Three days later, Fujin was summoned to Hiruzen's office. He quickly went to his office in his regular ninja outfit. After entering, he noticed that there were 4 other ninjas there. Yugao looked at Fujin and gave a small nod in acknowledgement. Fujin gave a small nod back.
The other faces were familiar as well. They were Genma, Yamanaka Ken and the head of the T&I department, Ibiki. Ken recognized Fujin instantly. After all, Fujin had left quite an impact on him during the mission where Fujin acted as the bait against the Bounty Hunters. Ibiki and Genma looked at Fujin for a few seconds before recalling who he was.
Ibiki was the first one to recognize him. He said, "Suzuki Fujin. I didn't expect you to be assigned missions with us so soon."
Genma nodded. Just like Ibiki, he recalled judging Fujin during the last round of the Chunin Exams.
He thought, 'I didn't expect him to become capable enough to be deployed on the same mission as us. Did he train his Wind jutsus to such an extent that he can aid Jounins? Or did he develop some other speciality?'
Fujin nodded and replied, "It's good to see you as well."
He looked at Hiruzen and asked, "So, what's the secret mission?"
Hiruzen looked at the door and said, "Wait for some time. There is still one ninja yet to arrive."
Fujin nodded and waited patiently. After a couple of minutes, everyone looked at the door.
Kakashi walked in and said in an unapologetic tone, "Sorry for being late. I was on my way here when I saw a black cat cross my path, so I had to take a different route."
Yugao, Ibiki, Ken and Genma gave Kakashi a deadpan look. Meanwhile, Fujin was confused. He wondered, 'I know that he tends to be late by a few hours. So why is he apologizing for being late by just a couple of minutes?'
Hiruzen replied, "It's fine. You are here after all. Close the door."
He thought, 'That is why I asked you to come 3 hours before everyone else.'
He looked at a corner of the room and said, "Leave and activate the privacy seals."
The four Anbu guards, hiding in the room, immediately left the room. All windows were shut close and seals were activated. Realizing the importance, everyone in the room became serious.
Hiruzen said, "Recently, there have been sightings of some Suna ninjas sneaking into the Land of Fire. Their activity is especially high around the Fire Capital."
Fujin immediately realized, 'Is this in regards to those six unlucky fellows?'
Hiruzen noticed Fujin's change of expression and said, "That's right Fujin. Some time ago, when I was returning from a diplomatic visit, the Patrol camp I was staying at was attacked by a squad of six Suna ninjas. They were neutralized. But more of them have entered the country.
We have located the base they gather at. You six will be transforming into those 6 ninjas and entering that base. Your mission has two parts.
Firstly, kill or neutralize every Suna ninja there. And secondly, gather information. You can check their memories or resort to any other means you want to."
Apart from Fujin who knew why the Suna was acting like this, the other ninjas were shocked. After all, Suna was supposed to be their ally. However, they didn't question Hiruzen. After all, every one of them was an active or former Anbu. They knew about the dark undercurrents that flow in the ninja world.
Hiruzen provided everyone with more details about the six ninjas they were supposed to impersonate, the plans, expected enemies and other minute details. In the end, he said, "Kakashi will lead this mission. But since their leader, Hideyoshi, specialized in Wind manipulation and because Fujin saw him in action, Fujin will disguise as him."
Everyone nodded. Since Fujin was suppressing his chakra, Ibiki and Genma were surprised that he was given such an important role. But both knew the importance of replicating minute behavior patterns during such missions. So they understood why Hiruzen asked him to do it.
Since everyone had arrived prepared for the mission, the group left right away. They travelled for six hours straight before finally halting.
Ken muttered, "A base so deep into the Land of Fire. They have guts."
Ibiki replied, "It is safer to create a base here rather than in the border regions or close to any cities or towns. No one would suspect them normally. If it wasn't for that squad unluckily attacking Lord Hokage, we might not have found this base."
