Chapter 830 : Staring impolitely for three hours...

Tsunade wore a deadpan expression while Fujin awkwardly looked at the dissipating soul and thought, ‘Jeez, that's embarrassing. I didn't think it'd be so brittle…’
He sighed, “The soul was too weak. I didn't expect it to crumble from such a gentle nudge…”
Not wanting to embarrass Fujin, Tsunade said, “It's alright. We still have enough prisoners.”

Fujin nodded. Another prisoner was unwillingly dragged into the gates of hell and had his soul extracted and sliced by two of Konoha's top ninjas. This time, Fujin was extremely careful. Instead of using his Yin chakra directly, Fujin created chakra threads of Yin chakra to manipulate the injured soul and pushed it back into the prisoner's body.

Tsunade was surprised. She thought, ‘These are chakra threads from Suna's puppeteering techniques. That's another technique that needs a lot of time and excellent chakra control... How much did he abuse the Multi Shadow Clone technique? And, why didn't anyone stop him? It isn’t safe to use that jutsu without any constraint.’

Before Tsunade could ask Fujin about it, the prisoner woke up for a moment. In that instant, he felt pain like never before. He lost consciousness even before he could open his mouth to scream. Even though he gained consciousness for only a fraction of a second, Fujin and Tsunade noticed it. Complicated expressions appeared on their faces. Fujin thought, ‘He smiled while feeling such pain? Sigh…’

Even though Fujin and Hiruzen had a very close relationship on the surface, Fujin didn't entirely trust him. He didn't agree with several of his policies and some of his past actions among other things. However, as a ninja, Fujin had no choice but to pay the highest respect to Hiruzen.

Tsunade said, “You've done a good job, Fujin. Leave the rest to me.”

She took a couple of steps and stood next to the unconscious prisoner. Extending her palm towards him, she thought, ‘I can't treat him as a test subject. I have to assume that I'm treating Sensei. There is no scope for being complacent.’

She immediately pushed herself into a state of absolute focus, her mind shutting out everything but the task at hand. A moment later, she began healing him.

Fujin's eyes glowed as he concentrated chakra in them and thought, ‘Healing souls that are harmed to this extent… Even Orochimaru can't do it. I doubt any other ninja can do this either. If I have to improve my understanding of souls, I need to know how to heal them.’

Just like Tsunade, Fujin entered his highest state of concentration. Though he didn't have Sharingan in his eyes, it didn't matter. Tsunade's technique was so advanced that seeing it with a Sharingan was pointless. The only way to learn it was to have incredible healing capabilities and a deep understanding of Yin manipulation, Yang manipulation, the human body and the soul. Luckily, Fujin was one of the very few individuals who barely qualified across all aspects.

——

Danzo glanced at his former teammates, who had gone silent and were wrecking their brains to calculate the implications of Fujin and Akuro working together and what they should or should not do. It went beyond just their interests or safety. If Fujin could make Akuro target Konoha ninjas to resolve his issues, he would be a major threat to the village.

Of course, it was a big ‘if’. They had no proof apart from Danzo's hunch and there was extremely limited information on Akuro to calculate and analyze properly. Not to mention, Hiruzen still showed a lot of trust in Fujin, which was another factor that played against Danzo's speculation.

Danzo said, “If my speculation is true, then Fujin is a big threat to our village. We need to…”

Koharu interrupted him, “Don't even think of doing what you did with Shisui with Fujin. The fact that Hiruzen hasn't shared any details about Fujin with us must have to do with your independent actions against him. He doesn't want Konoha to lose another promising ninja due to your misconceptions.”

Danzo frowned and said, “Shisui's ability was a threat…”

He was interrupted again, this time by Homura, who said, “Perhaps it was. But Fujin's situation is different. He doesn't have the ability to control us or the Hokage. And, unlike Shisui, he's already the village's hero. If you take action against him without any proof, we won't be able to handle the backlash. The Clan Leaders have seen us as an eyesore for long, they won't give up this opportunity. You may be tried for treason while we'll lose our seats.

