Chapter 546 : Hiruzen’s Suspicion & Soul

Hiruzen was surprised. He wondered, 'The Spirit Transformation Technique? The one Dan created? Why is Fujin interested in it?'

Hiruzen fell into deep thought. The technique was extremely complicated. More importantly, it was extremely powerful and dangerous, both to the enemies and to the user. Hiruzen analyzed why Fujin would need such a technique, but couldn't come up with any answer.

In the end, he speculated, 'Does he plan on taking over someone's body temporarily? Or does he just want another Trump Card as he said?'

Hiruzen couldn't be sure. He said, "Learning too many complicated techniques at the same time isn't good, Fujin. You are learning the Eight Inner Gates Technique. In addition, I also gave you the scroll on Flying Thunder God jutsu. What is your progress with them?"

Fujin sighed and said, "I haven't been able to make any progress with the Flying Thunder God jutsu. I managed to create the seal with ease but I am stuck on stage 2 of the training. I am progressing well in the Eight Inner Gates, but that technique is just dependent on how much my body progresses. So it won't interfere with other training."

Hiruzen sighed internally, 'A shame. It would have been very helpful for the village if he could master the Flying Thunder God jutsu. We would have reached close to our strength during the Third Great Ninja War in terms of rank S ninjas.

That said, if he hasn't learnt the Flying Thunder God jutsu, then there is no need to not give him the Spirit Transformation jutsu. If he manages to master it, then Konoha will have another strong means of attack during the next Great War. Even if he doesn't learn it, the training will improve his control over the Yin chakra which will allow him to strengthen his Genjutsu, which lacks in comparison to his other skills.

Besides, Sasori's puppets could be very important for the village. Even though it won't have a huge impact today, it could result in a wave of enthusiastic youngsters choosing to become puppet masters at some point in the future. Once that happens, the village can create a new special unit.

That said, I don't necessarily need to make Fujin hand over those puppets. Even if I let him keep them all, he will eventually pass them to someone. Perhaps his students or children or someone who catches his eye. However, it will stay only among that small group of people. It is better if those puppets and their knowledge are directly under the village's control.'

He replied, "Alright. I'll prepare the scroll for you."

Fujin commented in his mind, 'Of course you will. It doesn't cost you anything. Why did you take so much time to think like I was asking you to donate a kidney?'

Fujin said, "That's great. I'll decide which Puppets to keep in the meantime."

Hiruzen replied, "Sure. Is there anything else that happened during your mission?"

Fujin shook his head and answered, "Not really. At least nothing that caught my eye."

Hiruzen replied, "Alright. Considering the nature of this mission, you don't need to file any report. We will make Suna take the blame for attacking Yamakawa town. Don't tell anyone about the fact that you were in the Land of Rivers during this time."

Fujin nodded and took his leave. After he left, Hiruzen's expression became serious. He analyzed, 'There are a lot of things that don't add up. Sasori attacking the town at the same time can be considered as a coincidence, but for so many coincidences to happen when Fujin was in that country…'

Hiruzen recalled the incidents that happened in the Land of Rivers when Fujin was present there. He thought, 'First Sasori and Fujin attacked Yamakawa town at the same time. A few days later, someone plundered 3 Nobles in Tanigakure without alerting anyone. A day later, someone attacked and destroyed Raiga's organization…

To be able to steal so efficiently, the thief must have a very high capability. More importantly, he would need to be close to a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. And, to be able to uproot Raiga's organization, the attacker needs to be a rank S ninja or have multiple Elite Jounins… Is it just a coincidence?

Not to mention, I almost forgot about Raiga. His swords can amplify Lightning jutsus as well, though not to the extent of sensei's sword. He could be a possible culprit behind the attack on the Root. However, this lead is pretty much useless now. He is either dead or missing and even Fujin couldn't track him. Even if I send a squad specialized in tracking, it'll be too late to find him irrespective of whether he's dead or alive.'

Though Hiruzen had sent Fujin to destroy the possible base Suna had created, he was left with even newer problems that were extremely difficult to answer. Hiruzen thought for a long time before letting out a sigh.

He concluded, 'There is no point in suspecting Fujin for no reason. He should have a lot of money from his missions. I don't see any reason why he would need to steal a large amount of money.

Similarly, I don't see any reason why he would lie if he was the one who dealt with Raiga. The only thing that comes to mind is Kiba blades, but Fujin doesn't specialize in Lightning. So the blades are more or less useless for him. Considering his greedy nature, he could have used those blades to get more forbidden jutsus from me.

The only thing I need to do now is keep an eye out for information related to the Kiba blades and Blade of the Thunder Spirit. If either of them appears, it might give me some clues regarding who the attacker that night was.'

Hiruzen immediately got into action and took steps to inform all of Konoha's spies as well as Jiraiya, asking them to give special attention to the news related to those two blades and inform him right away.

Fujin returned straight to his home after meeting Hiruzen. He was unaware that he had raised so many doubts in Hiruzen's mind. Even if he was aware, there wasn't much he could do. The good thing was that he hadn't left any clues behind. So even if Hiruzen decided to investigate the events seriously, there wasn't anything for him to find.

As he entered his house, Fujin thought, 'The Spirit Transformation Technique… Tobirama had created a Kinjutsu that was very similar to this while Dan improved upon it to create this jutsu by making it more usable and versatile by adding several more abilities.

To be honest, this jutsu won't be able to increase my power by much unless Shadow Clones can use it as well. That said, I don't think clones will be able to use this jutsu. Regardless, increasing my combat strength isn't the reason why I asked for this jutsu.

This jutsu will be an excellent method to finally learn about souls. It is something I always found fascinating, even in my previous life. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything to study Souls in my previous world apart from religious texts and some speculations.

However, in this world, there are several techniques that utilize the soul. The Yamanaka Clan's Mind Body Switch jutsu can transfer consciousness. Orochimaru can divide his souls and seal them into other people, making him the most difficult ninja to kill. In addition, he can also transfer his soul permanently into a vessel's body. The Reaper Death seal sacrifices the user's soul and seals his enemy's soul. And, the Edo Tensei directly summons souls from the afterlife and has them occupy a body.

The Spirit Transformation jutsu will give me a deeper understanding of these soul-based techniques. It might also be possible to create my own soul-based techniques. If I can add the ability to affect souls to my Wind Domain, then I can't even guess to which level that technique would reach!

And that's just the start. If I can learn more about my soul, I might be able to glean some insights into how I was able to transmigrate across worlds, or perhaps dimensions! Is my soul somehow different from an ordinary soul, or does every soul transmigrate in such a manner?

Studying souls might also be a way to understand whether immortality can be achieved. Orochimaru's research has already had some success. His curse seals give him a way to revive even if his main body is killed. And, if his main body can't sustain itself, he can switch bodies.

However, both his methods definitely have flaws. And the flaws are quite terrifying. For someone so strong and experienced, he is extremely vulnerable to Genjutsu.

There is no way Hiruzen would fall prey to Itachi's Genjutsu that easily. Even Jiraiya was very confident in being able to avoid his Genjutsu. And, in the Fourth Great Ninja War, despite fighting against Madara for so long, there was only one instance of a Kage falling into Genjutsu. And even then, Ay easily understood that he had been caught in a Genjutsu.

I believe that the act of dividing his soul through curse seals should have made Orochimaru more susceptible to Genjutsu. Similarly, though he can switch bodies, it is highly unlikely for a new body to be as strong as his real body. If that is true, then the Orochimaru that will fight against Hiruzen is undoubtedly not at his peak!

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