Fujin analyzed the pros and cons of keeping his summon a secret. Finally, he decided, 'The Winged Sabertooths will be my main summon. There isn't much point in keeping them a secret as it will get out eventually. Of course, I should keep this card hidden until I can but there is no need to keep it hidden from the ones I can trust.
Instead, I should probably take the initiative to mention this to Hiruzen. While it is good news that they want to teach me Senjutsu, they definitely have some ulterior motives. Though my gut tells me that their ultimate motives won't be harmful to me and even if it is, they won't do anything to me until I learn Senjutsu, it would be better to get some information from Hiruzen.
If it is harmful, then he could warn me and help me terminate the contract or help me scheme against them. If it is beneficial, then Hiruzen might look more favorably towards me as these Sabertooths are quite strong and could increase Konoha's strength considerably.
Also, I could use Ryu's dialogue and add some false news to maybe get a few Elemental crystals from Hiruzen. For instance, instead of telling him about their methods and resources to strengthen me, I could tell him that they will teach me Senjutsu only if I reach the required strength.'
Fujin made a few plans until he was satisfied and went to sleep after eating dinner.
Meanwhile, at the peak of Mount Muteki, Ryu appeared in front of Murasaki. Murasaki looked at him and said, "I am surprised that you agreed so readily. Is the boy that impressive?"
Ryu replied, "You didn't see him connect to nature, great-grandmother. It was almost instinctual to him. He didn't even need 15 minutes to sense nature energy and managed to maintain that state for 2 hours. I had to keep flying around the mountain for over an hour to not disturb him. Among the summoners we contracted in the last 400 years, he is our best shot."
Murasaki sighed and asked, "Are you still hoping that the prophecy your grandfather had, comes true?"
Ryu didn't answer her question and instead said, "Five hundred years ago, you mastered nature energy and helped our pride advance to the next level. However, we haven't made any progress since then. Grandfather and Grand Uncle Genji believed that we will advance to the next level with the help of a human who could learn our Senjutsu. I'd rather believe it instead of wasting away hundreds of years pointlessly."
Murasaki looked at Ryu, however, he didn't budge. She sighed and said, "Do whatever you want."
Ryu nodded and left. Murasaki saw him leaving the mountain as her memories surfaced, 'Four children, 7 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren of mine have died as a result of that prophecy. Some sacrificed themselves to protect the human they chose while some were killed by the betrayal of the very human they raised and one ingrate even invaded our sacred lands. I hope you don't join them, Ryu.'
She closed her eyes and went back to meditating. A very strong chakra could be seen around her. A chakra that brightened the peak of Mount Muteki and would have been visible from a long distance if the peak wasn't hidden above the clouds!
The next day, Fujin was standing outside a building. It was Konoha's hospital. He entered it and approached the lady sitting in the reception. She looked at Fujin and greeted him with a smile, "Fujin-kun, who are you here to visit? Or are you injured?"
Fujin smiled back at her. He had been a rather common face in the hospital. He especially became well-known when Renjiro brought his injured and unconscious body to the hospital on his shoulder multiple times in a single month.
He replied, "I am fine and haven't come to visit anyone Akemi-san. I have come here to register for medical ninja training."
Akemi was surprised. She asked, "You want to become a medical ninja?"
Fujin replied, "No, I just want to learn the basic healing jutsu so that I can help my teammates if we don't have a medical ninja with us."
Akemi replied, "Oh. Alright. Wait a minute."
Akemi wasn't surprised by Fujin's request. Quite a few ninjas would show up for learning the Mystical Palm jutsu without bothering to learn the remaining knowledge needed to become a medical ninja.
Konoha had a system in place for ninjas like these. Though they would prefer for more ninjas to become a proper and capable medical ninja, very few had the interest, talent and patience to become one. After all, it would require years or even a decade to become a good medical ninja.
So Hiruzen, with Tsunade's assistance, had created a proper plan to teach such ninjas. A lot of clans and civilian ninjas benefitted immensely from this program.
The former Uchiha clan had benefitted the most from this system. Their Sharingans could easily copy the Mystical Palm jutsu. They just needed some guidance to master that jutsu and could provide a better healing option on the frontlines where Medical ninjas wouldn't be available.
