[A/N: The missed chapters in the last week have been covered up. Enjoy the weekend :)]
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen was sitting in his chair while reading something. He had a complicated expression on his face. Even though he expected Onoki to do this, when it truly happened, he couldn't help but feel a bit gloomy.
After a couple of minutes, he exhaled the smoke and said softly, "Bring Fujin here. He should be in Training Ground 23."
Immediately, an Anbu Guard disappeared from the room. Fujin, who was training his Vacuum Gatling, stopped because he sensed a ninja entering the training ground. After getting the messenger, he left to see Hiruzen.
He entered the office and before he could ask anything, Hiruzen pushed forward the book on his desk and said, "Take a look at this."
Fujin picked up the book while muttering, "Bingo book?"
As soon as his eyes landed on the page Hiruzen had opened, his eyes widened. He sighed and muttered, "Iwa finally decided to do this…"
Hiruzen nodded. Iwa had increased Fujin's bounty from 20 million Ryo to 50 million Ryo. Surprisingly, his summon and Fuinjutsu skills weren't mentioned in the report. But they labelled him as the 'Spectral Swordsman'!
Fujin said, "Exposing this identity will cause a lot of trouble. I have killed way too many people in the last 3 years."
Hiruzen replied, "Yes. It will be a diplomatic disaster. To avoid this, you won't ever accept this title."
Fujin nodded and said, "That goes without saying. But I doubt the neighbouring countries will accept that so easily."
Hiruzen replied, "It doesn't matter. Iwa can give no proof. I can just deny everything they say. And considering the recent movements in the other 4 major villages, these smaller countries don't want any trouble with Konoha. They can only accept their losses and move on.
But, they might try something against you when you are on missions. Be it for revenge or the 50 million Ryo. There are a few bounty hunters as well who would be tempted."
Fujin replied, "Yeah. I will be careful. But, why didn't Iwa mention all my details?"
Hiruzen chuckled and answered, "They want others to suffer losses against you just like they did."
Fujin was surprised. He thought, 'That's smart! And so fucking shameless! Irrespective of whether I'm dealt with or if I deal with the attackers, they will benefit.'
Hiruzen understood what Fujin was thinking about and said, "It doesn't matter what they are scheming. Just ensure that you don't fall prey to any more traps."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes, I won't. Thanks for the warning. I have another question though. Did you find out if anything was fishy in the previous incident?"
Since there were Anbu Guards in the room, Fujin was vague about the question. Hiruzen understood and answered, "It wasn't anyone from the village. Shikaku and I concluded that they set a trap for any top-level ninja we send. Though you might have been their primary target. Regardless, you were just the unlucky one. As for your identity, that should be due to the previous information about you in the Bingo book."
Fujin thought, 'That's just as I predicted. Oh well, I'll just need to be more careful in the future. I can't take the lazy route.'
He placed the Bingo book back on the desk and said, "Alright. Thanks for the information, Grandpa. I'll return to training."
Hiruzen nodded and saw Fujin leave. He looked back at the Bingo book and thought, '50 million Ryo. The same amount as Kakashi. Looks like Onoki sees the same potential in him as he does in Kakashi.'
He closed the book and continued working. As for Fujin, he wasn't very worried. While walking back to his training ground, he thought, 'I had expected such a thing to happen. In fact, I am sure that a few schemes that are several times worse than this are already cooking behind the scenes. I just have to be more careful to avoid falling for such schemes and be strong and resourceful enough to destroy those schemes if I get caught up.'
Unperturbed, Fujin continued his training. However, many influential people paid great importance to this news.
On an obscure island in the middle of nowhere, a camp containing more than 500 ninjas existed. In the central tent in this camp, a lady with long, auburn hair sat while reading the Bingo book. Her eyes showed a glint of interest in what she was reading.
A smile appeared on her face and she said, "He is very good at bluffing. Since he is Renjiro's student, it was unlikely that he would have carried out the threat he made when we met."
Ao, who was standing next to her, said, "We benefited heavily from the information he shared. So it doesn't matter much. Still, he is merely 14 years old. I didn't expect him to be so young."
Mei nodded and said, "Yeah. He is already as strong as me. If he successfully keeps growing for another decade, Konoha will once again have a fearsome rank S ninja. No wonder such a bounty was placed on his head. I'm sure that whoever placed the bounty is scheming a lot in the background."
