However, that reason alone would not cause Danzo to back off. He had led the Root for decades. The amount of schemes he created and the number of ninjas he manipulated during that time far exceeded anyone's imagination. Even Hiruzen, the person who was the most clear about what Danzo did, wasn't entirely aware of all of his operations.
Danzo said, "Our village is right in between four major villages and numerous minor ones. We constantly face crises. Even a moment's carelessness could lead our village into a life-and-death situation. And yet, despite having such amazing talent, you don't want to serve the village the best you can?"
Danzo's tone had changed. It was no longer neutral and instead sounded disappointed with a hint of anger. It sounded like he was offended due to Fujin's lack of passion to serve the village. Though the emotions he displayed weren't his real emotions, even Fujin couldn't see through them.
Fujin thought, 'Wow! He is good. I had thought Hiruzen would be the best actor in Konoha. I was wrong. If I didn't know what kind of scum he is, Danzo could have fooled me with his fake passion.'
To Danzo's surprise, a smile appeared on Fujin's face. He said, "While the duties of Anbu are important, those aren't everything. I can serve the village in numerous ways, Elder Danzo. After all…"
Fujin's smile disappeared and he looked straight into Danzo's left eye. His voice changed from a pleasant respectful tone to a completely neutral one as he added, "If I couldn't, I doubt you'd even be here looking for me and standing outside instead of entering my home."
The smile reappeared on Fujin's face. He continued, "So, you don't need to worry about my passion, Elder Danzo. What I do will benefit the village a lot more than staying in the Anbu and getting consumed by the darkness."
Though Danzo didn't have any change of expression, his mood became very bad. He thought, 'This boy… Those words and the threat he gave a couple of days ago. He knows more about the Root than what someone like him should know. Did Hiruzen warn him about me?
Not to mention, though he is behaving respectfully and politely, he has his guard up. If I were to make any move, he would probably counterattack in the blink of an eye.'
Though Fujin's actions didn't give any signs, as an experienced fighter, Danzo could easily feel that Fujin was completely on guard. Indeed, Fujin was prepared. In fact, Danzo had underestimated Fujin's preparation. After all, he couldn't have known that Fujin would be completely aware of his abilities.
Fujin looked at Danzo and thought, 'There are four ways he can attack me. The first is Wind Vacuum jutsus. But, they are too slow and easy to see. I can counterattack faster.
The second is Juinjutsu. If he acts kind and tries to touch me, then that's what he would be doing. So, if his hand extends towards me, he will be losing it. Even if he somehow surprises me, I have several means of dealing with them.
The third is the Genjutsu of Shisui's eye, the one that he cast on Mifune. It is difficult to sense and can give him a complete advantage in a sneak attack. However, it is easy to break. And, since I'm on full guard, it will be difficult for him to cast it on me. Especially because my chakra flow is already in a state of disruption. Any external interference will easily be detected.
The fourth is if he removes those bandages and uses the Sharingan on me directly. If he succeeds, I will be defeated. However, he will have to remove those bandages first. That's enough time for me to attack at such a close range.'
The moment Danzo showed any signs of making any of the four above moves, Fujin would attack. And his attack wouldn't be to force Danzo back. Instead, it would be to kill him in one shot.
Though killing a ninja of Danzo's capabilities wasn't easy and Danzo was probably stronger than Fujin at that point, the circumstances were special. Fujin's plan was to sneak attack Danzo while Danzo was sneak attacking him and wouldn't expect Fujin to counterattack so quickly and viciously. The chances of pulling that off successfully were very high.
Though killing Danzo could cause some troubles, with his current power, Fujin wasn't afraid of any political backlash that would arise. Just by exposing the Sharingans and the first Hokage's cells, he could easily turn the entire Konoha against Danzo. After all, who would defend a dead guy?