Similarly, the Hyuga clan also benefitted from this system. Their Byakugan and fine chakra control assisted in being much superior to others who learnt this jutsu. So some Hyugas learnt this jutsu and became the perfect support for any squad with their scouting and healing capabilities while being perfectly capable of defending themselves.
Akemi opened a file and wrote Fujin's name in a list that already had 23 other names. She said, "A training session for newbies will be held 3 days from now at noon. I have registered you. So just show up and join the class."
Fujin noted the date and thanked her, "Thank You, Akemi-san."
Fujin left the hospital thinking, 'Three days… Should I train a jutsu or should I train with summons?'
Suddenly he heard, "Fujin!"
Fujin turned to his right. Hatake Takao walked towards him and asked, "Where were you yesterday evening? We tried finding you without any success."
Fujin replied, "I was doing some special training. Anyways, what's up?"
Takao looked at Fujin but didn't get any clues from him. He said, "Well, it's good that you are safe. Lord Hokage wants to meet you. So meet him right away."
Fujin nodded and said, "Alright. Thank You for passing the message."
Fujin flickered towards the Hokage building. He entered and knocked on the door. Hiruzen invited him.
Fujin entered and said, "I met Takao-san outside the hospital. He said you wanted to meet me, grandpa."
Hiruzen looked at him and asked, "Hospital? Are you injured?"
Fujin shook his head and answered, "No, I am planning to learn mystical palm jutsu. So I went to register myself."
He put up a sad expression and said, "If a mission goes bad, I want to have the capability of at least healing my teammates a bit."
Hiruzen knew that Fujin was referring to his previous mission indirectly as he couldn't say it out loud. He couldn't heal any injuries on Tamotsu for hours. His features softened. He said, "I sent a couple of messengers to you last evening, but they couldn't find you. I was worried that someone tried to claim your bounty."
Fujin furrowed his brows and asked, "Didn't you say that there is no danger in Konoha and that no one has ever claimed a bounty before?"
Hiruzen coughed and said, "I did. But there can always be a first time."
Fujin watched Hiruzen with a deadpan expression. He thought, 'This old fox is unbelievable!'
Hiruzen changed the subject and asked, "Anyways, where were you?"
Fujin replied, "I was trying to find a summon."
Hiruzen's eyes widened. He immediately scolded, "Why did you try it on your own? That is very dangerous!"
Fujin nodded and said, "Yeah. You don't need to tell me, grandpa. It was very scary! I had to face a wolf tide and even saw gigantic whales!"
Hiruzen squinted his eyes and asked, "You tried it more than once?"
Fujin nodded and said, "Yeah. It was so scary that I wanted to stop. But I couldn't help but think about your words and my teammates and kept going until I succeeded!"
Hiruzen's features softened. He thought, 'Though it was risky and he is usually greedy, the will of fire burns bright in him. As long as he can grow safely for 2-3 more years, he can fulfill the gap left by Tamotsu's squad by himself.'
Hiruzen said, "It's good that you managed to get it done. Who did you sign the contract with?"
Fujin answered, "They are Winged Sabertooths. Have you heard about them, grandpa?"
Hiruzen thought for a bit before shaking his head. He replied, "I haven't heard about anyone having these summons. How do they look and how strong are they?"
Fujin replied, "They look like a normal Sabertooth, only many times larger. Their wings are hidden along their fur, so they are hard to spot normally. They can fly very well. As for their strength, they are very strong. The one I met could have probably defeated me with ease. Though I can't say for sure as I never fought."
Hiruzen analyzed, 'I don't recall seeing any such summons or even reading about them. I guess it must be a tribe that rarely signs contracts. From what Fujin described, their strongest fighters should be at Elite Jounin level or just stronger than that which is quite good but nothing exceptional.'
He looked at Fujin and concluded, 'Oh well, Renjiro wasn't planning to hand him his Sloth summon. Since he managed to get a contract with his own strength, I can't complain. If he passes the contract to the next generation, then Fujin would have contributed a lot to the village.'
He said, "I don't know anything about them, Fujin. But good work."