Ao thought for a few seconds and said, "If he has such a potential, should we try to kill him? If a second Minato appears in Konoha, then we won't be able to defend in a war against Konoha."
Mei shook her head and said, "No. That would be a big mistake. Since the Third Hokage sent him to meet me with the secret information, it should mean that he is hoping for an alliance in the future. If it does happen, then I will have to negotiate with this boy. Those negotiations won't be easy if we try to kill him and fail.
Not to mention, Kumo will do everything they can to eliminate him considering that he specializes in Wind nature manipulation. Besides, I doubt all his skills are mentioned in the Bingo book. Even if they are all, killing him will still be a very costly affair.
But, if the Mizukage's Faction wants to take him out, then we could benefit heavily. Ask our spies to spread out rumors. There is a lot of hatred in the Mizukage Faction for the Spectral Swordsman due to how many of their fake rogue ninjas he killed. Let them try to fight him and lose their elites."
Ao nodded and got to work.
Sitting in his office, Rasa had a thoughtful expression on his face as he read Fujin's information for the umpteenth time. A frown appeared on his face as he thought, 'I remember Iwagakure sending information regarding him and speculating that he was the troublemaker. This sudden increase in his bounty should be Iwa's work. But, is he worthy of such a bounty or does Iwa hate him for some reason?'
He fell into deep thought. After a few minutes he shook his head and concluded, 'Regardless of whether he is worthy or not, I can't overlook him. For Iwa to be so troubled, he should at least be at the Elite Jounin level. And at such a young age too. Not to mention, his skillset is too similar to the culprit who created so much chaos in my country. It doesn't matter if it was the copy ninja or him, I need to eliminate him if I get the chance.'
Kumo and Iwa leadership didn't have much reaction towards this news for obvious reasons. However, the information caused a lot of chaos in the minor villages that were allied with Konoha. Their leaders immediately called for council meetings and sent a scroll to Hiruzen asking for an explanation.
The people who took this news seriously weren't limited to other countries. In an office under the Konoha, Danzo sat with a thoughtful face as he read Fujin's bounty and information.
He thought, 'The boy I asked Hiruzen for less than 4 years ago has already reached this stage? No wonder Hiruzen refused to tell us who the Spectral Swordsman was no matter how many times I asked him.'
Danzo was genuinely surprised. However, he curbed his surprise and wondered, 'Who exposed him? And who did he offend to get such a huge bounty?'
Danzo thought about the recent events and realized, 'Recently, Iwagakure created a mess in the Land of Waterfall. Hiruzen didn't tell me or the other elders what happened, but according to my information, one of our Anbu squads clashed with Iwa there. So it should be his squad. But why would that make Iwa so alarme…'
Danzo's left eye widened as he recalled, 'Wait, around half a year ago, the Four Tails' Jinchuriki, Roshi, went on a rampage in the Land of Grass. Information regarding that incident was buried as well. I thought we benefited only due to Iwa's folly.
But if I assume that Roshi clashed with him, then it would make sense for Kusa to trust Konoha so much and for Iwa to attach so much importance to him. But, can Fujin go up against Roshi?'
Danzo looked at his bounty and a frown appeared on his face. He thought, 'No wonder Iwa put up such a huge bounty. He must have survived against Roshi and they probably set up a trap for him in the Land of Waterfall.
I should have been more forceful and inducted him in the Root. Such a talent will now be corrupted by Hiruzen's naive thoughts. But, this can be an opportunity as well.'
Danzo entered into deep thought. He analyzed, 'For an Anbu, maintaining their disguise is the most important. If their identity is leaked, then everyone who they targeted and their families will try to get back at them. Hiruzen has failed him by failing to protect his identity. I can use this to try and recruit him.
In addition, the Spectral Swordsman is known to be very ruthless and efficient. His method seems to be very similar to mine. I could try to influence him with my ideology as well.'
He looked at a Root ninja in his office and instructed, "Call the two elders here."
Due to his analysis, Danzo was upbeat about his chances of recruiting Fujin. However, if he was to know that Hiruzen was planning to pass the Root to Fujin in the future, one would wonder what Danzo's expression would be.
[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]
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