Kakashi said, "That's enough chit-chat. We will first transform into the faces they were originally disguised as. When we are intercepted by the Suna ninjas, we will dismiss this transformation and transform ourselves into their original appearances at the same time. Is everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded. Kakashi instructed, "Good. Fujin, take the lead. Remember to act arrogant. As for others, keep a close eye. Once Fujin attacks, we will follow up. Kill without letting anyone run away."
Everyone immediately transformed into the disguises that Hideyoshi and his teammates were using and continued moving towards the base. After travelling for another mile, they sensed a chakra field scanning them.
They continued moving. Around half a mile from the base, 12 Suna ninjas appeared in front of them. Of course, all were disguised as Konoha ninjas. One of them spoke, "This is a restricted area by the order of Lord Hokage. Turn away or identify yourselves."
Fujin snorted and said, "It's me."
A smoke cloud appeared around him. His appearance transformed into Hideyoshi. At the same time, the other 5 also transformed. Yamanaka Ken transformed into their sensor, Naomasa while Ibiki transformed into Kaname.
Seeing their appearances, the Suna ninjas sighed in relief. However, they were still vigilant. One of them transformed into his real appearance and said, "It's good to see that you are safe, Hideyoshi-sama. The council was worried about you since we haven't heard from you for over a month. They were even wondering if they should cancel the entire operation."
Fujin walked ahead and said, "Yosuke, we were ambushed by that damned Copy Ninja. We were fooled. Somehow, that Copy Ninja had already escaped through all the perimeters we established. We fought several rounds with his squad and had to go into hiding."
Yosuke was surprised. He asked, "You encountered the copy ninja? Doesn't that mean…"
Fujin nodded and continued, "Yes, reindeer. We have to ask Lord Kazekage to stop wasting manpower there and focus here."
Hearing the word 'reindeer', the Suna ninjas sighed in relief. In order to prevent anyone from infiltrating their secret base, the Suna ninjas were made to follow a certain protocol. The first was to show their real face. The second was to call the name of the ninja who talked with them accurately. And the third was to call him reindeer.
Since the conditions were satisfied, Yosuke said, "Welcome back Hideyoshi-sama. Please exert your chakra so that I can confirm your identity."
While the above means were good enough in most circumstances, they weren't good enough in the Land of Fire. Konoha had the Yamanaka clan that could read memories. That is why Suna had placed a capable sensor in charge of the secret base. He remembered the chakra signatures of the important ninjas so that he could cross-identify them.
Fujin exerted his chakra. The amount of chakra he exerted was just higher than the amount of chakra Hideyoshi had used against Choza.
Yosuke observed him and nodded, 'Similar chakra signature, just more than the amount I saw last time and shows off his affinity to wind. Just like I remember. Looks like there shouldn't be any issue.'
He also asked Kaname and Naomasa to show their chakra and identified both their chakras as well. As for the other three, he didn't remember. He said, "Come…"
However, Fujin interrupted him and said, "Enough wasting time, let's go to the base. I have important information to report to Lord Kazekage. If we don't report this, then we will suffer during the next war."
Yosuke nodded and quickly welcomed him to the base while thinking, 'His arrogance is still the same.'
Suna's plan was almost foolproof. While some ninjas could replicate the chakra signatures as well, such ninjas were very rare. They would either be very capable sensors or experienced jounins. More importantly, reading memories from a dead ninja wouldn't allow a Yamanaka to copy their chakra signature. The ninja had to see and observe it properly, only then they could do so.
Unfortunately, Hideyoshi's squad ran into Hiruzen of all people. That encounter sealed the fate of all ninjas in the secret base.
He was able to memorize the chakra signatures of all 6 ninjas at a glance and could replicate them well enough for all of Kakashi's team to copy it. Even Fujin had forgotten Hideyoshi's chakra signature and only managed to replicate it with Hiruzen's help.
The Konoha ninjas walked into the base along with the Suna ninjas.