Though it could destroy his relationship with Hiruzen, Fujin had already gotten almost everything he wanted from Hiruzen. So he didn't care much. Besides, Hiruzen wouldn't want Konoha to lose another young talent. Even if he failed to convince everyone and Konoha decided to hunt him, Fujin could just leave Konoha, go to Mount Muteki and train in seclusion until it was time to implement his plans.
Unfortunately or fortunately, all the plans Fujin made would be a waste. Having realized Fujin's guard, Danzo dropped any plans of attacking Fujin. He thought, 'A fight here wouldn't be good for me. Though I can't sense him, I'm sure Hiruzen is keeping an eye on me. Not to mention, I don't have the exact information of his skills and abilities or the seals on this house. Regardless, I need to keep an eye on this boy. He isn't as simple as I thought.'
Though the two thought a lot, in reality, not a lot of time had passed as both were thinking very quickly. After half a minute of silence, Danzo said, "Alright. I will keep an eye on you, Suzuki Fujin. I hope that you don't waste your talent and serve the village the best you can."
Danzo turned around and began walking without waiting for Fujin's response. Suddenly, he stopped and looked back at Fujin and said, "Uzumaki Naruto is a very important member of the village. He holds a power that can reduce the village to rubble within minutes. Keep your distance from him."
One of the main reasons why Danzo didn't try to attack was the fact that Fujin was a rank S ninja. So he wasn't sure of his victory. As such, he didn't want Fujin to take control of Konoha's only Jinchuriki and increase his influence more.
However, Fujin chuckled and replied, "Sorry, no can do."
A frown appeared on Danzo's face. Fujin had done nothing that he had asked for so far. Danzo said, "Though I admire your talent, don't forget that I am an Elder of Konoha. Acting against my orders won't be good for you."
Since he couldn't recruit Fujin, Danzo no longer maintained the image of a just leader. He threatened Fujin directly. Unfortunately for him, Fujin didn't intend to back off. He replied, "The Elders have no authority to command a ninja in Konoha. If you have an issue with me, feel free to raise it with Grandpa. I'll follow his order."
Danzo's frown deepened. He didn't expect Fujin to keep rebuking him. Fujin continued, "Besides, a Jinchuriki who is isolated and hated by all and has no proper training is a disaster waiting to happen.
I wonder what Elder Danzo thinks would happen if Konoha's only Jinchuriki hates the village and doesn't have any strength to resist the beast inside of him."
Fujin's words left Danzo without a good reply for the second time. After all, Danzo completely agreed with Fujin's analysis. He had the same thoughts about Naruto as well. It's just that he wanted Naruto in Root and not with someone else.
With Jiraiya and Tsunade not in the village and Hiruzen busy with the Hokage duties and unwilling to confront Danzo too much, he could ensure that no clan managed to get Naruto. His Root subordinates scared away any civilian ninjas who took pity on Naruto, just like the one who tried scaring Fujin.
However, now that Konoha had a new rank S ninja who took an interest in Naruto and had no intentions of following Danzo's instructions or worrying about his threats, Danzo immediately felt difficulty in ensuring that Naruto stayed away from any faction.
Knowing that Fujin would argue against whatever he said, Danzo turned around and continued walking while saying, "I will talk with Hiruzen."
Fujin watched Danzo leave. He wondered, 'Would Danzo be able to convince Hiruzen to make me leave Naruto alone? Difficult, but Hiruzen does have a soft spot for Danzo. Regardless, even if Danzo managed to convince Hiruzen, how can Hiruzen convince me?
I have already promised Naruto to train him and overlook his training. If Hiruzen wants me to not do that, he will be forcing me to break my promise. The promise of a rank S ninja. How can anyone trust what I say in the future?
Granted that any promise made by a cunning ninja has no real value, Hiruzen can't say that to my face. I'll just ask him for twenty thousand Elemental crystals of each element as compensation if he wants me to break my promise.
Let me see if he still dares to ask me to break my word. Even if that greedy fox pays that price, I'll just keep the crystals and say that I felt pity for Naruto and keep training him. What can he do when I'm morally correct?'
