Chapter 817 : Ripping off the skin!

Homura, Koharu, Hiromasa and Tsume had strange expressions as they thought about what Inoichi said. Sunagakure never learned what happened with their Third Kazekage. Even though they understood that the Fourth Kazekage was killed by Orochimaru, they didn't know how that happened either. They just knew the final result.

On the other hand, Fujin discovered clues about the Third Kazekage's death while Konoha knew exactly what happened to Rasa thanks to the memories of the Sound Four. They knew how, when and where Rasa had been killed. This was why, there was never a doubt in the hearts of any council members when Sunagakure ninjas claimed that they were fooled by Orochimaru.

It was unfortunate that they couldn't use this in the negotiations. Even though they read the memories of some of the Sound Four ninjas, they couldn't provide any concrete evidence of Sunagakure's involvement since no one else had a technique to read memories. Sunagakure could simply accuse Konoha of lying and it would be their words against each other.

So, it wouldn't give Konoha any substantial upper hand in the negotiations. More importantly, claiming this information would force Konoha to take harsh measures. Otherwise, they would look weak and their decision to make peace would come under question. Hence, this information was never used during the talks.

Regardless, Inoichi and the rest found this quite amusing. Tsume chuckled and said, “Maybe it would have been a good idea to go with Fujin's proposal. With their sheer incompetence and tendency to backstab, we can't count on them.”

Inoichi sighed, “If only they weren't so difficult to invade…”

——

In Tanzaku town, Naruto and Tsunade had a rematch, as in the original story. Needless to say, the result was no different from their first match. However, there were several changes as compared to the original story.

Due to Kabuto's death at the hands of Fujin, Naruto didn't have a chance to battle him and master the Rasengan in the process. And, since Tsunade had long recovered from her phobia, Naruto didn't get an opportunity to show how strong his resolve was. As such, the impression he left on her was far from what he did in the original story.

That said, it wasn't as if he had no impact on Tsunade. His dream and words made her remember Dan and Nawaki. In addition, she saw how hard he trained to win his bet. As such, he still made a good impression on her. Knowing that her necklace would help him suppress the Nine Tails, she gave it to him despite winning the bet. However, she took his ‘Gama-chan’, which held all the money he won in gambling while travelling with Jiraiya.

They were about to call it a night when Jiraiya received a scroll from one of his toads. His eyes immediately widened, something that didn't miss the eyes of others. Tsunade asked, “What happened?”

Jiraiya replied in a grim tone, “Suzuki Fujin is marching his army towards the Land of Wind. We may soon be at war with Sunagakure. The army should have already reached the border of the Land of Wind by now…”

Even though Shikaku had no way to contact Jiraiya, Jiraiya had his own information network, which was independent of Konoha's network. However, it couldn't keep up with the instantaneous nature of the Chakra Transmission Communication devices. In addition, Fujin's army had moved swiftly and stealthily. As such, Jiraiya received the message when the Konoha army was already withdrawing. Unfortunately, he didn't know that.

Tsunade sighed, “A war, once again…”

Naruto asked in shock, “What does this mean? Why is big brother Fujin attacking Sunagakure? Wasn't our war over?”

Jiraiya replied, “I can't say for sure. When I left, the council was against starting a new war. Perhaps the peace talks collapsed. Or, this could just be a bluff to force Sunagakure to accept our demands. Or something critical may have happened. Irrespective, we need to head to the village immediately to understand what is happening?”

Tsunade nodded. Within minutes, the five of them started moving towards Konoha at high speed. As they moved, Tsunade asked, “I have heard Suzuki Fujin's name frequently recently. A bit too frequently… This should be the Nara kid's work. What do you know about him?”

Before Jiraiya could answer, Naruto butted in, “Big brother Fujin? He's awesome! He's cool, strong and taught me cool wind jutsus! Also…”

Slight fear could be seen on Naruto's face as he added, “He can be a bit scary at times. I'm never pranking him!”

