Fujin knocked and entered the Hokage's office. He noticed that Shikaku was also in the room. However, apart from them, no one else was in the room. Even the four Anbu ninjas that usually guarded Hiruzen weren't there.
Hiruzen smiled and asked, "Fujin, how have you been?"
He noticed the new bracers Fujin was wearing and immediately noticed the high number of seals inscribed in them. He looked into Fujin's eyes and meaningfully said, "Good Bracers."
Fujin ignored the gaze and the implications behind his words. He replied with a smile, "Thank You, Grandpa. I have been well."
Hiruzen had gotten used to Fujin ignoring subtle messages. He said, "Your performance in the Anbu has been very good. Both Tsuyoshi and the Anbu commander have recommended me for promoting you to the Anbu Captain rank. However, the Anbu Captain rank is equivalent to the Jounin rank. So to become one, you have to complete a Promotion mission."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes, Captain informed me."
Hiruzen looked at Shikaku. Shikaku stepped forward and handed a scroll to Fujin and said, "Recently, we have been getting multiple strange reports from the Land of Wind. We suspect that Sunagakure wants to end the alliance with us while the Daimyo of the Land of Wind doesn't. Your mission will be to infiltrate into the Land of Wind and cause discontent for Sunagakure among their nobles and make them more inclined to assign missions to Konoha.
The scroll has multiple scrolls with details of all the nobles in the Land of Wind, their nature, likes, dislikes, the people precious to them and their current relations with us and Suna along with some recommendations for you. You will act on your own and are free to do whatever you want to make progress in the mission. Just don't let anyone know that you are from Konoha."
Fujin furrowed his eyebrows. The mission was huge. Though he had grown stronger, his strength wasn't at a level where he could casually influence the relations between a Daimyo and a Kage.
Hiruzen and Shikaku noticed his expressions but didn't say anything. Fujin said, "The mission is too difficult. Though I could make some moves, I am sure that Suna will retaliate immediately. So my actions won't make much of a difference."
Shikaku nodded and said, "Yes, but you don't need to worry. You aren't the only one we have sent. Many other Anbu ninjas have been given the same promotion mission. So the attention from Sunagakure will be divided among all of you.
Of course, if you think that you can't continue the mission any more, you are allowed to retreat. In addition, be careful of who you kill as the Anbu ninjas we deployed will be under disguises."
A frown formed on Fujin's face. The mission was not only difficult but it also had several complexities. He sighed and thought, 'Despite the training, most of my missions in the Anbu were straightforward assassination, elimination or protection missions. I guessed that Hiruzen wanted me to focus on those skills. Looks like my guess was wrong. This mission will be a pain in the ass.'
Fujin asked, "How long do I have to stay there?"
Shikaku replied, "As long as you can. Retreat when you think that your cover might be blown or you don't think you can make any further progress towards the mission. The success or failure of the mission will be decided by how long you manage to stay in the Land of Wind and the result of your actions there."
Fujin digested the information. Shikaku asked, "Any more questions?"
Fujin shook his head and said, "No. But I would like to have the attire of a Sand Anbu ninja along with a new mask that is popular among their ranks."
Shikaku had expected such a request from Fujin. He handed Fujin another scroll and said, "This scroll has what you asked for. It also has enough ration bars and water to last half a year."
Fujin accepted the scroll. At the same time, he got an idea of how long he was expected to stay undercover in the Land of Wind. Shikaku asked, "Are you ready to move out or do you need some time to prepare?"
Fujin replied, "I can move out right away."
Shikaku nodded and said, "Good. We have one more mission for you. This one isn't related to your promotion mission, but a good performance could influence our decision if your performance in the Land of Wind is subpar."
Fujin looked at Shikaku without changing his expression and thought, 'Do you still not know that such manipulation tactics don't work on me?'
Shikaku obviously knew it. He had interacted several times with Fujin. But he was just too lazy to change his ways for just one person. From his point of view, regardless of how he spoke, Fujin would act the same way. So he didn't bother changing his dialogue.
Shikaku said, "In recent times, we have noticed the movement of some bounty hunter rogue ninjas in the forests around our village. I speculate that they have an accomplice in the village who monitors the movements of ninjas and informs his group outside the village. We tried trapping them but haven't had any success so far as they are very careful with their targets."
Hiruzen added, "You haven't been seen much since a bounty was put on your head as your Anbu achievements haven't been credited to you yet. So you will be the perfect bait for them. Go through the Village gate without any disguise and let them see you. Hopefully, they will think of you as the perfect target and ambush you outside the village.
We will send a Jounin squad to follow you stealthily from a distance. They will reinforce you as soon as the battle begins or you send a signal."
Fujin thought for a few seconds and said, "Alright. Do we have any intel on who the rogue bounty hunters are?"
Hiruzen shook his head, "We have eliminated one group who had rogue ninjas from Iwa, but they didn't have any intel on others. According to our calculations, there are 3 more groups."
Fujin said, "Okay. I will move out now."
He left the office and began walking casually towards the village gate while thinking, 'Bounty hunters… I haven't encountered any in this world other than Kakuzu. Anyways, as long as he or any other S rank ninjas aren't involved, I should be fine. If they are weak, I can eliminate them myself. Otherwise, I will just have to stall them.'
Fujin reached the gate and felt a few eyes on himself. He analyzed, 'Hmm, though there are a bunch of eyes on me, it will be difficult to say who is with the bounty hunters. After all, there are always a bunch of eyes on the village gate. Oh well, let's see.'
As soon as Fujin left the village, two pairs of eyes sparkled in greed. One of these pairs belonged to a man in his twenties with an ordinary appearance and was operating a firework shop near the village gate.
He observed the direction in which Fujin left and couldn't help but lick his lips. He thought, 'When we made a list of the good targets, this boy topped it. Who knows which gods he offended to get such a big bounty. Unfortunately, this coward didn't leave the village for so long. But finally, it's time!'
The man looked at a stall opposite his. The man in that stall also looked back at him. Their eyes met. Both quickly used their methods to inform their respective groups. However, unknown to both of them, one squad of Jounins left the village secretly and followed Fujin from a few kilometers away.
If either of the two bounty hunter groups knew about the existence of these ninjas, they wouldn't dare to approach Fujin even if their courage was amplified a hundred times. After all, this group was led by Konoha's newest Elite Jounin, Copy Ninja Kakashi!
Fujin didn't sense Kakashi's squad. However, he wasn't surprised as he wouldn't be good bait if they could be sensed so easily. He continued travelling through the woods as if everything was normal, but he didn't move at his max speed to not create any doubts in the minds of the bounty hunters.
Two groups of Bounty hunters quickly moved towards the route from Konoha to the Land of Rain. The first group was made of Rogue ninjas from Kirigakure. They excelled in assassination. Their group contained 11 ninjas. Before betraying, 8 were Chunins in Kiri while the remaining 3 were Jounins.
The second group was made of Rogue ninjas from the countries of Lands of Rain, River, Grass, Bird and Bear. This group had 24 people, 11 of whom were Jounins in their village before they went rogue.
Both reached the same spot on the route at the same time and got into a standoff. After all, their messengers had also informed them that another group of Bounty Hunters might also be hunting Fujin and neither wanted the other group to get to Fujin first.
