Chapter 280: Starting a War?
Fujin continued, "A couple of days later, 12 ninjas from Kurogane no Sensen came to the Wind Capital to investigate their missing ninjas. I took the opportunity to leave the city along with them. However, the Kazekage noticed us and probably got suspicious.
He sent some Anbu to chase us. I led them deep into the desert and assassinated all 12 mercenaries and 12 Anbu."
Shikaku and Hiruzen's eyes widened. Hiruzen thought, '12 Anbu. Not bad at all. Even if I ignore all his other achievements, this alone should be more than enough to promote him.'
Meanwhile, Shikaku began sweating as he wondered, 'Who the heck kills 12 enemy Anbu during a promotion mission for the Anbu Captain post? It'd be an accomplishment even if they managed to kill 2!'
Fujin tossed a scroll at Shikaku and said, "This scroll has the dead bodies of those 24 ninjas. I am not sure if any memories are still there, but you can try to check them nonetheless."
Shikaku caught it and nodded. He reluctantly said, "Good work. Continue."
Fujin continued reporting, "I didn't leave any evidence behind. So I don't think Suna knows what happened to these 12 missing Anbu. At best they could guess that they were killed by the mercenaries. Anyways, after killing them, I travelled to the Western side of the Land of Wind.
I first travelled to Sabakuetsu. As per the instructions, I burnt one of the two Provision Depots entirely. I don't think any food was left behind. And I ended up killing at least two ninjas there. I am not sure if any more died after I left.
I followed it up by killing two more Nobles in the West who were listed and travelled to Shunkuto City to kill the third. However, the leading ninja there was quite smart. He set up a decoy and hid the Noble. I killed the decoy and tried getting intel from the leading Chunin, but that guy was quite determined. He blew himself up.
In order to find the real Noble, I did a scheme. I disguised myself and my clones as Suna ninjas and announced that the assassin was dead. Then I spread rumors across the city that the Noble was a coward who hid behind decoys and doesn't deserve to be a Noble. In anger, the Noble returned to the mansion.
So I held a public execution for him and announced that he had cooperated with the assassin. In addition, I also announced that the Kazekage was upset with the city and decided to remove the protection provided by the Suna ninjas. And I immediately withdrew from the city."
Shikaku and Hiruzen's eyes widened in shock as they immediately understood the impact of such an action. Shikaku almost cursed out but Fujin continued speaking and said, "The next day, around 80% of the people living in that city left and began migrating towards nearby villages and towns. They should be beginning to reach by now. So the news will soon spread and the Kazekage and the Wind Daimyo will soon begin receiving messages.
At the same time, the resentment against Suna and Kazekage will spread among the cities in the West. So feel free to take advanta..."
Shikaku finally couldn't endure anymore and cut him off. He asked loudly, "You did what?"
His face had a look of disbelief. Hiruzen's expression was serious as well. He was finding the situation quite amusing until then. However, Fujin's actions were outrageous.
Fujin tilted his head and asked, "Is that an issue? I thought you wanted to create chaos in the Land of Wind and ruin Sunagakure's reputation in the eyes of the Daimyo, Nobles and citizens."
Shikaku replied, "Yes, I wanted you to do that. But from your actions… Do you want to split the Land of Wind into two countries?"
Shikaku's words made Fujin fall into thought. However, he soon shook his head and said, "That's not feasible. That place is crawling with Suna ninjas right now. If you want to do it, I'd recommend waiting for a few months or perhaps even a couple of years for the resentment to properly spread and for the Suna ninjas to withdraw. Then you can take action. But I am not interested in going there anymore. Considering the complexity, I'll recommend you go there yourself and oversee the entire operation."
Shikaku's expression became dark. He cursed internally, 'This brat! I was asking him sarcastically. Does he not get sarcasm or is he messing with my head? He created such a huge mess and still wants me to create more? Who knows how those crazy bastards will react after suffering such a huge loss in peacetime? I'll have to plan the defense properly and actively monitor the situation for weeks or perhaps even months now!'
