He quickly made some plans and let out a sigh, 'This is getting very complicated. I'll leave the planning and operations to Shikaku.'
He said, "We are leaving now. We need to get to Konoha quickly."
He looked at the ninjas who were deployed in that Patrol camp and instructed, "Keep up your good work. Clear all traces of the battles here. And don't tell anyone about what happened today."
The ninjas immediately nodded and said, "Yes Lord Hokage."
Hiruzen nodded and instructed, "Fujin, create shadow clones and sweep through the area. Check if there are any suspicious squads in a 20-kilometer radius."
Fujin replied, "Alright."
He focused on his chakra. His chakra began splitting into two. One had 40% of his maximum chakra while the other had around 59%. The 40% part of his chakra suddenly disappeared and 20 Shadow clones appeared around him. They immediately dispersed in separate directions.
Hiruzen left the camp along with Fujin, Choza, Homura and the Anbu Guards without waiting for Fujin's clones to finish the search.
While moving, Hiruzen's eyes landed on Fujin. He analyzed, 'I didn't see him much in action. Seeing that they were from Suna, I had to ensure that they don't die so that I could read memories with better accuracy. Still, just those few attacks show why he was so successful in Suna. With good control over Wind manipulation and the ability to take advantage of every little opening, he ends up killing his opponent before they have a chance to display their prowess.'
Unlike Hiruzen, Homura wasn't aware of Fujin's capabilities. He was shocked at how good he was. He looked at Fujin and analyzed, 'This boy… He is very good. Though I can't say for sure how strong he is. After all, he killed that sensor using a sneak attack by using the distraction that Choza created.
But the ability to take advantage of such small opportunities is far more valuable than strength. After all, we are ninjas. The ability to kill is way more important than the strength we possess. If a Genin kills a Kage by injuring him with a poisoned needle or kunai, then that Genin is far more valuable than a Kage who sits in his village during a war.
Besides, he is still just 14. He can gain strength in the future. I can see why Hiruzen is putting such emphasis on this boy. He could become just as capable as Kakashi. Though I still don't see why he wants to make him a negotiator.'
Fujin suddenly gained several memories. He said, "My clones didn't find anyone else. It looks like those six were travelling alone."
Hiruzen replied, "Alright, good work."
The group rushed towards Konoha without exchanging many words. By the time the Sun rose, they had reached Konoha. Choza and Fujin left while Homura accompanied Hiruzen into his office. He wanted to know why Suna attacked Konoha. One of the Anbu guards left to call Shikaku.
After half an hour, Shikaku walked into the office while grumbling, "Why are they back so quickly? And why did he disturb my sleep? I have barely managed to sleep half my usual time in the last month."
Shikaku noticed Homura in the room. Hiruzen said, "It's good to see you up so early, Shikaku. We have new intel, come sit."
Shikaku's eyes twitched on hearing Hiruzen's words. He reluctantly sat down and asked, "What intel did you get?"
Homura said, "On our route back, the Patrol camp we stayed at was attacked by Suna ninjas."
Hiruzen added, "I read their memories. It looks like Suna is planning several more attacks. Though it might be delayed a bit after we eliminated the first squad."
Hiruzen informed Shikaku about the details of the attack and the intel he gained by reading memories. Shikaku's expression became serious as he analyzed the situation.
After a few minutes, he said, "Hideyoshi didn't have enough information. We don't know who will be in the other squads. And we don't know what routes they will take. Though it is doubtful that they would send more Elite Jounins, we should operate assuming that they send Elite Jounins to avoid getting caught off guard and taking unnecessary losses.
Creating more patrol squads will be a waste of manpower. Instead, we should plant some Anbu and a couple of Elite Jounins in the Land of Fire. They can make a move after the Suna ninjas expose themselves.
This wouldn't raise any suspicions. And once we have driven away a few Suna squads, we will ambush their rendezvous point that Hideyoshi was told about. We could disguise as Hideyoshi's squad to catch them off guard."
Hiruzen thought for a bit and nodded, "Alright, let's do this."
However, Homura frowned and asked, "But why is Suna attacking us? We are allies."
Shikaku knew that Hiruzen hadn't informed others about Fujin's actions. In fact, his mission report was already destroyed and replaced with a fake one. He said, "The recent events in the Land of Wind probably alarmed them. Whoever it was, they did a good job of directing the suspicions at us. Especially by burning the food storage facilities. That provides a lot of advantages to us. So some response is to be expected."
Homura frowned. He was very suspicious and thought, 'These two are definitely hiding something from me. At least Hiruzen is. The incidents in the Land of Wind are just too favorable for us for it to be done by Iwa or Kumo.'
He said, "That isn't acceptable. If it has nothing to do, then we should engage in a dialogue and make them stop their actions. Otherwise, we would suffer as well just like how Suna did."
Hiruzen rejected his idea by replying, "I just killed one of their Elite Jounins. If you want to talk now, we would have to pay a big price. Besides, considering how much they suffered, it seems impossible that they didn't catch anyone. Though Suna is incompetent, they shouldn't be that useless. I'm sure they already know who the culprit is and are just using the opportunity to create trouble for us.
Regardless, the situation is very beneficial for us. We just need to kill some of their ninjas. Once they realize how high the risks they have to take for these attacks are, they will stop immediately."
Homura became quiet. He thought, 'His words make perfect sense. But I know that something isn't right. Sigh, I don't think he will tell us the truth.'
He looked at Shikaku, but Shikaku looked like he would close his eyes and fall asleep at any second. Having seen Hiruzen's ability to bullshit for so many years, Shikaku didn't feel anything at the lies he made up. Homura couldn't find anything from Shikaku's expression.
He nodded and said, "Alright. I'll take my leave."
Since he wasn't getting any information, Homura left. Hiruzen instructed, "Along with this situation, also decide which ninjas to deploy in the new camps that we have to build along the borders of Tea and Noodle countries. If needed, you can temporarily move them to assault any Suna infiltrators."
Shikaku nodded and left. After closing the door, he sighed and muttered, "Why does my workload keep increasing? And we aren't even at war!"
Shikaku immediately got to work. Unlike Shikaku, Fujin had no responsibilities. He rested for a day and got back to his training. His clones worked hard to master more seals. They had already learned all the new symbols that the scrolls had. And they had mastered all seals in 18 of the 58 scrolls.
As for Fujin, he recalled how 'magnanimous' Hiruzen was and absorbed the energy in the Wind Crystals faster than ever!
After a week, he was finally called to the Anbu Headquarters. Fujin walked to the headquarters while thinking, 'Looks like they finally arranged subordinates for me. Still, I haven't led a squad since the Uchiha massacre. I hope I haven't gotten too rusty. Granted the first missions will be easier ones. I can't wait to make them police the streets, hahaha.'
When Fujin reached the headquarters, he saw Eagle, the commander of all Anbu ninjas, waiting for him. Eagle said, "Follow me."
Fujin nodded and followed him to a room. On entering, he noticed 3 masked Anbu in the room. One wore a Cat mask with 3 red stripes. She had long straight purple hair. Another wore a Dog mask. He had golden hair. The last one had short black hair. Unlike the other two, he was much younger and wore a sparrow mask.
Eagle said, "He will be your team captain. Hawk, I'll leave them in your care."
He disappeared from the room leaving Fujin alone with his new subordinates.
