348 Chapter 345 : Becoming Stale!

[A/N: Bonus Chapter. We cracked 4000 Power stones for the first time! We reached 4170 Power Stones and achieved our highest rank - 18! In addition, I also uploaded the 400th chapter on P@treon today! Let's keep it up guys :)]

Fujin analyzed, 'They should have started planning right after I clashed with Roshi. These ninjas should be trained with the help of Roshi so that they can anticipate my attacks and movements and take preventive measures to avoid being killed by me.

Training a hundred ninjas just to kill me… What a freaking overkill! I'm not even an Elite Jounin officially! Though it might not be just for me. The skills they develop will help them survive tough battles against others as well.

With such a good trap, there were only 3 ways for me to counterattack. The one that I used was my summon. Another way was using Lighting release. But I don't think it would be as effective as Kurogane. Though my Lightning Release is good, it is a far cry compared to my Wind Release. The last method was Wind Style Genjutsu. The three skills they didn't know about.

Of course, the simplest option was to just run away with Wind Instantaneous Body jutsu. Had I been alone like I was in the Land of Wind, I'd have directly left. The plan would have been nullified without much effort. So despite being in a difficult spot, my life wouldn't have been in any danger had I abandoned these 3.

I guess since I disappeared using Reverse Summoning jutsu, Roshi and the rest don't know about my skill with that jutsu. They should have some speculations, which is why that barrier was probably placed around the village. But they should be unaware of the specifics.

Regardless, this makes my life incredibly difficult. If they provide this training for more ninjas then all my future confrontations with Iwa will prove to be a challenge. And what if they provide my information and the training plan to other villages?

If that happens, then there will be special forces in all major villages just to counter me. Maybe others might come up with even better tactics in the future and create even more devious traps for me.'

Fujin sighed at that thought. He began analyzing why the trap was so successful against him. He thought, 'The main reason why I fell in such a position is my actions after I clashed with Roshi is that most of my skills were exposed in that fight. So I knew that Iwa would have a lot of information on me. Despite that, I made no effort to upgrade my skills or learn newer ones. Due to this reason, Iwa's plan was so effective.

In another way of speaking, my power has become stale… Though I can't be entirely blamed for that as I spent most of my time on Fuinjutsu, it still left a flaw. A flaw that I was aware of but didn't act on as I never expected anyone to make use of it.

After all, if the information about a ninja is available, no matter how strong that ninja is and how well-rounded his abilities are, this world has enough smart and intuitive ninjas to come up with ways of defeating that.

Though the performance of these Iwa ninjas against me can be considered remarkable, it isn't even comparable to Shikamaru defeating Hidan. The two were leagues apart in strength and abilities.

And Hidan was still someone with a lot of weaknesses. Even someone with no visible weaknesses like the 3rd Raikage was defeated by Naruto's clone after he received information from Eight Tails.

Another example of this can be the Uchiha's Sussano. Though most ninjas will be very alarmed by that jutsus, for me, it's the least threatening of all the Mangekyou abilities that I know of. After all, it is very exhaustive to maintain a Sussano. I can easily run away when it is activated and return when it is deactivated during the fight, making it useless. Of course, that is if it is used with normal Mangekyou.

Since others can be dealt with after getting enough information, I too am vulnerable despite my high speed and the penetrative power of the Vacuum jutsus. While it still isn't something that could kill me, if I stay complacent, it is only a matter of time. I will have to start working on those ideas that I have.

Sigh, I'm so close to becoming a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster. It would have been great if I could have achieved that before being made to work on this. But delaying this any longer will be more harmful than the gains from Fuinjutsu. After all, though I have the ideas, it would probably take me over a year to successfully master them. Then I can get rid of this vulnerability.'

Fujin had reached a satisfactory conclusion when his eyes suddenly widened. He realized, 'No. That is not correct. Even if I create a new fighting style, even that can be countered when information about it gets known.