Of course, Fujin was messing with him. Though his expressions didn't change, he thought, 'I managed to break Hiruzen's poker face numerous times. This is a first for Shikaku to lose his calm and stop acting lazy in front of me. Hehehe, looks like I overdid my mission. Oh well, I guess he will take some effort to describe mission parameters from now on instead of just being a lazy ass.'
Shikaku couldn't see beyond Fujin's poker face. However, if he could hear Fujin's thoughts, he would have lost control on the spot! The mission parameters were left vague to make the Anbu ninjas push themselves to achieve their best. It wasn't so that someone could start a war!
Hiruzen was also looking at Shikaku's expression. He thought, 'If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have found his expressions hilarious.'
He looked at Fujin and asked, "Did you return after this?"
Fujin shook his head and said, "No. Despite the difficulty, that city didn't receive any reinforcements. I was confused as to why Suna hadn't sent reinforcements. So I decided to test out the next city as well. Unfortunately, that was a trap. I was attacked by 12 Jounins and the Puppeteer Elite Jounin, Odaka. The city itself had over a hundred ninjas waiting for me."
Shikaku and Hiruzen were shocked once again. Fujin continued, "I killed one Jounin, 2 Chunins and 4 Anbu ninjas before running away from the city. Unfortunately, many of them also knew Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu and the desert offered no cover. So they began chasing me. Though I was faster, there was an ambush squad waiting for me.
The Ambush squad was led by the Elite Jounin Sabaku Susumu. His Genjutsu prevented me from using my jutsus. In addition, his squad also had a Jinchuriki. They stalled me, allowing a few Suna ninjas to catch up with me."
Just when Hiruzen and Shikaku thought that they couldn't be surprised any more, they were!
Shikaku dumbfoundedly muttered, "The Jinchuriki?"
Hiruzen asked, "The Kazekage's Son?"
Fujin nodded. Shikaku had a very bad feeling. He thought, 'I can feel it. Whatever he will say next will be very troublesome. Why didn't I give him proper mission parameters?'
Unfortunately, there was no way for Shikaku to correct his error.
Fujin continued, "Fortunately, the Jinchuriki lost control over his emotions and did a stupid wide-range attack. I used the opportunity to injure him. That made him lose control over his Tailed Beast and began transforming. I used the distraction to kill Susumu and retreated from there."
This time, neither Shikaku nor Hiruzen had any words to say. Both were left speechless by Fujin's achievements during the mission.
Fujin enjoyed the expressions on their faces. It was a treat to watch. He tossed Shikaku another scroll and said, "This scroll has Susumu's body. I have preserved it properly. He could use Genjutsu by emitting chakra into the wind. I want that jutsu."
Shikaku looked at the scroll and looked back at Fujin as he thought, 'Not only did he kill an Elite Jounin, he also brought his body back. Does he want to be the Anbu Captain or the Hokage? Still, this is good. Susumu's Genjutsu methods were quite unique. If a few ninjas can learn it, Konoha's strength will increase once again.'
Hiruzen said, "You can't use those techniques in the open for the time being."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes. I'll ensure that there are no witnesses."
Hiruzen nodded and asked, "Anything else?"
His question alerted Shikaku once again. Fortunately, Fujin shook his head and answered, "No. I wanted to create more mess and kill a few more Jounins in the desert. But the number of ninjas was too high and I wasn't sure how much destruction the Jinchuriki could cause. So I withdrew."
Shikaku finally let out a sigh of relief! He thought, 'Thankfully he withdrew! I thought he killed dozens of more ninjas using the Jinchuriki as a distraction.'
Hiruzen also looked relieved. He stared at Fujin as he re-evaluated his strength and began thinking of a matter, 'Is he also a suitable candidate?'
Both Hiruzen and Shikaku were lost in thoughts. After a minute, Fujin looked at them with a deadpan expression and wondered, 'Did they forget about me?'
He asked, "Umm… Will I be promoted?"
Both Shikaku and Hiruzen looked at him immediately. Shikaku cursed in his mind, 'Do you think we would dare not promote you? If we give you another promotion mission, won't you directly start a war between the two countries?'