Fujin properly observed the Vacuum Core while listening to every word Danzo said. He wasn't worried about Danzo lying. After all, he had the Professor sitting with him and listening as well. Not to mention, Fujin's own expertise in the Wind Vacuum technique wasn't very far from Danzo's.
In fact, Fujin was even more efficient than Danzo considering the fact that Danzo hadn't been active for years while Fujin had several run-ins with Elite Jounins and Rank S ninjas.
Fujin only fell short in the amount of time they had the jutsus for.
Analyzing Danzo's words, he realized, 'I see. I had nearly got it right! I created multiple Vacuum Cores and spread them inside the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu. Unfortunately, those independent cores don't amplify the effect and don't have any interaction between themselves. Instead of creating multiple separate Vacuum Cores, I have to create multiple Vacuum Core inside one Vacuum Core!'
Fujin finally understood the point he overlooked. Though Danzo's method wasn't as good as the one he wanted, it was still far stronger than what he had come up with. Regardless, it was still a major improvement for Fujin. If he had learnt that jutsu earlier, Kakuzu would have lost far more than just 1 heart.
Fujin looked at the Vacuum Core in Danzo's palm and analyzed, 'The Vacuum Cores inside it are for the Vacuum Bullet. Once he shoots it, it'll split into 9 different Vacuum Bullets. Assuming he keeps one at the center and the remaining 8 forms an octagon around it and stay a foot away from it, it'll cover a distance of 1 foot in every direction.
Considering the ability of the Vacuum cores to absorb nearby items, the target would have to move slightly more than a foot in any direction. That said, Vacuum Bullet isn't the ideal jutsu for this. Vacuum Waves jutsu will be ideal for this as it covers a larger area than a Vacuum Bullet.
Once I increase the number of cores I can store inside it beyond 30, it'll cover more area than a Great Fireball. Not too extravagant but still far better than my current attacks.'
Danzo extinguished the Vacuum Core in his palm, snapping Fujin out of his thoughts. He asked, "Anything else?"
Fujin shook his head and said with a smile on his face, "No. Thank you for your guidance."
Though Fujin had long planned out Danzo's death and still intended to follow it unless Danzo forced him to kill him earlier, he saw no issue in accepting Danzo's help. In fact, if Danzo offered more help, Fujin was willing to accept all help with a smile on his face. After all, how could he get anything from Danzo after Danzo died?
Of course, Fujin understood that this was a one-off event. Danzo only helped Fujin because he wanted those scrolls and because Hiruzen was there.
Danzo nodded and grabbed the scrolls on the table before leaving. Fujin took a look at the scrolls and thought, 'Though Hiruzen applied some pressure, the main point was those seals. I hope that it is just his instincts and not some clue he found. With Izanagi, though he is annoying, killing him isn't difficult. However, if he gains something like Hidan's immortality, he could be a pain in the ass to deal with.'
After Danzo left, Hiruzen smiled and said, "Didn't I tell you? All elders will support the youngsters in our village. Especially if the youngsters are as promising as you. Though I'm normally busy, you can approach the other Elders whenever you want."
Fujin looked at Hiruzen. He understood that Hiruzen wanted him to trouble Homura and Koharu as well. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything Fujin could think of to ask them for. Instead, Hiruzen's mischievous speech caused him to have an irresistible temptation to ask for the Edo Tensei jutsu!
Fortunately for Hiruzen, Fujin was able to resist the temptation. There wasn't any good argument Fujin could make to demand a forbidden and controversial jutsu like the Edo Tensei. He smiled and said, "You are right. I'll approach them when I need something."
He got up and said, "I'll leave now, Grandpa. I want to try out this jutsu."
Hiruzen nodded. Fujin disappeared from the council room. A smile formed on Hiruzen's face as he recalled the interaction between Fujin and Danzo. He muttered to himself, 'It was worth it. Perhaps agreeing to Danzo's request of inducting Fujin into the Root four years ago wouldn't have been an entirely bad thing. If it wasn't for those seals, it might have been better to agree.'
Hiruzen disappeared from the meeting room as well. For the rest of the day, his mood was quite good.
