The Root ninja nervously reported, "I tried, but he arrogantly claimed that the Hokage didn't tell him to stay away from Uzumaki Naruto. Then he somehow recognized that I was from the Root and asked what I was doing keeping an eye on the citizens of Konoha. When I tried to threaten him, he unleashed his killing intent and forced me to retreat. I'm not sure who it was, but that ninja has killed a lot of ninjas.'
Danzo was surprised. He wondered, 'Who did he encounter? And since when did someone start threatening Root ninjas?'
He asked, "Who was it?"
The Root ninja replied, "I didn't identify him but when he was inside the Ichiraku Ramen shop, I overheard that he was called Fujin."
Danzo's eyes immediately widened before going back to their usual size. He wondered, 'Suzuki Fujin? Hasn't he gone to the Land of Waterfall? The two squads I sent to the Land of Earth even made Iwagakure send Kitsuchi and a few dozen Jounins to set a trap for him there. Why is he still here?'
The Root ninja was surprised to not receive any response from Danzo. He looked up and asked, "Danzo-sama?"
Danzo replied, "I will look into it. For now, stay away from him. Continue spying on Uzumaki Naruto, but maintain distance."
The Root ninja nodded and left. Unlike his steady voice, Danzo's mind was in a mess. He calmed himself down and analyzed, 'Did Tiger make a mistake in identifying him? No, that's unlikely. So why is Suzuki Fujin back in Konoha? Or could it be possible that he never left?'
Danzo analyzed for a few minutes and concluded, 'No, he should have left the village. Otherwise, Torune would have informed me. The mistake I made should be in assuming the mission he took. He should have taken a different mission that allowed him to return so quickly. But which mission did he take?'
While Danzo was aware of the mission issued by the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water, he wasn't informed that Fujin's squad had taken that mission. Hiruzen and Eagle didn't have any reason to inform him and they continued creating a strong squad to send to that mission in spite of the fact that Fujin's squad had taken the mission. So Danzo was completely clueless.
He continued thinking, 'I will find that out later. For now, the important question is why he wants to teach the Nine Tails Jinchuriki?'
Naruto was someone who Danzo wanted to control. Unfortunately, Hiruzen never allowed him that. However, Danzo used the political situation in Konoha and Hiruzen's worries perfectly to ensure that no one else managed to gain control over Naruto either. For Fujin to suddenly take an interest in Naruto baffled Danzo.
He analyzed, 'That ramen shop. Torune said that Fujin visits it frequently. And so does Uzumaki Naruto. That is the only common point between the two of them. But if that's the case, why did he wait for so long before taking an interest in him? And what gives him the confidence to offend Root for that boy?'
He realized, 'It feels like I am missing something. Something important should have happened in these last 3-4 days. I need to gather sufficient information to understand what the situation is. Only then I can decide what move to make.'
Danzo immediately understood that he was missing a lot of information. So despite Fujin's provocation, he decided to not respond and decided to wait until he had a better picture of the situation.
Inside his basement, Fujin had gone through all the information inside the scroll. He thought, 'Of all the scrolls I have seen in this world, this one is the most detailed one. It contains the optimal method of learning this jutsu. It contains a ridiculous amount of theory on Space-Time Ninjutsu.
It also contains Tobirama's research leading to the creation of this jutsu and how Minato improved upon it. And despite saying that he doesn't have any talent in this field, Hiruzen has still added his thoughts and tips in this scroll.'
Fujin took a deep breath and recalled the method of learning the Flying Thunder God. He summarized, 'The process of learning the Flying Thunder God jutsu is divided into several steps. And each of these steps is extremely difficult.
The first step is learning to make the seal required for this jutsu. In terms of complexity, this seal can be considered to be at a higher level than the Four Symbols Seal. This means that if the ninja isn't a Grandmaster in Fuinjutsu or close to that level, it will be impossible to even complete the first step of this jutsu.
However, there is one shortcut Minato created so that SealMasters who show some Affinity to Space-Time Ninjutsu could learn this seal as well. Of course, its effect isn't as good as learning the seal yourself. Regardless, for me, this step should be the easiest.
The second step is sensing the space coordinates of the seals I create. Sensing space coordinates is different from normal sensing. I can't use my chakra field. Instead, I will have to use a Space-Time Sensing Technique to sense its location.
This step is very difficult. According to what Hiruzen wrote, he failed at this step. Almost everyone who tried learning the Flying Thunder God jutsu fails at this stage. This step shows whether you have an affinity for Space-Time Ninjutsu or not.
I suspect that the reason why Genma and the other two were selected by Minato is that they should have shown some talent in this step. Though they aren't Grandmasters in Fuinjutsu, the scroll states that Minato developed a simpler version of this jutsu.
The Thunder God Formation Technique. I suspect that he somehow created the seals himself for the three of them to sense. It's likely that Minato tested every eligible ninja and found just the 3 of them. Or perhaps there were more but they couldn't complete the last step. Sigh, I hope I am able to complete this step.
Fortunately, Minato made this step a bit simpler by improving the structure of the seal slightly. It decreases the time needed to sense the seals and makes sensing over longer distances easier. According to what Hiruzen added, it was only due to these improvements done by Minato that Konoha began discovering more ninjas who have talent for Space-Time Ninjutsu.
The third and final step is the main step. After sensing the seal, I have to move to that location. It sounds a bit similar to the summoning jutsu, or rather, the reverse summoning jutsu. Basically, I have to be summoned to the location of the seal.
Only, there is one big issue. During reverse summoning, the one who does the reverse summoning uses his or her chakra to do so. But here, there is no one to do that at the seal.
Another issue is that reverse summoning needs a lot of chakra. To do that a few times will be fine. But doing that hundreds or even thousands of times repeatedly like how Minato would do, would use up all the chakra in an instant.
The initial form of this jutsu that Tobirama created actually used this concept. Minato's Thunder God Formation Technique also uses this principle. So, the initial form of this jutsu couldn't actually be considered Teleportation. It was a long-distance movement jutsu that Tobirama created by using numerous existing concepts and techniques.
Though it was still remarkable, it wasn't very usable in battle. Understanding the drawbacks, Tobirama improved this step to actually moving through Space-Time and arriving at the location of the seal in an instant.
This consumes far less chakra and is much faster, making it viable to use in combat. However, it is far more difficult to learn. Regardless, as long as I succeed in step two, even if I fail in this step, I could still copy the Reverse Summoning trick and use this jutsu for travelling long distances. Of course, if I manage to master step 3 as well…'
A wide grin appeared on Fujin's face. His speed was already ridiculously high. Apart from the top-tier ninjas, no one could keep up with him at his current level. His Vacuum jutsus and Fuinjutsu further restricted his opponents. However, if he were to add the Flying Thunder God jutsu to his arsenal, he would become the fastest ninja alive in a heartbeat! Even the Fourth Raikage and Obito would struggle to keep up with him.
Fujin calmed himself and muttered, "I need to learn this first. I can get excited later."
In an instant, a hundred Shadow Clones appeared in the basement. Everyone began learning the Flying Thunder God seal.
While Fujin occupied himself in learning the Flying Thunder God Seal, Shikaku entered Hiruzen's office and asked, "What is the matter this time?"
Hiruzen looked at Shikaku and said seriously, "Fujin took the mission in the Land of Hot Water with his squad. He returned some time ago."
Shikaku immediately had a dark expression. He sighed and thought, 'I will miss my next few month's sleep.'
