The next day, Fujin returned to his training routine.
A few days later, Fujin was breathing heavily. However, there was a big smile on his face. The trees in front of him were riddled with holes!
He exclaimed, "Finally! I can perform Vacuum Bullets without using hand signs!"
In 11 days of training, Fujin had mastered the Air Bullet jutsu. The hand signs for the Vacuum Bullet jutsu were the same as the Air Bullet jutsu. He was able to perform it without hand signs a minute after mastering the Air Bullet jutsu. He practiced the Vacuum Bullet jutsu till he was comfortable and then began practicing the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu.
On the appointed day, he met up with Eiji. Eiji had marked his entire plot. Eiji showed him the markings and told him where and how deep to dig.
Eiji and his employees cleared the area and watched with anticipation. They were looking forward to Fujin's display. In the past, they had seen some amazing feats.
Unfortunately, they would be disappointed. They stood for a couple of hours to see Fujin use Earth Camp jutsu a few hundred times to dig up the hole. In fact, most got bored and left with disappointment.
Fujin checked his work and left the hole. He walked towards Eiji only to see a dumbfounded expression on his face. He asked, "What's the matter?"
Eiji sighed and replied, "Nothing."
Fujin said, "Please check if everything is alright."
Eiji complained in his heart, 'How can there be any mistakes when you work so slowly?'
He said, "It's alright. It'll decrease your construction cost by 400 thousand Ryo. I also talked with a Seal Master. We decided on 600 thousand Ryo cost. Is that alright?"
Fujin nodded and asked, "Can I watch when he inscribes the seals?"
Eiji said, "Sure. It's your house after all. I'll send a worker to your house to give you the message."
Fujin thanked him and left back for training.
The next afternoon, Fujin was practicing the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu. He had already learnt how to use it without any hand signs. Its similarity with the Great Breakthrough jutsu allowed Fujin to master it quickly. He was now practicing supercharging this jutsu quickly. However, he suddenly stopped practicing and looked in a direction.
He thought, 'Someone entered the training ground? Who? The chakra signature is very low. So either he is weak or good at hiding his chakra level.'
The person Fujin sensed was moving towards him. Fujin stopped practicing and waited to see who it was. After a little while, a young man in his early twenties appeared.
He looked at Fujin and asked, "Hey, you are Fujin, right?
Fujin nodded and asked, "Yes. Who are you?"
He answered, "I am Endo Tadao. I came here to call you to the Mission Center. You are called there."
Fujin thought, 'Are they finally assigning me a mission? Is he a messenger or someone who works there?'
He replied, "Alright, I will be there."
Tadao looked at Fujin. He seemed to have no intention to leave. He said, "Can you leave now? They have called you immediately."
Fujin sighed and said, "Alright."
Tadao expected Fujin to follow him back. However, Fujin just disappeared! He was shocked, 'What the hell? I just blinked my eyes and he disappeared!'
He immediately looked around himself but didn't find anyone. However, he saw the destruction Fujin had caused in that training ground. He muttered, "He really left like that. Shichiro wasn't lying about his skill and strength."
He turned around and began running back to the Hokage building.
Fujin flickered to the Hokage building. He entered the building and walked into the mission center.
On entering, he saw a few chunins who were working there. In addition, there were a few more ninjas. Looking at Fujin, one of the chunin officers stood up and called him. Fujin recognized him. He was the one who assigned most of the Bandit Hunting missions to Team Renjiro.
Fujin walked towards him while noticing two other ninjas standing in front of his desk.
Shichiro said, "Fujin-kun, long time no see."
Fujin nodded. He hadn't taken a mission from this room since the mission to the Land of Tea.
Shichiro asked, "Where is Tadao?"
Fujin replied, "The messenger? Not sure. I came here after he asked me to."
Shichiro was dumbfounded. He sighed and said, "He isn't the messenger. He will be your teammate for the next mission."
Fujin thought, 'Really? He seemed weak. Was he hiding his strength?'
