Naruto asked, "Do you know why the Nine Tailed Beast attacked our village?"
Fujin answered, "I don't know for sure. The Tailed Beasts, though strong, don't have a history of randomly attacking humans. Perhaps someone provoked it to attack us. There is also some speculation that it was controlled by someone to attack us.
So though everyone blames it, it is possible that the fox was a victim as well. Unfortunately, I'm not sure of what was the exact case."
Naruto was surprised. He asked, "Can a demon like it also be controlled?"
Fujin replied, "There are various mysterious techniques and jutsus, Naruto. Don't underestimate anyone. Also, don't judge someone too quickly. Though I don't have proof, I believe that Nine Tails was indeed controlled. Otherwise, why would it attack a strong village like ours?
Regardless, if that is the case or not, I hope you won't treat it the same way the misinformed people in the village treated you."
Fujin's words surprised Naruto even more, forcing him to think, which wasn't a very common occurrence. Fujin chuckled internally on seeing Naruto trying to think hard. Of course, there was another entity that fell into a thought. It was the tailed beast sealed inside Naruto. He never imagined that a human would defend him and sympathize with his situation!
Naruto said, "Alright. Thank you for telling me, Fujin."
Fujin smiled and said, "Of course, that doesn't mean that you should treat it as a harmless being. Regardless of whether it was innocent or not, it is currently sealed inside you. It would want nothing less than to tear you apart and become free once again. It is still scarily strong. Is that understood?"
Naruto shivered while picturing the Nine Tailed Beast ripping his body and coming out. He immediately nodded repeatedly and said, "Understood."
The two continued eating. After some time, Naruto asked, "If the Nine Tailed Beast was controlled, wouldn't that mean that everyone in the village is wrong in hating it?"
Fujin nodded. Naruto asked, "But why would people hate when they aren't sure about the truth?"
Naruto had suffered a lot due to the hate. So he had to ask that question. Fujin said, "People are complicated. They direct their hatred where they can to vent their sorrow. Since Nine Tails was the one who attacked and did the job, they hate it."
Naruto tried thinking but it was too complicated. His expression became comical as he complained, "Your statements today are too complicated, Fujin!"
Fujin chuckled and said, "The topic is as such. Here's another complicated topic. This will be a test for you. Do you remember my challenge to you and Mizuki?"
Naruto nodded. That challenge had allowed him to graduate. Fujin asked, "Do you think that it was a fair challenge?"
Naruto thought and said with uncertainty, "Well, I failed the exam. So it is fair I guess."
Fujin said, "But, your opponent was a Chunin. On beating him, you only became a Genin. Why is it fair that I made you fight a Chunin to only become a Genin?"
Naruto was stumped. He never thought about it. He just thought that Fujin was giving him an opportunity. He became confused and thought, 'Man, that sounds totally unfair! But why is big bro telling that to me? Why would he tell me that he was unfair towards me?'
Fujin chuckled on seeing his expression and asked again, "Well?"
Naruto answered, "If you put it that way, then it sounds totally unfair."
Fujin chuckled again and asked, "I told Mizuki that if he killed you, he could take the scroll and leave. What do you think I would have done if he was about to kill you?"
Naruto hadn't thought about this either. He merely thought that Fujin was helping him. He didn't think in such depth. He looked at Fujin and replied after a while, "I guess you would have saved me and then let him go."
Fujin smirked and replied, "Nope. If you were about to lose, I'd have hit him from the back and killed or captured him myself."
Naruto's eyes widened. He never imagined Fujin would do something like that. He asked, "Bu… But, wouldn't that be unfair? Didn't you say you would let him go?"
Fujin answered, "I did. But why do I have to stick to my words?"
Naruto, whose ninja way was to never go back on his word, asked in a confused tone, "What do you mean?"
Fujin answered, "Mizuki was a teacher. He is supposed to guide students. Yet, he set you up, tried to kill you and tried to betray our village. Why do I have to keep my word against such a scum?"
Naruto was speechless. Fujin's words were extremely absurd for him. However, somehow they made complete sense. It felt like his head was spinning. Suddenly, he had a thought. He asked, "Would you still pass me if I had lost?"
Fujin replied, "Of course. You are ready to graduate. I'd just have to work harder to convince Grandpa Hokage, but I'm sure I would have managed that. By winning, you made it much easier for me to convince him."
Naruto was surprised. However, it was a good surprise this time. Still, he couldn't help but complain in his mind, 'So, my life was never at risk and I was set to graduate as well? I went through all that tension for no reason at all! Hmph, he knows how to keep me on my toes all the time.'
A pout formed on Naruto's face. Fujin asked, "What's up?"
Naruto replied in a childish tone, "Nothing."
He immediately followed up, "I don't care if you keep your word against Mizuki. But you are keeping your word for me! I have graduated, so teach me the jutsu."
"Which jutsu?" Fujin became confused and wondered, 'When did I promise to teach him when he graduates? I'm just planning to make him eat Kakashi's head. Though his past is traumatic, that bastard has been having it easy for too long.'
Naruto's expression became very annoyed as he pointed at Fujin and said, "Hey! You promised to teach me that jutsu that allows you to disappear!"
Naruto's words made Fujin recall. He said, "Ah, the Body Flicker jutsu. I almost forgot. Sure. Wanna train after we are done eating?"
Naruto nodded. He began eating and asked again, "While we are at it, could you also teach me a stronger Wind jutsu?"
Fujin replied, "You are now a Genin, Naruto. You'll be assigned a Jounin Sensei in a few days. Until you become a Chunin, he or she will be the one responsible for training you. If I interfere, then you'll end up confused."
Naruto asked in a surprised tone, "I'll get my own Sensei?"
Fujin looked at him with a deadpan expression and said, "I thought you promised that you will pay attention in class. I even 'believed' you."
Naruto immediately laughed nervously and said softly, "Well, I tried to. But Iruka sensei was just too boring."
Fujin just continued staring at Naruto who quietly focused on the food. Fujin chuckled internally while thinking, 'Good. He'll be a Genin for who knows how long. I'll just throw him at Kakashi until that bastard diverts him back to me. Thankfully, he knows almost every jutsu out there. Sending Naruto back to annoy him wouldn't be much of a challenge.'
After dinner, Fujin took Naruto to the training ground opposite his house and began teaching him the basics of the Body Flicker jutsu.
After explaining the basics of the jutsu, Fujin said, "This jutsu isn't very complicated in terms of Chakra molding as it only requires the Tiger Seal. The difficult part is chakra control. You have to concentrate a lot of chakra at your feet.
If you had tried it earlier, you would have failed. Luckily for you, your chakra control has improved a lot thanks to Tree Climbing and Water Walking exercises. So try it."
Naruto immediately began trying. Needless to say, the first few tries were all a failure. Only after a couple of hours of trying continuously did he manage to flicker for a few meters for the first time.
Fujin sighed as he watched, 'Having such a high chakra is a boon. When I was trying to learn it, I could barely practice it for some time before I ran out of chakra. Meanwhile, he can practice for two hours straight despite having spent last night and early morning training the Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu and escaping from Mizuki for another hour and still is able to practice continuously…
Fortunately, my chakra has become quite high as well thanks to training continuously for so long. Otherwise, I'd be tempted to go catch a Tailed Beast irrespective of the dangers involved!'