What I need to do is keep working on it consistently and keep upgrading it. My speed of developing new styles needs to be faster than my enemy's speed of countering my fighting style. Only then I can truly avoid such scenarios.

This will have to continue until my strength reaches a perverse level like Hashirama and Madara or I develop and learn jutsus that can't be countered. Like the Flying Thunder God and perhaps the Blood jutsus of the Jashin Grand Priest. Sage Mode would also help but Ryu is still unwilling to teach me.

Regardless, I need to start working on my Ninjutsu once again.'

Having made up his mind, Fujin stopped analyzing further and rested. Kurogane carried the Konoha ninjas into the Land of Fire and dropped them before returning to Mount Muteki. Fujin's squad continued moving towards Konoha at a high speed.

A couple of hours later, Takigakure received messages from the messenger birds. As he read the details in the scrolls, Shibuki's expression became very grim. He cursed, 'This is bad… Very bad!! We can't fight Iwagakure right now.'

One of his advisors said angrily, "Lord Shibuki, this is unacceptable. We have to respond to this provocation. Please give us permission to lead our troops and force the Iwagakure ninjas out of our country!"

Shibuki looked at him and retorted, "Fight against Iwa? Are you crazy? Didn't you read that the Konoha Anbu Captain reported that Kitsuchi and a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster were there? What if they fight back instead of retreating?"

His reply had everyone in the room looking at him with a deadpan expression. They all had the same thought, 'As expected."

Shibuki ignored those looks and instructed, "Send the highest priority message to the Hokage. Request him to dispatch an army towards our borders. Once they are in position, we will dispatch our forces to confront Iwagakure. If they retreat, then it is for the best. Otherwise, Konoha will be allowed to enter and we will ally against Iwa."

Everyone nodded and got to work. After leaving the room, one of the advisors sighed and muttered, "He is so cowardly."

Another nodded and said, "Yeah. He reminds me of his father in all other aspects. But in terms of courage, he is the complete opposite. The time needed to dispatch our forces and have them confront Iwa would have been sufficient for the Konoha ninjas to arrive."

He sighed as well and said, "Leave it. He is still a very good leader."

Everyone nodded and began working.

Thanks to Shibuki's inaction, Kitsuchi gained valuable time. In the village where they were staying, the Iwa ninjas who weren't injured placed the people back in their homes. The people were still asleep due to Genjutsu. Similar actions happened in the other villages with missing people.

Thanks to Yoshiki's Fuinjutsu, he had kept all the people in those villages in underground basements, hidden from the eyes of anyone who tried to inspect the villages. They deployed some ninjas in those villages to ensure that the villagers could be kept under Genjutsu and not die of thirst or hunger.

As for other people they had randomly kidnapped, Iwa didn't have any choice but to kill and bury them silently. Though they sent a considerable force, they couldn't handle so many people properly. So keeping them alive would have created some chances of their operation being exposed.

After moving the villagers, the Iwa ninjas destroyed the underground basements and filled them up using Earth Release jutsus while the SealMasters destroyed all the seals. They removed every trace of their involvement. After confirming that no evidence was left, all the Iwa ninjas in the Land of Waterfall began stealthily moving towards the village where Kitsuchi was at.

Though Fujin inflicted a lot of damage on the ninjas that attacked him, the remaining Iwa forces didn't have any casualties. Kitsuchi waited until everyone had returned to the village and then retreated to the Land of Stone along with everyone else. Only Sho was left back to continue spying.

Konoha :

It was late at night. Hiruzen had wrapped up all his work and was sleeping peacefully at his home when his sleep was disturbed. An Anbu woke him up and handed him the high-priority message scroll!

Hiruzen opened the scroll and began reading. His eyes immediately widened before going back to their usual size. He said, "Call Shikaku to my office."

The Anbu nodded and flickered away.

[A/N : Bonus chapter on next Sunday if the fic gets 1000 Power Stones. Bonus chapter on next week's Saturday if the fic gets 2000 Power Stones.]

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