Fujin didn't waste any time and began practicing. Though the concept of creating multiple Vacuum Cores inside another Vacuum Core was a new one, it wasn't very difficult for Fujin. Within a few hours, he managed to create one Vacuum Core inside another. Two days later, he managed to replicate the Vacuum Core that Danzo had created.
The next day, Naruto entered the training ground early in the morning. He stretched himself and exclaimed loudly, "Today I'll cut the leaf in half, believe it!"
He went to grab a leaf but suddenly stopped and said, "Huh? What's this?"
Naruto saw that a part of the trunk of the tree in front of him was missing. It was as if someone had carved out a part of the trunk. He looked beyond the tree and his eyes widened. Every tree that was in line had a large chunk carved out. In addition, some trees had split into two. And, those two parts didn't fit together. It was as if some part in between was missing.
Naruto curiously followed the trail of destruction before he reached a small hill. His eyes widened in shock as he shouted, "What the hell happened here? How did such a deep hole appear inside the hill? Was someone trying to dig a tunnel?"
The curiosity caused Naruto to forget about training. He began looking around the training ground and found similar scenes all over the training ground. While he was looking around, Fujin entered the training ground and sensed Naruto moving around everywhere. He thought, 'What is this knucklehead up to?'
He flickered behind Naruto who was looking at a hill which in fact had a tunnel going through it. Naruto felt something behind him and looked back. He excitedly said, "Fujin, you are back! Check this out. Someone was digging tunnels in the training ground while you were gone!"
Fujin was amused by Naruto's excitement and curiosity. He thought, 'I wonder how he would have reacted if he had visited this training ground when I was training Vacuum Gatling.'
When Fujin trained Vacuum Gatling and other Vacuum jutsus, the entire training ground was covered in holes and debris at one point. Even the density of trees in the training ground had decreased considerably during that time. Their numbers still hadn't recovered and if Fujin continued training there, they were unlikely to recover any time in the future.
Fujin said, "Ignore them, how's your training going?"
Naruto grinned and said, "I have mastered the Wind Levitation jutsu. Watch this!"
Naruto weaved a few hand seals and shouted, "Wind Release: Wind Levitation jutsu"
Naruto was looking at a few twigs that were in front of him. In a second, winds began flowing around the twigs. Soon, they were lifted into the air due to the airflow and floated a couple of feet above the ground. Around 5 seconds later, Naruto couldn't maintain the jutsu and the twigs fell back to the ground.
Naruto said excitedly, "See! I told you that I will master it. Believe it!"
Fujin nodded and said, "Good progress. However, the time you can maintain the jutsu is too little. Try to maintain it for at least 30 seconds. Only then it can barely be considered as mastered."
Naruto nodded. Fujin asked, "What is your progress with Leaf Concentration and Leaf Cutting exercises?"
Naruto said, "I can stick the leaf to my forehead for 90 minutes. The Leaf Cutting exercise I'm almost done with."
Naruto picked up a leaf and placed it on his left palm. He placed his right palm on top of it and began releasing wind chakra. It slowly cut through the leaf and almost split the leaf into two halves. Only around half a centimeter was left.
Fujin observed it and thought, 'Not bad. His progress in these two exercises has surprisingly been quite fast. Looks like he didn't slack off. He should be able to cut through the leaf in a week. Leaf Concentration might take another month though. Still, that's fine. There will be enough time to teach him tree climbing and water walking before he graduates.'
Naruto asked, "Will you teach me the fourth jutsu?"
Fujin replied, "For now, focus on Leaf Cutting. When you can cut through it and maintain Wind Levitation for 15 seconds, I'll teach it to you."
He smiled and said, "Keep working hard Naruto. You have progressed a lot since I met you."
Hearing Fujin's praise, Naruto felt proud. He smiled and nodded his head while saying, "I will, believe it!"
Fujin said, "You can train at your home for the next couple of weeks. This training ground is going to be a bit busy."
Naruto was confused and wondered, 'Huh? Is it because of these tunnels?'
He nodded and left. Fujin saw him leave. Naruto's progress was very much in line with what Fujin had expected. However, for the time being, he didn't spend much time thinking about him. Instead, his focus was on his Vacuum jutsus. He thought, 'I have successfully learnt how to store multiple Vacuum Bullet Cores inside a Vacuum Core. Today, I'll master how to store Vacuum Wave Cores!'
