Understanding Hiruzen's intention, Shikaku added, "Though Kusa is good at diplomacy, they can't ally easily with Iwa as their relationship is quite bad currently. Iwa had invaded the Land of Grass in both the Second and the Third Great Ninja Wars. Their people still remember that. Their civilians as well as ninjas hate Iwa for causing so many deaths and putting them through hell.
In addition, Iwa had sent their Jinchuriki to the Land of Grass a couple of years ago. Their relations had deteriorated to the level it was at during the Great Wars after Roshi used the Tailed Beast Bomb on their lands.
And, these two aren't the biggest issues. The biggest issue is that Iwa is definitely funding and assisting the rogue group that is fighting against Kusagakure. Though the rogue group likely formed by itself, there is no way that they would become such a threat without Iwa's aid.
Even if Kusa decides to overlook this fact and not raise this issue while negotiating with Iwa, Iwa would want both groups to coexist in the Land of Grass so that they can restrict both sides and control the Land of Grass.
This will cut down Kusa's influence considerably as the country would have two Hidden Villages instead of one. It will also give a chance to that rogue group to create a proper army and grow without having to fight Kusagakure. In the future, they wouldn't need to resort to guerilla warfare whenever they have to fight Kusagakure and could confront them head-on.
So even with their good diplomacy, it is unlikely for them to get favorable terms by allying with Iwa."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Fujin nodded, agreeing with Shikaku's analysis. Hiruzen added, "So in other words, this high-priority message is just Kusagakure's way to coerce us to do their job for them without getting anything in return."
Though Hiruzen talked plainly, Fujin could clearly see that Hiruzen wasn't pleased. He chuckled internally while thinking, 'It looks like they hit a nerve. That said, this scroll from Kusagakure is quite ingenious.
On the surface, it might seem that they are arrogantly threatening Konoha, a village far stronger than them, by saying that they would ally with Iwa. However, nowhere in the scroll is this explicitly mentioned. If confronted, they can just decline it and say that this isn't what they implied and can give some other examples of what the 'drastic actions' will be.
Though it seems that they will offend Konoha by doing so, in truth, there isn't much Konoha can do. The worst we can do is ignore this scroll and decline to help, in which case Kusagakure doesn't win or lose anything. The status quo will prevail.
If we decide to act against them in the dark, then that will be equivalent to jumping on an axe as that will weaken Kusagakure and will allow a faction that is supported by Iwa to take power in the Land of Grass. So, they know that we won't take such a step.
Besides, even if we decide not to help, we will still be forced to help if Iwa gets involved directly. Hehe, no wonder Hiruzen is annoyed. Considering that he didn't take any advantage of the critical situation I had placed Rasa in pretty much says that he wants to avoid a major war at all costs even though the village is no longer as weak as during the Hyuga incident.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Fujin looked at Hiruzen and said, "They are indeed quite good at diplomacy. Anyway, why did you call me? Are we going to war? Or do you want me to silently make a few people disappear?"
From Fujin's perspective, that situation wasn't difficult to handle. Neither side had any rank S ninja. If he wished to, he could eliminate leaders from both sides with relative ease. Even though Kusagakure's diplomacy was good, that was contingent that Konoha played by the rules.
Konoha could just install puppet leaders and take control of both forces forcefully. The only issue it would create is that other major and minor villages would become quite wary of Konoha. However, that was Hiruzen's headache and not Fujin's.
Hiruzen smiled and said, "Neither. I want you to lead a diplomatic team to Kusagakure and negotiate a deal with them. Whether Konoha goes to assist them for free, whether we demand money to do so, how much money we demand or whether we stay out of it completely will be completely left up to you."
Fujin was surprised. Though Fujin had been a part of several negotiation teams over the last couple of years, he had never taken the lead in any discussion. On the contrary, he barely participated in any discussion, valuing his words like gold!
Fujin looked at the two Elders. To his surprise, neither objected. He thought, 'It looks like Hiruzen has already made and conveyed his decision. Otherwise, both of them would have opposed doing something so reckless.'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Fujin thought for a bit and asked, "Are you sure?"
Hiruzen nodded while chuckling to himself, 'Finally a moment where he isn't completely sure of himself. Oh well, the boy has got to learn someday. Might as well start today. Even if he messes up, it won't cost Konoha much.'
Fujin asked, "Will I be going alone or will there be any assistance?"
Hiruzen answered, "You can take our usual diplomatic team with you. In fact, they are already preparing. In addition, Elder Homura will join you as well. He will go with you under disguise and won't be participating in the discussions unless you explicitly ask him to. However, you should do that only as a last resort. This mission will be led by you and not him. Whatever is the result of this negotiation, it'll solely be your responsibility."
Fujin nodded while thinking, 'I guess he really wants me to take this responsibility… Oh well, I might as well do it in the 'best' possible way and entertain myself a bit. Besides, this is a good opportunity to build some 'reputation'. Even though it might not be a good reputation, it might just help me keep some ambitious idiots like Katsuhiro at arm's length.'
Fujin said, "Alright. However, the combat capabilities of our diplomatic team are quite low. Add a couple of Anbu squads to my team and have them disguise themselves as diplomats."
Hiruzen nodded and said, "Sure."
What he didn't notice was that Shikaku suddenly became slightly nervous when Fujin mentioned 'combat capabilities'. He thought, 'Why do I get a feeling that my days will become hectic once again? Sigh, nothing good happens when this boy goes on a mission. I just hope that he doesn't do something too crazy this time.'
Unfortunately, Shikaku couldn't guess what the crazy thing Fujin would be doing. Hiruzen said, "I have already assembled the diplomatic team. You can join them and plan out your strategy before moving out. Move out by this evening."
Fujin nodded. He and Homura began walking towards the room where the diplomatic discussions would usually be held. En route, Fujin created and dispelled a Shadow Clone.
Homura immediately realized, 'Hmm, he sent a message about this meeting to his Shadow Clones. I wonder what they are doing.'
It was as Homura had speculated. Fujin sent a message to his clones that were working on the seal, the clone who was guiding his 5 students, and a couple of clones that he had sent to the Training facility to guide other orphans.
Fujin had begun sending a few clones to the training facilities whenever he had some chakra to spare so that he could influence the other kids as well. The help he provided them was nowhere near what his students got. He would let Hiruzen's Anbu train them and only occasionally observe them and give some advice to help them improve further.
As a result, even though the Anbu instructors did most of the work, the kids were more grateful towards Fujin as he took time from his 'busy' schedule and 'council duties' to guide them. Some Anbu noticed it but didn't do anything as Fujin outranked them considerably and he wasn't doing anything harmful to the kids or the village.
Besides, Anbu Hiruzen had sent to train the kids were of civilian backgrounds as well because he didn't want to alert the clans about the kids having Kekkei Genkai. So they didn't mind Fujin, who represented the civilian ninjas in the council, increasing his influence.
In any case, the message Fujin sent to his clones was to inform his students that he would be out of the village for a few days and to inform the same to the Anbu Captain stationed in his compound.
