After practicing, Fujin's Shadow clone needed just two seconds to explode after making the decision to self-destruct. The efficiency of using all of the clone's chakra for the explosion also increased. Each explosion now formed a crater of 3 meters radius and 10 cm depth.
Renjiro said, "That's good enough. Don't exhaust your chakra anymore."
Fujin nodded and stopped practicing. Renjiro said, "Shadow Clone Explosion jutsu is relatively easy to learn. The difficult part of this jutsu is learning Shadow clones. So don't expect to learn any other rank A jutsu in a day."
Fujin nodded. He thought, 'Yeah, this jutsu was just too easy to learn! Though practicing it will be tougher due to the crazy rate at which it burns chakra.'
Renjiro said, "Another important aspect is the amount of chakra you pour into your clones. While practicing, you kept the amount of chakra in your shadow clones to the minimum. However, if you create a clone with a lot of chakra, that explosion will be much stronger."
Fujin nodded. Renjiro added, "However, don't experiment with it for the time being. We will be leaving for a rank A mission on the day after tomorrow. So no more ninjutsu practice. Your chakra reserves need to be at full."
Fujin nodded while thinking, 'Rank A mission… I wonder if it will be as easy as the previous one.'
Renjiro said, "I will go and inform Hoka and Mieko as well. Meet us outside the Hokage's building at 6 AM the day after tomorrow."
Renjiro was about to flicker, when Fujin said, "Wait Sensei!"
Renjiro waited and looked at Fujin.
Fujin said, "Sensei, is there a Wind Clone Explosion jutsu? Just like Shadow Clone Explosion jutsu?"
Renjiro nodded, fully anticipating what Fujin would ask next. Fujin asked, "Could you teach me that jutsu as well, Sensei? Or give me the scroll to learn that jutsu from?"
Renjiro smiled and replied, "Your reward was just one Rank A jutsu. If you want that jutsu, then become a jounin immediately."
Fujin gave him a deadpan look. It was well known that Konoha was very stingy when it came to promoting Chunins to Jounins. Even someone like Itachi, who was strong enough to annihilate the entire Uchiha clan, was officially only a chunin when he left the village!
[A/N : I always thought he became Jounin before being selected into Anbu. Kinda surprised when I read that he was never promoted to Jounin despite being an Anbu captain.]
So Fujin didn't expect to even be considered for a Jounin promotion for a few years.
He complained, "Come on! Don't be stingy, Sensei! My Wind clones are even better than me at Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu! And I can already imagine the destruction they could cause with the combination of Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu and Wind Clone Explosion jutsu!"
Renjiro chuckled and replied, "It's not me being stingy. As a teacher, it's my job to motivate my students. Wind Clone Explosion jutsu is my way to motivate you to become a Jounin soon. So don't slack off and become a Jounin quickly."
On saying that, he flickered away, not giving Fujin any chance to argue back.
Fujin was dumbfounded seeing his Sensei just run away! He grumbled, "Such a lousy excuse! He could have just given it to me and dangled an S rank jutsu to motivate me. Besides, the principles of the jutsu should be similar to Shadow Clone Explosion jutsu. So I should be able to make this jutsu myself. After all, no hand signs are needed."
Renjiro laughed after leaving. He thought, 'That brat always manages to get his way when asking for new jutsus or techniques. He needs to be given a few setbacks, or else he would just begin knocking on everyone's doors and asking them to give him their jutsus!
Still, it was a good tactic that he thought of. A few Suna jounins used it to good effect in the previous war. It was so effective that we had a Hyuga who could use Vacuum Palm in every group that went to the Suna frontline.'
Not having much chakra, Fujin left to fill his stomach. He rested for a couple of days.
When Fujin was being trained by Renjiro, four ninjas, dressed in Hidden Mist vests, entered the Land of Fire undetected. All four wore masks and had visible injuries on their body. They appeared to be escaping.
A few minutes later, another 6 ninjas with similar clothes entered from the same path as those 4 ninjas without alerting anyone. They too had some injuries, but the injuries were lesser. They chased after the first group.
After 10 minutes, the two groups finally got very close to each other. Matsuzaki Masa, who was in the 2nd group, was a sensor. He smirked and said, "Kazuki-senpai, I found them! They are just 700 meters ahead of us."
Kazuki smiled and said, "Move quickly. We need to eliminate them and leave. It will be troublesome if Konoha gets involved."
His group nodded and moved faster. They were in the enemy territory after all.
Mino Masuyo sensed Masa sensing them. Her expression grew grim. She said, "Chou-sama. They sensed us. They are only 700 meters behind us!"