Besides, Hiruzen may be soft, but he isn't foolish. Nor will he make the same mistake he did with Orochimaru. His trust in Fujin is more reliable than your speculation. We should wait until Hiruzen regains consciousness and discuss this matter with him. He is the best person to make a judgement.”

Danzo's frown deepened. He realized, ‘These two have no intention of supporting me… At least not until I can get some proof. However…’

Danzo was in a difficult spot as well. His forces were extremely limited. He couldn't find anything on Fujin even when the Root hadn't been restricted and had all their members. Doing so now was impossible. The only way was to plant evidence, something Danzo excelled in. Unfortunately, that wasn't easy either.

The Anbu watched the Root Headquarters at all times, just like they watched the Uchiha clan earlier. They documented all the visitors and when the Root ninjas left and returned. Hiruzen ensured that there weren't any blind spots, and Shikaku maintained the surveillance in Hiruzen's absence.

So, planting evidence was very difficult as well since the attention could be diverted to him and the Root. Not to mention, he didn't have enough information about Fujin and what he had done as compared to Hiruzen and Shikaku, which introduced another element of risk.

That was why Danzo needed the assistance of his two former teammates. Unfortunately, despite their differences, they weren't convinced enough to make a move against Fujin.

Seeing the futility of continuing to talk, Danzo got up and said, “He may not have an ability like Shisui, but his partnership with Akuro is an equally great threat. Though he cannot control Konoha's leadership, he can eliminate it entirely with Akuro's help. Don't let your guard down just because he hasn't directly harmed you yet.”

Danzo's words lingered in the air as he walked out of the room. Though Danzo's words were grave and Homura and Koharu didn't take them lightly, they didn't take them completely seriously either.

As the door closed, Homura sighed, “Danzo… He hasn't changed a bit. Instead, his paranoia has increased further. He has also become impatient.”

Koharu agreed, “His words would hold a lot more weight if Akuro had killed any of our important ninjas. However, other than the attack on Root, he hasn't interfered with our village. Even in Kumogakure, he didn't kill anyone in a leadership position. It is too soon to say what sort of relationship he has with Fujin, assuming there's one in the first place.”

Homura nodded and added, “True. However, we need to be careful. With Fujin's tendency to hide his strength and his shrewd mind, it might be too late if we don't keep this in mind, especially if we plan on making him the next Hokage. We have to discuss it with Hiruzen as soon as he wakes up.

Though I don't think he'll betray Konoha, the bad feeling I had earlier was too intense. Irrespective of what it is, something about Fujin is off. I just hope it won't be bad for the village.”

——

For nearly three hours, Tsunade worked continuously to heal the prisoner's soul. For the entire duration, Fujin focused entirely on observing how she healed the soul. Finally, Tsunade stopped radiating her chakra into the prisoner's body and let out a shaky breath.

Her shoulders sagged as she straightened up, the strain of the prolonged effort evident in the slight tremor of her hands. Sweat clung to her brow, and her eyes were dulled with exhaustion. She wiped her forehead with the back of her hand and turned her gaze towards Fujin. Squinting her eyes, she asked, “Didn't find anything else to look at?”

Needless to say, Fujin's actions were considered impolite. Most ninjas didn't like it when someone else observed their techniques so carefully with the intention of copying them. It was a different thing if it was an old man secretly peeping through a crystal ball, but others weren't usually provided the same courtesy. This was another reason why other ninjas didn't like the ninjas from the Uchiha clan.

Fujin's eyes stopped glowing. He shrugged and replied, “What else could I look at? The only other option was looking at you.”
Tsunade raised an eyebrow and said, “You say as if it's an unpleasant thing.”
Without missing a beat, Fujin raised an eyebrow and replied, “Of course not. However, doing that for three hours would have been beyond impolite, don't you think so?”