Tsunade chuckled at Naruto's reaction and thought, ‘That's quite an impression he made on Naruto. Must be something if this kid is afraid of him while being so impressed at the same time.’

She glanced at Jiraiya, who replied, “Hmm, Fujin… He's a bit complicated to get a hang of. Anyway, he is an orphan with a civilian background and graduated around 7 years ago and became Renjiro's student. Sensei took a liking to him and had been guiding him for a while. He's become quite a shinobi… Almost reminds me of Minato, though Fujin is more terrifying in some aspects.”

Tsunade was surprised by Jiraiya's words. She didn't expect him to compare Fujin to Minato. She thought, ‘No wonder they have been promoting him so much. However…’

Jiraiya added, “He specializes in Wind jutsus. Sensei said that Fujin's control over the wind was the best he had seen since the Second Kazekage. His mastery of Fuinjutsu is quite deep as well. Without him, Konoha would have suffered heavily due to Orochimaru's assault.”

Tsunade frowned and asked, “If that is the case, why did I never hear about him earlier? Surely a ninja of that caliber would have gained fame earlier.”

Jiraiya nodded, “He gained fame, rather infamy. However, nearly all of his missions were kept a secret. His mission record isn't maintained even in Konoha. I'm sure you must have heard of the Spectral Swordsman.”

Shizune's eyes widened as she asked loudly in surprise, “He's the Spectral Swordsman?”

Naruto was startled by her sudden shout. He looked at her and asked, “What's so special about the Spectral Swordsman?”

Shizune explained, “He's sort of a legend in the countries around the Land of Fire. Nearly everyone is terrified when they hear his name. However, that name became popular a few years ago but you said he graduated only 7 years ago.”

Naruto was surprised. Even though he had learnt about this title from Sayaka and knew some of the rumors, he never expected his name to be so feared. He suddenly recalled the scenes of Fujin cutting down the enemies in the arena and the gore around.

Jiraiya nodded and said, “Yes, he was quite young back then, which is why the secrecy. He left the Anbu shortly after Iwagakure somehow discovered his identity. Following that, he has only been taking extremely critical missions. Even I'm not aware of most of them. Shikaku will likely brief you about them.”

Tsunade smiled and muttered, “Interesting…”

Jiraiya looked at his old teammate and thought, ‘From what Sensei said, he is also a huge headache to deal with. Even Shikaku lost some hair due to him. Oh well, this can remain a surprise for her. I don't want her to turn around and decline this job.’

With neither Jiraiya nor Naruto speaking anything bad about Fujin, Tsunade rushed towards Konoha while being completely in the dark about what she would have to deal with in the future.

——

As Fujin, his army, Jiraiya's group, the council members and the negotiation team started returning to the village, news began spreading throughout the ninja world. Konoha actively informed their allied village about the new alliance between the two villages. All the minor villages around the Land of Fire breathed a sigh of relief since the next Great Ninja War had been avoided for the time being.

Even though Kumogakure and Iwagakure had no spies left in the Fire Capital or the surrounding villages, they had several in Sunagakure. Pretty soon, reports arrived on Onoki and Ay's desks.

Onoki frowned and cursed, “Those cowards! I knew they were using our talks as leverage to renew their alliance with Konoha.”

Similarly, Ay cursed, “I knew those sand crawlers couldn't be trusted! The minute we attacked Konoha, they would have turned around and betrayed us!”

Mabui asked, “What now, Raikage-sama?”

Ay replied, “I don't trust that old geezer. Even if I did, attacking Konoha right now is too risky. By forming this alliance instead of taking revenge, Konoha has shown that they aren't ready for the next Great War yet. We will use this time to rebuild our forces and overcome our recent losses.”

Mabui nodded in agreement. Ay suddenly frowned and said, “Also, assemble the best medical team in the village right now. I will be ripping this skin off my body!”