As he spoke, a smile appeared on Fujin's face. His expression and words displayed that he had full confidence and trust in Hiruzen. While Hiruzen's clone thought of a few arguments, seeing Fujin's expression, he understood that no matter how he argued, he would eventually have to agree to train Fujin.
He sighed internally accepting his fate of performing another thankless task!
The reason why Hiruzen's clone relented so easily is that he understood that Fujin had a point. One ninja had limited time and energy. Mastering several elements to the extreme was an impossible task. Hiruzen, despite having trained for over 6 decades, wouldn't claim to be the best in every element.
He specialized more in Fire and Earth Release as compared to the other three elements. Even if a ninja learnt how to use all 5 elements, they would still gravitate towards one or two elements that they would master to the limit.
One good example of this was Kakashi. Kakashi was one of the few ninjas who could use all 5 elements. However, he specialized only in Lightning. In addition, he was very good at Water and Earth as well even though they weren't at the same level as his Lightning. But he only used 2 or 3 jutsus while using the Fire element and barely ever used any Wind jutsus.
In Hiruzen's eyes, Fujin's decision to rely on him to directly increase his Fire and Earth mastery to a high level was a smart decision. The only issue was that Fujin was asking him to put in the hard work! Had he bothered someone else, Hiruzen would have been as supportive as he could be!
Hiruzen's clone asked, "What can you do currently with Fire and Earth?"
Fujin answered, "For fire, my main attacking jutsu is the Searing Migraine jutsu which I use along with the Infinite Breakthrough jutsu to create a combination jutsu. I haven't used any other jutsu for a while even though I know Great Fireball, Fire Release: Five, Fireproof, and Fire Dragon Flame Bullet jutsus as well.
For Earth, my main focus is on defense and evasion. The jutsus I generally use are Earth Wall, Iron Skin, and Earth Instantaneous Body jutsus. In addition, I also know Rampart of Flowing Soil jutsu and can create camps."
Hiruzen's clone thought, 'Hmm, not bad. These jutsus complement Wind Release extremely well. It also gives him a good base to start with.'
He asked, "I know you didn't plan it, but do you have any specific ideas in mind or should I teach you what I think will be appropriate for you?"
Fujin thought for a bit and replied, "I haven't thought of anything particular in Fire. So I'll depend on you. As for Earth, I haven't thought of much either. The only thing that intrigued me was Tsuchikage's ability to fly by controlling or changing weights. If I can learn that, then it'll be very helpful."
The ability to fly at will was something Fujin wanted for a long time. While he could use Assassin's Rush jutsu to stay in the air for some time, it exhausted his chakra at a terrifying speed! If he could fly like Onoki, then very few ninjas would be able to resist his Wind or Fire-Wind combination jutsus.
Hiruzen's clone replied, "That is a very convenient jutsu. Unfortunately, no one except the Tsuchikage knows how to use that jutsu. I can't teach it to you."
Fujin was surprised. He asked in a confused tone, "We weren't able to copy his jutsu?"
The Uchiha clan was famous for copying jutsus with ease. And Konoha used to have hundreds of Sharingan-wielding Uchiha ninjas. In addition, there were a few ninjas who were at the peak of the ninja world in terms of their understanding of Ninjutsu. Tobirama, Hiruzen, and Orochimaru could all be considered as such. And, there were several other talented ninjas in Konoha's history who didn't gain as much fame as them or died prematurely.
So, Fujin expected that jutsu to have long been copied. He just guessed that no one was able to use it despite knowing it. After all, even in Iwa, only the three Tsuchikages were known to be able to use this jutsu.
Hiruzen's clone understood Fujin's thoughts and said, "We wanted to copy it, but we couldn't. The Tsuchikages don't use hand seals while using this jutsu, making it hard for someone with Sharingan to copy it. In addition, they disguise how their chakra flows as well. So all our attempts to copy the jutsu ended in failure."
Fujin sighed and said, "That's a shame. I guess I'll just go with whatever you recommend then, Grandpa."
Hiruzen's clone nodded. He began guiding Fujin, starting with the Fire Element. For the next week, Hiruzen kept sending a clone to guide Fujin.
For the first half of the week, Hiruzen had to send a clone with more than half his chakra as he had to demonstrate the jutsus to Fujin. He reduced it to a quarter for the latter half as Fujin was the one practicing more while he mostly monitored.
Regardless, this was the most time Hiruzen had invested in training a single ninja apart from his three students. Needless to say, the results of investing such time in Fujin were extremely good.
Merely within a week, Fujin's Fire and Earth elements had grown by leaps and bounds! While he still needed some more time to master the jutsus Hiruzen taught him, his Fire and Earth elements would end up being superior to an ordinary Elite Jounin who specialized in either of those elements once he mastered them!
Of course, improving his skills in these two elements beyond that level would be difficult for Fujin as he was entirely reliant on Hiruzen for reaching this level. However, that wasn't an issue according to Fujin. After all, with his high Chakra reserves, he could just supercharge those jutsus far beyond what an Elite Jounin could do. Not to mention, Fujin was already a rank S ninja and had a very high mastery in Wind manipulation along with several deadly techniques.
Fujin continued his training the same way. The only difference was that he trained Fire and Earth jutsus instead of his Wind Domain. Konoha finally settled down as well. Danzo no longer created any problems for anyone and stayed within the Root headquarters. The clan leaders finally sighed in relief.
As for Katsuhiro, he lost Danzo's support as Danzo didn't see any point in getting him into the Council anymore as he couldn't use the Council to revive the Root. The only possible reason for Danzo to support Katsuhiro any longer was to create trouble for Fujin.
However, Danzo could see that kicking Fujin off the council was pretty much impossible. It was already very difficult as Fujin hadn't fallen for his trap and showed no signs of attempting to steal credit. Now, without Danzo himself being on the council, the difficulty rose several times.
As a result, Katsuhiro was on his own. Of course, he still believed himself to be a better option than Fujin and completed the proposal and reached Fujin's office. He entered the office and saw Yasushi and Haruma, who immediately recalled the bad memories related to him.
However, this time Katsuhiro restrained himself. Fujin's status in the past couple of months had undergone a massive change. While he still desired Fujin's seat, he no longer dared to openly offend him. He handed a few files and said, "This is the proposal. Hand it to Fujin and ask him to contact me as soon as he can."
Yasushi accepted the files and said, "We will get it to him as soon as we can, Katsuhiro-sama."
Katsuhiro nodded and left. Once he had gone a long distance away, Haruma chuckled and said, "He is no longer arrogant while talking to us. Last time he pressured us so much!"
Yasushi chuckled as well and said, "Of course. Fujin is a Grandmaster at Fuinjutsu and is probably a rank S ninja as well. I still recall his clones scouting through the village. Even though Katsuhiro is strong, he will no longer dare to show any hostility towards Fujin."
Haruma nodded and added, "Not to mention, he is already old, while Fujin is still in his teens. He will continue growing stronger. Anyway…"
A grin formed on his face as he asked, "How long do you think Fujin will make Katsuhiro wait this time?"
Yasushi glanced at Haruma. The two immediately broke into laughter. Ever since Fujin sent a Shadow Clone to meet Katsuhiro after making him wait for over a month and a half, it had become something that Yasushi and Haruma joked about frequently. If it wasn't for the fact that they were still a bit fearful of him, the two would have spread the news of their meeting all over the village!
