464 Chapter 459 : The Key Person!

While Fujin was aware of the complications that could arise, he didn't particularly care. Hidan will be joining Akatsuki and will be travelling with Kakuzu. Without proper information, taking them down would be pretty much impossible unless multiple Kages teamed up against them. The chances of that happening were more or less null. Even with proper information, it would take a couple of rank S ninjas to defeat them. Apart from Konoha, no other villages had a couple of rank S ninjas who took missions actively.

As for the new seals, Fujin was hoping that someone would succeed in cracking them and understanding their secrets. He just intended to stay back and swoop in to steal their gains in case he didn't succeed. Hence, Fujin decided not to interfere much in whatever would happen due to the recent movements.

Kaito brought Fujin to Konoha from the Land of Birds in a few hours. Though Fujin travelled a lot more, having to go to the Land of Birds which was on the opposite side of the Land of Fire and didn't even border it, and spent some time noting down the seals from Zankoku's ritual, he still reached Konoha earlier than his teammates thanks to Kaito. The two bade farewell a few kilometers from Konoha.

On entering Konoha, Fujin went straight to Hiruzen's office. Hiruzen was surprised to see Fujin so quickly. He asked, "Is the mission over?"

Fujin nodded and said, "More or less. Did my teammates return?"

Hiruzen was confused by Fujin's question and wondered, 'Did they split up?'

He replied, "No. What happened during the mission?"

Fujin replied, "Quite a bit. I might have some confidential news."

Hiruzen understood the message and glanced at his Anbu Guards. They immediately left the room and shut all doors and windows. Hiruzen activated the privacy seals.

Fujin said, "The mission was a bit complicated. We managed to find the missing civilians. Unfortunately, they were all killed before we reached. It was the same as my previous mission against Jashin followers. The only difference was that we were late."

Hiruzen sighed and said, "That's a shame."

Fujin nodded and continued, "I have a feeling that something weird is going on. The dead bodies of the civilians were in a sealed-off cave in a remote mountain range. Inside the cave, there were also a few other dead bodies. I speculated that they were followers of Jashin. Their bodies were cremated.

Meanwhile, the dead bodies of the civilians had decomposed at a very fast rate. Just by looking at the dead body, one would assume that they have been dead for several years. Probably due to that, Yamanaka Ken couldn't read any of their memories for us to understand what happened in the cave."

A frown appeared on Hiruzen's face. The mission was a lot weirder than he expected. Fujin continued, "The inside of the cave was covered in various seals. It was almost as if they had created a formation of some sort. And there were numerous seals in the cave that I had never seen before."

Hiruzen's eyes widened. He immediately understood its importance and why Fujin said the information be kept confidential. He asked, "Did you record the seals?"

Fujin nodded. He took out a few scrolls and placed them on the desk. He said, "I recorded the seals I had never seen before in these scrolls. Unfortunately, I didn't have the time to look into what these seals do or what purpose they served in the formation."

Hiruzen immediately opened the scrolls to check the seals. To his surprise, even he failed to recognize any of the seals. He thought, 'These seals… Even the Uzumaki clan didn't have these seals. Or could it be that they did have these seals but managed to keep them hidden from us?

But if so, why did they surface suddenly? More importantly, who has access to them? Are there any survivors of the Uzumaki clan or were they stolen by someone when Uzushiogakure was destroyed? And why do these seals have to do with the death of those civilians?'

Hiruzen had a lot of questions. And, he was very curious about what was happening. Unfortunately for him, Fujin had no intention of telling him something that no one else apart from Fujin and Jashin's followers knew.

Hiruzen asked, "Did you record the seal formation?"

Fujin shook his head and said, "It was very complicated. I would have needed a lot of time to inspect and record it. I will recommend sending another Grandmaster to the cave secretly to record it. I would have done it myself after the Yugakure ninjas left, but we received news of Hidan's whereabouts and gave chase."

Hiruzen understood the importance of catching Hidan. He nodded and asked, "Did you catch him?"

Fujin shook his head and said, "We chased for over half a day. Unfortunately, it seems like he was being chased by others as well and hence was constantly on the move. He was chased by a couple of Kumo squads and for some reason was also chased by Akatsuki.

I called off the mission after we encountered Kakuzu. I asked my teammates to withdraw and report the mission to the Hot Water Daimyo before coming back to the village. I stayed and fought Kakuzu until he received reinforcements."

Fujin looked at Hiruzen and said in a serious tone, "Uchiha Itachi has joined Akatsuki as well. Along with Kaminari, Juzo, Kakuzu and Kisame, that's 5 powerful Rogue ninjas in Akatsuki. Even though two of them are now dead, it is concerning that so many rogue ninjas are in it."

Hiruzen was already aware of all the details. He acted as if it was the first time he heard it and had a grim expression. He said, "Yes, this development is concerning."

Fujin added, "Apart from Itachi, a blue-haired kunoichi also assisted Kakuzu. She could control Paper and was a rank S ninja as well. My clones fought against the three of them while I retreated. I took a different route in case they chased me. So I guess I overtook my teammates at some point. They should arrive in the village soon."

Hiruzen nodded and fell into deep thought. Fujin had given him a lot of unexpected news. Be it Akatsuki's movements, the dead civilians or the never-seen-before seals. On analyzing, he realized, 'Everything finally comes back to one person. That is Hidan… Who is that kid? And how did he get access to something like this?'

He looked at Fujin and asked, "Is there any chance we can capture Hidan?"

Fujin replied, "Very difficult. We have lost his trail. Even assuming that he is alone, finding him will be very difficult. Not to mention those 3 rank S ninjas from the Akatsuki. If they were there to kill him, then it's already too late. And, if they were there to recruit him, then I'm not sure how much manpower we will need to get him from them. I'm not confident in being able to kill either of those three by myself."

Hiruzen understood Fujin. Facing three rank S ninjas was very difficult. Even if Hidan was accompanied by just 1 rank S ninja, Konoha would struggle to capture Hidan unless he encountered Jiraiya or Hiruzen or decided to attack Konoha for some reason.

Hiruzen sighed and said, "Then there is very little we can do. Regardless, you have done a great job. Tell me about Kakuzu's abilities in the report. We don't have enough information on him. For now, I will call a council meeting tomorrow. These new seals will generate a lot of interest and could start a new conflict. So our village should be prepared. Also, the clans would want to study the seals as well.

I will send a Grandmaster and a squad there to investigate it properly and record the formation. In the meeting, inform everyone about your findings. It'll expose the fact that you are a Grandmaster in Fuinjutsu, but this matter is serious."

Fujin nodded and said, "I understand."

By now, Iwagakure and Akatsuki were aware of the fact that Fujin was a Grandmaster. He didn't know to whom the information had spread and who all knew it. Regardless, he couldn't count on it being a surprise anymore. As such, it was pointless to keep it a secret anymore.

Hiruzen said, "I will call you later."

Fujin was about to leave when he stopped and suddenly asked, "Grandpa, I am facing an issue. I was wondering whether you could help me."

Hiruzen's instincts immediately warned him. The word 'Grandpa' along with Fujin's tone made him realize that Fujin was about to ask a favor.

He sighed internally and asked, "As long as I can. What is the issue?"

While he spoke, he prayed, 'I hope he doesn't ask for my kidney this time.'

[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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