Chapter 404 : Hiruzen's Headache

[A/N: Loved the comments in the previous chapter. Apologies for the prank. I just couldn't resist xD]

Fujin stopped thinking about Danzo and shut his door. From the meeting, he understood that Danzo wouldn't take any direct actions against him. As for the indirect actions, he wasn't much worried. On the contrary, he was looking forward to it.

Irrespective of Danzo's morals, it was undeniable that he was at the top of the ninja world when it came to scheming and hiding in the dark. Fujin hoped to gain some experience by engaging in such tactics against someone like Danzo.

Even if Fujin suffered any losses, he wouldn't be too concerned considering that Danzo's influence was already waning while his influence would keep increasing as he kept getting stronger and started involving himself in Konoha's internal politics.

Not to mention, Fujin didn't particularly care much about his influence in Konoha. As long as he stayed strong, any loss of influence or reputation was inconsequential. So, even a complete defeat won't actually cause him any loss and would just improve his political skills.

After Danzo left, the Root ninjas hiding around Fujin's house left as quietly as they arrived. Only Hiruzen kept looking at the crystal ball with a thoughtful expression on his face.

After a few minutes, he thought, 'The exchange was quite different from what I guessed. Fujin faced numerous deadly opponents in his last two missions. To think that Danzo would take advantage of that and exploit any wedge between us.

Fortunately, Fujin hadn't blamed me for any of those and I just gave him the Flying Thunder God jutsu without creating any trouble. So, our relationship was very good. Otherwise, Danzo could have temporarily poached Fujin just like he poached Kakashi. That would have been rather annoying to deal with.

Though I am sure that Fujin won't act against me, it would have been hard to say what he would have done due to Danzo's manipulation and his devious schemes. Thankfully, I don't have to worry about that. Still…'

Hiruzen looked at Fujin's house and analyzed, 'Fujin gave me another surprise. Though he looked casual, it was obvious that he was prepared to fight. Though doubtful, I suspect that he was prepared to even kill Danzo. And, for some reason, I feel that Danzo would have been the one getting beaten badly despite having those eyes.

Did Fujin have any previous contact with Root or Danzo? Or rather, does he have any enmity with them?'

Hiruzen went through his memories but couldn't recall any instance that would make Fujin despise Root or Danzo. He shook his head and thought, 'Leave it. Fujin being on guard against Danzo is a good thing. I could use him to suppress Danzo further. Still, this boy's habit of causing trouble for me hasn't changed. This time I can't even toss it to Shikaku.'

Hiruzen looked towards the door and wondered, 'Since when did he become so obedient that he would do everything I tell him? If that were the case, would I allow him to quit Anbu? Yet, he claimed he would listen to my commands and sent this trouble over to me.'

A couple of seconds later, Danzo arrived in Hiruzen's office. The two stayed alone in the Hokage's office while Danzo did his best to convince Hiruzen to instruct Fujin to stay away from Naruto.

Half an hour later, a fuming Danzo left Hiruzen's office. He had an ugly expression on his face as he thought, 'No matter what I said, Hiruzen didn't budge an inch! I was right. Getting a new rank S ninja who is loyal to him has given him a lot more liberty and allows him to make a few political maneuvers.

And with Hiruzen taking Fujin's side, the other clans won't support me if I try to use them to pressure Hiruzen. After all, Fujin doesn't have any faction of his own. Him looking after Naruto won't harm their interests and they might see it positively instead. They could also use this chance to improve their relationship with him.'

Danzo didn't see any way of keeping Fujin away from Naruto. He returned back to Root headquarters while thinking about what his next move should be.

In his office, Hiruzen had a tired expression on his face. Unlike the earlier times when he faked tiredness to gain Fujin's sympathy, this time, he really was tired. He thought, 'I'm too old for shit. That brat… purposefully sending Danzo to me... As if I can stop him from doing something without any good reason. Even if I somehow could, I'm sure that greedy boy would ask for something very ridiculous!'