Shichiro introduced the two ninjas next to him, "He is Kimiyama Yasuoka and he is Obake Kaneie. Along with Endo Tadao, they will be in your team. You will be the leader of this team for this mission."
Fujin's eyebrows twitched. He thought, 'Both their chakra levels are weak as well. Don't tell me…'
Shichiro took a document and handed it to Fujin. Fujin read the title and his face immediately became dark.
Shichiro said, "Your mission is to eliminate this new bandit group. They have been creating a lot of trouble."
Fujin looked at him and handed him the document back. He said, "I don't want it. Call me when you have any rank B mission for me."
Yosuoka and Kaneie burned in embarrassment. A kid half their age was refusing to do a mission they couldn't undertake without supervision!
Shichiro sighed and said, "Fujin, you have just become a Chunin. Even if you are assigned a rank B mission, you won't be selected as the team leader. That role will be taken by the more experienced Chunins.
You will have to undertake rank C missions to build up your leadership skills. Only once you lead in a large number of rank C missions, will you be able to lead rank B missions."
Fujin observed Shichiro. He sensed that he wasn't lying. But he also sensed that what he said was complete bullshit! The reason that he was giving him this mission was just so he could get a laugh from Fujin's reaction. Fujin was sure that he would give Hoka and Mieko Bandit elimination missions as well.
Fujin was about to leave, but Shichiro stopped him and began giving a number of reasons to take this mission. Wanting to get him off his back, Fujin finally agreed.
However, he said, "This is the last time I am taking a rank C mission. The next time you assign me a Bandit Elimination mission, I'll forge evidence that you are their ring leader!"
Shichiro smiled and handed him the document back. Tadao finally returned to the Mission Center. He was breathing heavily.
Fujin looked at his three new subordinates and asked, "When do you guys want to leave for the mission?"
Yasuoka answered, "We are ready to leave anytime."
Fujin said, "Alright. Let's meet at the Village Gate in a couple of hours."
Fujin left to have his lunch. Tadao, Yasuoka and Kaneie saw him leave.
Tadao asked, "Are we getting too old?"
Kaneie refused, "No way! I am not even married yet!"
Yasuoka sighed at his teammate's antics. He said, "Well, at least he is strong. Though he seems to be very arrogant. He didn't put us in his eyes at all."
Shichiro chuckled and patted his back. He said, "Don't worry. He is very reasonable and balanced. And he is very strong. From what I heard, he is even stronger than me. And he has a reputation for being the Bandit Exterminator! You guys will be fine."
Tadao, Yasuoka and Kaneie sighed. They knew they had been set up by Shichiro. All four of them were 22 years old. They were in the same year in the academy and were good friends. Unfortunately, the three of them weren't very talented. They never managed to be promoted to Chunin and had already given up on it.
They stayed together as a team and would only take rank C missions occasionally for the money and to stay in shape. Shichiro was a bit more talented than them. He managed to be promoted to the Chunin rank in the 3rd Great Ninja War. But he became weary of risking his life and took a desk job.
After a couple of hours, Fujin and the three genins assembled. Fujin asked, "Have you prepared the necessary weapons and rations for the mission?"
All three genins nodded awkwardly as many were watching when Fujin asked this question.
Fujin asked, "What are your specialities?"
Tadao said, "I am good at throwing Shurikens. I can hit a bullseye every single time."
Yasuoka said, "I have mastered water nature manipulation."
While there was no change in Fujin's expression, he scoffed in his mind, 'Mastered? Why don't you put your name down as a candidate for the 5th Hokage?'
Kaneie said, "I can observe our surroundings carefully and pick up on clues."
Fujin nodded and said, "Alright, let's go."
However, Tadao stopped him, "Wait Fujin. Can you tell us about your specialities?"
Fujin stopped and turned around. He answered, "I know a bit of Wind and Earth nature manipulation and am good with clones."
After answering he turned around and began leaving. The trio were a bit surprised. They expected the preteen to brag about his prowess. But, he didn't show off at all! They quickly followed him.
