his identity and set a deadly trap in the Land of Waterfall. They did an excellent job as none of us saw it coming.

The trap was set by one of their Fuinjutsu Grandmasters with over a hundred ninjas waiting to ambush him. Leading them was Kitsuchi. Fujin also said that the entire group was somehow trained to counter his fast-paced style of combat and could deal with nearly all of his attacks.”

Once again, the two ladies were shocked. Shizune wondered, ‘Roshi, Mei and now Kitsuchi… Isn't he running into too many top-tier ninjas since the Land of Wind incident?’
She curiously asked, “How did he get away from such a trap?”

Shikaku plainly answered, “He used his flying summon openly for the first time, catching Iwagakure ninjas off guard. They had only prepared to face Fujin and not to face him while being attacked from the sky. Of course, it was still a very difficult battle.

The reports said he forced a high number of ninjas into the ground to avoid his attacks. He confronted Kitsuchi while his clones used Geyser Creation jutsu to create cracks in the ground and used a thousand explosion tags to trap the Iwagakure ninjas underground and kill them later.

In the end, he killed 47 ninjas, left a scar on Kitsuchi, and escaped on his summon with his team when they were sneak attacked by someone with Explosion Release.”

The eyes of the two ladies widened. They both had a similar thought, ‘Did Iwagakure set the ambush or did Fujin do so?’

The result of the battle was simply absurd. The two didn't even know what to say. Shikaku continued, “Following this trap, Fujin's frequency of going on missions became very low since he focused more on his training. A few months later, he led his squad to a mission in the Land of Hot Water and ended up confronting Biwa Juzo and Hoshigaki Kisame. He killed Juzo and stalled Kisame until Mangetsu appeared and attacked Kisame.”

Tsunade muttered, “I suppose this is when it became official.”

Shikaku nodded, “Yes, this fight proved he was indeed a rank S ninja. To become one at the tender age of 14 was quite an accomplishment.”

Tsunade nodded. Fujin, despite not showing extraordinary talent in the academy, had accomplished more in his early teens than the Sannins. His growth had been quite shocking. Shizune couldn't wrap her head around it, but Tsunade guessed, ‘He must have abused the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu until the limit. He may have also used soldier pills to stay awake for days. There is no way anyone could progress at such a speed otherwise!’

Tsunade was in awe at Fujin's perseverance while being worried at the same time. While every genius in Konoha was aware of this trick and had used it at some point, none had continued using it for years. At the same time, using Multi Shadow Clone jutsu for extended periods of time wasn't exactly safe. Using soldier pills alongside was even worse. So, Tsunade was concerned for Fujin's long-term health.

She asked, “So, how did he change?”

Shizune didn't understand her, but Shikaku did. Every ninja went through changes after reaching rank S. For some, it'd be very subtle and almost unnoticeable, while others would change drastically.

Shikaku muttered, “Honestly, he didn't change much apart from being more confident. The only major change was that he left the Anbu and started devoting even more time to his training. This was also the time when he took Naruto under his wing.”

Tsunade thought, ‘Interesting. He's more like Sakumo and Minato in this regard than us. I didn't think that'd be the case seeing how shameless he is.’

Luckily, she couldn't hear Shikaku's thoughts. Shikaku could only complain in his heart, ‘The only real change was that he started creating even bigger messes and became very liberal in dumping them on my or Third's head. However, she can learn this later. It'll be troublesome if she quits on the first day. We need her to stay at least until we can force Fujin or Kakashi to accept this job.’

Shikaku hid his thoughts well and continued, “Following his departure from the Anbu, Lord Third created a new position in the council to represent the civilian ninjas and appointed him. I believe he wanted to use his unique nature to give us an advantage in negotiations, which is why he frequently took Fujin along on diplomatic missions even when he was in the Anbu. Since you know how the talks with Sunagakure went, I'm sure you understand his intent.”

Tsunade nodded. Fujin's role in the negotiations was simply too critical. Without him, Konoha would have been forced to compromise considerably. Even she or Jiraiya couldn't have done a better job than Fujin since their natures were already well known. They couldn't pretend to be as unpredictable or outrageous as Fujin.

Shikaku added, “His time as a council member has been rather eventful too. You should pay attention to the ideas he proposes. They're quite unique and revolutionary. Once they're implemented properly, the academy will become quite different from what you or anyone else remembers.”

He mentioned the ideas Fujin proposed to make changes to the academy's curriculum and teaching methods. He also mentioned Katsuhiro's proposal and how Fujin tweaked it to get everyone aboard. Tsunade and Shizune, who were already beyond impressed by Fujin's fighting abilities, didn't expect Fujin to have this side too.