Hiruzen knew that he wouldn't be able to convince Fujin. So he couldn't agree to Danzo's idea. As such, their argument had become very heated and pointless.

He sighed and decided, 'I'll let it go this time. I doubt they would act openly against each other. I'll just turn a blind eye to whatever they do in the dark. Let them fight it out and leave this old man out.'

Fujin spent his day taking a well-deserved break. From the next day onwards, he sent a clone to guide Naruto. At the same time, he practiced his Wind Domain while some of his clones kept working on Flying Thunder God Seal.

Around a week later, Fujin decided to approach Guy once again. The two hadn't spared for almost a week and a half.

Fujin arrived at noon at the training ground where Guy usually practiced at. As he expected, Guy's team was with him and was lying on the ground, completely exhausted.

Fujin flickered next to Guy and asked, "Since when did you start arranging sleepovers? And that too in a training ground and at noon. No wonder there are only three kids here."

Guy laughed at Fujin's taunt while a tick mark appeared on the foreheads of his three students. Unfortunately, all three were too exhausted to argue or even wonder who had arrived. Guy said excitedly, "Fujin, meet my students."

He pointed at the lying kids one by one and said, "He is Neji. She is Tenten. And this one, who looks like me, is Lee. Get up you three. How long are you going to lie down?"

Neji, Tenten and Lee reluctantly got up but still stayed sitting on the ground. Guy pointed at Fujin and said, "He is Suzuki Fujin, my sparring partner who I told you about."

The genins were surprised to see someone whom Guy had spoken about. Even more so, they were surprised at how young Fujin was.

Fujin looked at them and smiled. He said in a gentle voice, "To get a sensei like Guy, you three are very lucky. I just hope you have the will and determination to endure through his training to enjoy the fruits of your hard work."

Lee immediately said enthusiastically, "Of course we do!"

Meanwhile, Neji and Tenten looked at Fujin suspiciously and wondered, 'Why does it feel like he is taking pleasure out of our misery?'

Guy clearly saw it as well, though he didn't mind it. He asked, "So, why did you come to meet me, Fujin?"

Fujin replied, "It's been a while since we sparred. Wanna have a go?"

Guy grinned and replied, "Sure."

He looked at his students and said, "No afternoon training session today. Instead, you will observe our spar and learn from it."

The mood of the three Genins immediately brightened up. Suddenly, they looked at Fujin as if he was their savior. Fujin and Guy immediately moved to the center of the training ground while the genins kept sitting where they were.

Lee observed Fujin and Guy taking stances and exclaimed, "This is so exciting! To see Guy-sensei in a fight so quickly!"

Tenten nodded. However, Neji's eyes were on Fujin. He said, "Pay attention to that guy as well. I heard from some of my clan members that someone named Fujin was recently promoted to Elite Jounin at the age of just 15. It should be him."

Neji's words surprised Tenten and Lee. They looked at Fujin more carefully. Guy said, "Let's begin!"

The eyes of the three Genins, who were watching carefully, suddenly widened. In front of their eyes, both Fujin and Guy disappeared! A moment later, the sound of two fists clashing was heard. And in a few seconds, hundreds of such clashes occurred. None of the three could see even the shadow of Fujin and Guy!

Neji immediately activated his Byakugan. However, despite his Byakugan, he could still not see Guy and Fujin and just saw the trails of their chakra that were left behind. He was astounded. It was the first instance of his Byakugan not seeing something clearly.

Unlike Lee and Tenten, Neji had been upset about receiving Guy as his sensei until he learnt that Guy was an Elite Jounin. However, he hadn't seen him do much and was skeptical about it. Now that he saw Guy in action, Neji had no words.

He thought, 'Incredible! So this is an Elite Jounin? I can't see them move despite my Byakugan. Also, why does it feel like two mountains are clashing with each other instead of fists and feet?'

[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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