Chapter 836 : Experienced Schemers!

‘Sell the information regarding the Third Kazekage's death to Iwagakure and Kumogakure?’ Hiashi was intrigued.

He analyzed for a few moments and realized, ‘Yeah, why not? Even though this has nothing to do with them, they would be curious to know how someone that strong suddenly went missing. To ensure nothing similar happens to their Kage, they'd be willing to spend a fortune.

The information isn't useless either as they'll take Sasori way more seriously. To think he not only killed the Third Kazekage but transformed him into a human puppet that can use the Magnet Release! After Orochimaru's Edo Tensei, he may be the greatest threat!’

Hiashi understood how troublesome it would be if Sasori could transform a few more Kekkei Genkai users into human puppets. So did the rest. Shikaku thought, ‘I had the same thought, but I didn't think he'd recommend it himself.’

Shibi said, “Before you sell the information further, I think it's time that the council is made aware of the developments too.”

While Shibi didn't mind Fujin keeping it a secret until he got paid, not informing the council properly any further was insulting.

Fujin casually replied, “There isn't much. I'm sure you've guessed most of it by now. My army ran into Sasori and Deidara in the Land of Rice. During our battle, he used the Third Kazekage's human puppet. The rest is just our speculation.”

“So, you did run into Akatsuki,” Homura exclaimed. He quickly added, “The mission reports didn't say anything about it.”

Fujin nodded, “Hmm, it was quite unexpected. I also gained a lot of information other than the Third Kazekage, though we aren't completely sure of it. But, if our fears are true, we may have a hidden danger.”

The mood in the room changed. Koharu's words were completely ignored by everyone. While it was true that no one ever made such deals to gain personal benefits as Fujin did, deals were frequently made by clans, even the smaller ones. Considering the youngsters living in Fujin's compounds, his actions could also be interpreted as him looking out for them.

Koharu understood this as well. She was merely fishing for trouble due to her conversation with Danzo. With no one backing her and everyone focusing on the new information, she stopped pushing. Instead, she asked, “How long will you be keeping secrets from the council? If something that important happened, the council should be informed immediately.”

Fujin didn't reply and instead looked at Shikaku. Shikaku sighed and muttered, “I wanted to wait until Lord Third woke up. However, it looks like that will take some time. Alright, let's convene a Council Meeting immediately. I could use some help in handling this matter.”

With Kakashi keeping an eye on the Sunagakure ninjas, they didn't have much reason to worry. They left Eagle in charge of confirming the contents of the storage scroll while the council members gathered in the council room.
Tsunade occupied Hiruzen's seat while Jiraiya grabbed a seat as well. Of course, the civilian members weren't informed about the meeting.

Fujin informed the council about his clash with Sasori and Deidara along with his discoveries about the Third Kazekage.
Inoichi grumbled, “Sasori… He seems almost as troublesome as Orochimaru.”
Choza asked, “How did the battle end? Did they escape?”

Fujin replied, “Not quite. Another Akatsuki member interfered. I believe he may have been the one behind the Nine Tails incident years ago.”

Other than Tsunade and Jiraiya, who were already briefed by Shikaku, every single council member was shocked. No one expected Fujin to solve one, let alone two major mysteries. The ones who were most shocked were the two elders.
Homura thought, ‘Wasn't it the Uchiha clan?’
Koharu wondered, ‘Were we mistaken? Was it outside interference all along? However, who could be strong enough to defeat Minato and control the Nine Tails?’

Fujin passed the same information to the council that he did to Shikaku, connecting the dots as he spoke. Even though there wasn't any solid evidence, every single member of the Council was convinced that Fujin's analysis was accurate.

While Fujin spoke, Shikaku subtly observed Koharu and Homura. He had a strong hunch that the Elders had something to do with the Uchiha massacre. He wanted to see if their expressions would change on realizing that they had wrongly targeted the Uchiha clan. Unfortunately, he was left disappointed. Koharu and Homura had excellent control over their expressions. They didn't give a single clue to Shikaku.

Of course, while they maintained perfect control of their expressions, their inner minds were a mess. Homura thought, ‘As we suspected, it was a Uchiha. However, he shouldn't have anything to do with the Uchiha clan, or Itachi wouldn't have succeeded… We wrongly judged the Uchiha clan…’

Homura sighed internally. Koharu felt the same. Their misjudgement had proved to be extremely costly for Konoha. Konoha lost their strongest clan, a rank S ninja and two extremely promising young ninjas who became rank S ninjas in their teens due to that debacle!

Homura and Koharu didn't dare to speak out aloud. However, others weren't shy. Tsume directly said, “The Uchiha clan was mistreated wrongly!”

Everyone in the room knew that the Uchiha clan had been relocated to the outskirts of the village and monitored all the time for years. Their discontent now seemed justified. Their gazes turned towards the two Elders, who were among the decision-makers to implement that.

Homura sighed and muttered, “The Uchiha clan was schemed against. He acted in such a way that all suspicions led to the Uchiha clan. The thought of such a terrifying Uchiha living outside Konoha didn't even cross our minds. The Uchiha clan should be unaware as well.”

Koharu immediately added, “Considering that Itachi joined the Akatsuki after massacring the Uchiha clan, this masked ninja may have played a role in the massacre as well. However, it is difficult to say whether he actively participated or just manipulated young Itachi.”

Fujin glanced at the two old schemers and thought, ‘As expected of these geezers. They immediately diverted the blame towards Obito and the Akatsuki. No one would even suspect them because of how absurd the order given to Itachi was…’

Hiashi said, “There's nothing we can do about the past. We need to focus on the future. This mysterious Uchiha and the Akatsuki pose a grave threat to our village. If he can really use Izanagi on top of having such a powerful Space Time Ninjutsu, he's a grave threat to every Konoha ninja. I doubt our clans would fare any better than the Uchiha if they target other clans.”

Hiashi's words brought everyone back to a bitter truth. They couldn't ensure their safety! Other than Fujin, only Tsunade and Jiraiya had confidence in surviving Obito's attack. The clan leaders would be completely helpless. They could only find solace in the fact that he hadn't made a direct move for over a decade!

Inoichi asked, “Did you think of any counters for him, Shikaku?”

Shikaku sighed and answered, “It is difficult. I have never heard of such an ability. Though I have thought of several countermeasures, none is foolproof. We can't even bait him to eliminate him due to how slippery his ability is.”

He paused and looked around the room before adding, “I was hoping Lord Third could think of something. However, since he hasn't woken up yet, I hope some of you can give me better ideas.”

The council meeting suddenly turned into a brainstorming session where new and unique ideas were put forth to target Obito. Unfortunately, Fujin shot most of them down. The ones he didn't were shot down by others before he had a chance to say anything. They were either not comprehensive enough, implementable or couldn't be implanted over a large scale.

In the end, they couldn't decide on any good idea despite spending several hours. Fujin wasn't really surprised. They had minimal information on Obito's ability, and his ability was truly broken.
Jiraiya shook his head and said, “We'll just have to wait until Sensei wakes up.”
Tsunade sighed and added, “This ability is too strange. To become intangible for a long time… I doubt Sensei has a way either…”

No one opposed her. The only way they could agree on was to kill Obito before he targeted them. Unfortunately, that wasn't a cakewalk either.

Suddenly, Fujin said, “Well, if we can't do anything about him, we can only hope others can do so…”
Tsume asked, “Others? Who do you mean?”
Shikaku's eyes twitched as he muttered, “Don't tell me…”
The entire council was left dumbfounded as Fujin chuckled and said, “Yeah, let us sell this information too.”