Sakai Chou's expression grew grim. She said, "Let's wait ahead and set up traps. We will create a lot of noise in this war to attract Konoha's attention. Once Konoha and those guys clash, we can escape. It'd be best if Konoha kills them!"
Her subordinates nodded and began preparing traps. Soon, the 6 Kiri ninjas from the Mizukage faction caught up. They were greeted with dozens of shurikens and kunais. However, they managed to dodge and block everything. But, suddenly, 3 kunais with explosion tags appeared near them. They quickly dispersed.
Sakai Chou flickered in front of one of the enemies and blew hot steam on him. The Kiri ninja yelled and retreated. He had burns all over his body! Even some of his clothes had melted.
Kazuki and another Jounin quickly made a move to attack Chou. However, she just retreated. Her team members appeared next to her to aid her. A clash happened!
After a couple of minutes of a deadlock, Chou and her team suddenly retreated to a spot. Chou made a few hand signs and blew steam in the whole area!
Kazuki and his men got together and countered with Water Release jutsus. However, after using her steam jutsu, Sakai Chou and her squad members retreated rapidly. Before their opponents could react, the entire area was blown up!
Kazuki was livid! He yelled, "Those fucking traitors rigged the entire place!"
Although the forest was blown up, Kazuki and his squad didn't suffer any injury. However, they were faced with two issues. Their opponents had once again run out of their sight. And, more importantly, this massive explosion was sure to attract Konoha ninjas!
As Kazuki expected, the loud explosion was noticed by a Konoha patrol unit that was 5 km away! They immediately reported to their superior and rushed to inspect the explosion.
Two days later, Fujjn appeared outside the Hokage building at 5:55 AM. Renjiro, Mieko and Hoka were already there. Mieko was annoyed. She asked with annoyance, "Aren't you excited for a rank A mission? Why couldn't you come early?"
Fujin shrugged and said, "Haven't we already completed one Rank A mission? Besides, I'm early!"
Mieko complained, "BY ONLY 5 MINUTES!"
Fujin smirked and said, "That's plenty of time to defeat you."
This remark angered Mieko a lot! She was about to yell back, when Renjiro said, "Enough chit-chat. Time to see the Hokage."
Mieko looked away from Fujin and walked ahead. Fujin looked at her with a bit of disappointment, 'It's a shame that steam doesn't blow out of ears on being mad like in anime.'
The group walked into the Hokage office and greeted Hiruzen. A chunin was standing in the room with a file. Hiruzen asked the group, "So, are you prepared for a rank A mission?"
The kids immediately nodded and replied in affirmative. He chuckled and said, "Good luck. Tatsuya will explain the details."
Tatsuya, the chunin inside the office, stepped forward and said, "The mission assigned to you is a two-part mission. Both these parts are Rank A missions by themselves.
Two groups of ninjas from Hidden Mist clashed inside our country two days ago. We sent out a few scout teams to track them, but they couldn't find them. But we believe that they haven't left the Land of Fire yet. The first part of your mission is to find and either eliminate or arrest them."
He handed a document from the file to Renjiro while saying, "The clash happened near the Eastern shore of our country, about 75 km to the north of the port near the Land of Wave. Blood samples were collected where the clash happened, so they could be injured. However, we don't know who the Kiri ninjas are."
Renjiro accepted the document with a puzzled look. This wasn't the mission he had decided for his team.
Hiruzen said, "There are some border patrol teams in that area. You can cooperate with them. If the mission exceeds the rank, you are allowed to retreat and inform us to send the appropriate backup."
Renjiro nodded. He was aware of the protocols. The words Hiruzen spoke were for the kids. The kids also realized it and paid close attention.
Tatsuya continued, "The second part of your mission will be inside the Land of Hot Springs. A dozen rogue ninjas have entered it and are creating chaos around the southern town of Niigata. According to our information, the rogue ninjas are from Kiri. You will cooperate with a local team and eliminate them."
Renjiro nodded. This was the mission that he had selected for his students.
Hiruzen added, "The second part of the mission depends on your status after completing part 1. If you are injured or unable to continue for reason, you will hand the mission to Akimichi Seiichi and take his spot to monitor the border patrol squads instead."
Renjiro nodded. Mieko quickly added, "Don't worry Lord Hokage. We will complete both missions with ease."
Hoka and Fujin nodded to back her up. After all, getting Rank A missions would provide very critical experiences for them.
Renjiro looked at his students and said, "Let's go."
The trio nodded and left with him.
[A/N : Additional chapter on Sunday if the fic stays in top 200.]
