Chapter 445 : Uzumaki Ashina, Danzo's Suspicion, Hiruzen's Admiration!

Hiruzen answered, "Uzumaki Ashina was a rank S ninja who specialized in sealing. His ability in sealing was so good that even other rank S ninjas, including myself, wouldn't want to face him in a one-on-one battle. It made him a grave threat on the battlefield. The other villages attacked the Uzumaki clan only when he had grown very old and hadn't been active for over a decade.

The combined armies of several countries assaulted them. Though the attacking armies suffered high losses due to the traps set around Uzushiogakure, their numerical advantage allowed them to endure the losses and attack the village. When it looked like the fall of Uzushiogakure was inevitable, Ashina appeared once again.

He used a technique that allowed him to regain his youth and return to his peak. As a result, the invaders suffered even more losses. Unfortunately, he was facing three Kages at the same time.

We wanted to reinforce the Uzumaki clan, unfortunately, a large portion of our forces, including myself, were deployed against the Kumo border who had arrived with their full force led by the Third Raikage. In addition, other villages had also deployed small armies along our borders, forcing us to spread our armies and top-level ninjas.

By the time we realized what was happening and sent an army to reinforce the Uzumaki clan, it was too late. Uzumaki Ashina had fallen and Uzushiogakure was no more.

His body was taken by the Third Mizukage and Kirigakure extensively studied the seals on his body. However, they never found the seals that allowed Ashina to revert back to his peak. Hence, that is now considered a lost technique."

A hint of sadness could be heard in Hiruzen's voice. Konoha had lost a strong ally in that war. As a result, Konoha suffered a lot more losses than they would have in the two Great Wars.

Fujin's mind was completely occupied by those seals. As such, he didn't register the sadness in Hiruzen's voice. He analyzed the information and asked, "Doesn't Lady Tsunade also have an ability that allows her to maintain her youth?"

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "That isn't the same. Tsunade's technique is her own. Though it involves some seals, it is mainly based on her expertise in Medical Ninjutsu. And there are limits. Uzumaki Ashina's transformation was very pure. From the intel we gained, his body was full of lifeforce and chakra when he activated whichever seals he did. It didn't seem like he was an old man who was extracting all that he had left, instead looked like someone who was at his prime. More importantly, they didn't discover any side effects or backlash of the seal he was using.

We speculated that he was working on a seal that would allow him to permanently become younger or at least expand his life force significantly. Had Uzushiogakure not been attacked, it was likely that he would have succeeded and Uzushiogakure might have become the Sixth Major Ninja Village. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be."

Fujin analyzed, 'Not being able to find the seals… That sounds exactly like what happened with Zankoku. Despite being a Grandmaster, I'm at a loss. Considering that they have the body, they might have even tried to open up his body and study him thoroughly. Still, they failed! Sigh, the difficulty is as high as I imagined.'

Fujin replied, "I see. A shame that he died before he could complete it. Anyway, thanks for letting me know. If I have any more ideas regarding this, I'll discuss it with you. Anyway, who will be going with me on this mission?"

Hiruzen replied, "This mission will be a searching mission. You will have Special Jounin Inuzuka Shiro, Jounin Hyuga Hisao and Jounin Yamanaka Ken helping you. Shiro and Hisao will be good for tracking while Ken can help you in information gathering if needed."

Fujin nodded. The team was good and he was familiar with one of them. He said, "Just have them meet me. We will leave immediately. I'll explain the mission on the way."

Hiruzen nodded. Within a few minutes, all 3 of them gathered in the office. Fujin left with the three of them immediately. On leaving the village, he looked towards the direction of the Land of Hot Water and wished, 'I hope that I'm not too late. Finding another clue regarding Jashin will be very difficult and entirely luck-based.'

The four of them and Shiro's ninja dog moved rapidly towards their destination.

Back in Konoha, a figure rushed into the underground Root office. He entered Danzo's office and reported, "Lord Danzo, Suzuki Fujin returned to the village but he was sent to another mission by Lord Hokage. He led a team of 2 Jounins and 1 Special Jounin. I couldn't find out what the mission is and where he is heading to as the mission was given directly by Lord Hokage."

Danzo frowned on hearing that. He analyzed, 'He returned but the two I sent after him are still missing? Did he sense and eliminate them? But sensing them shouldn't have been easy. And even if he did, why would he kill them?'

While Fujin had displayed that he had no love for Root, Danzo didn't see any reason why he would kill a Konoha ninja. After all, there were several powerful ninjas in Konoha who didn't like Root. However, that didn't mean that they would kill them on sight. Even if the Root ninjas were in the wrong, they would show restraint and discuss with Hiruzen. In the worst-case scenario, they would arrest the Root ninjas and ask Hiruzen to investigate.

Danzo concluded, 'It is unlikely that he would kill them unless they tried to assassinate him. However, neither of them sent me any messages. It implies that they were killed within a few hours of leaving the village. And, they were instructed to not make any reckless moves anytime soon.

Did they encounter someone else who killed them? But who? Did Suna send an Elite Jounin to infiltrate into the Land of Fire again? Or was it someone else who has hostility towards Konoha ninjas or at least our Anbu Forces?'

Danzo couldn't be sure. He looked at the ninja in front of him and instructed, "Take two squads and inspect the path Fujin should have travelled. According to the information, he took missions to eliminate bandit camps and rogue ninjas to the south. Trace his steps and find signs of any battles along or near the route.

Inspect carefully as there might have been an attempt to cover up any signs of battle. Also, find out who left the village along the same route after Fujin and after how long."

The Root ninja replied, "Alright, Lord Danzo."

He flickered out of the room and began assembling a team. A few minutes later, Eight Root ninjas began trailing the steps Fujin took a few weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Hiruzen, who was unaware of the hidden exchange between Fujin and Danzo, kept thinking about his little discussion with Fujin. He thought, 'Though some simpler seals can be used to add more defenses to the body, there is no way to truly strengthen a ninja with the help of it. In fact, the main concept behind Juinjutsu is to restrict enemies.

To think of using it as an enhancer instead… No wonder he managed to become a Grandmaster so quickly and with minimal guidance. Seems like the next revolution in seals will come from Konoha.'

A smile appeared on Hiruzen's face. He could see the benefits Konoha would enjoy if Fujin succeeded in doing that. Of course, he didn't have very high hopes considering the crazy level of difficulty.

Fujin's squad moved at a high speed and managed to reach Yugakure the next day at noon despite taking a couple of breaks. Fujin had informed them about what the mission was. Due to the state of the mission, none of them slacked off. To add to it, Fujin made everyone move at a rapid speed. He didn't care much if those 3 couldn't help him in combat. He just wanted to find Hidan quickly.

As soon as they reached, Fujin met up with the Daimyo. Sitting in the conference room, Fujin said, "I have gone through the information you provided Lord Hokage. Do you have any additional information on the movements of Hidan or the news of any more missing people?"

The Daimyo replied, "Unfortunately, there is no new news. The last person, who was reported to be missing, disappeared a week ago. No new kidnapping has happened since then. However, we haven't found any traces of the missing people."

Fujin had already thought about how to approach this mission while he was moving towards the Land of Hot Water. Without missing a beat, he said, "Tell me the areas that you had suspected the most irrespective of whether you searched for those places or not."

[A/N: 500th chapter uploaded on p@treon today :)]

[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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