529 Chapter 523 : Helping an Old Man

[A/N: Important notice -

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2. Read today's public post on p@treon. It has something that a lot of you have been asking for a long time :)

For the ones who read this chapter in the future, it's the public post made on 9th March, 2024. The title of the post is 'Suzuki Fujin']

Fujin's words completely caught Naruto off guard. Disbelief was visible on his face! He didn't know how to react for a few seconds. As soon as he gathered his thoughts together, he jumped and argued loudly, "Hey! That's not fair! I have learnt the jutsu and I even beat him! Also, you promised! You can't go back on your word!"

Seeing Naruto panic and complain in such a manner, Fujin couldn't control himself and began laughing out loud. Even Iruka smiled and thought, 'So he was the one guiding Naruto. No wonder he has been training in the Training Ground opposite his house.'

Naruto realized that Fujin had pranked him once again, causing him to pout in annoyance.

Fujin said, "Don't worry kiddo, I was just kidding. I'll be taking Mizuki and the scroll with me. Come visit me during dinner. Iruka, I'll leave Naruto in your care for now."

Naruto nodded and handed him the scroll. Fujin grabbed Mizuki and flickered away. Just like in the original story, Iruka passed his Forehead protector to Naruto and treated him to Ichiraku.

As for Fujin, he first dropped off Mizuki in Ibiki's office. Just when he was about to leave, Mizuki woke up. On seeing Ibiki, he was horrified. While he wasn't aware of the vast gap between him and Fujin's strength, he was very aware of Ibiki's horrible reputation. Fujin chuckled and said, "It looks like he is already loving his new home. I'll leave him in your capable hands, Ibiki-san."

Ibiki chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll take good care of him."

Just those words were too much of a mental torture for Mizuki. He looked viciously at Fujin and said spitefully, "Don't think that you will be safe for long. It is only a matter of time before that demon fox goes on a rampage once again!"

Fujin looked into his eyes, chuckled and said, "Once again, you should be more concerned about yourself, Mizuki."

Fujin turned around and began leaving. Mizuki felt that Fujin was just mocking him about the torture he would have to experience in Konoha's Torture & Interrogation department. However, to his surprise, he suddenly felt pain in his abdomen.

He held his abdomen while grimacing in pain. Suddenly, the pain increased beyond what he could endure. He collapsed to the ground while yelling. It felt like something was drilling out of his stomach. In addition, he felt like several insects were crawling under his skin.

The pain kept increasing far beyond what he could bear but somehow he didn't pass out. His eyes widened in horror as he saw maggots tearing the skin on his forearms and legs and crawling up his body. Seconds later, maggots drilled out of his abdomen making him scream hysterically!

The maggots that were crawling up his arms reached his face and began eating his face. He could no longer endure and finally lost consciousness!

Several ninjas working in the T&I department looked towards Ibiki's office. One of them muttered, "It looks like the boss went crazy once again."

The ninja next to him said, "Yes. Let's avoid him today. He'll be in a very good mood tomorrow after he has relaxed."

The first ninja nodded and muttered, "He should at least wait till they are put in a cell… I still don't understand why he tortures them in his main office."

In his office, Ibiki had a dark expression. Mizuki had passed out from Fujin's Genjutsu. While he didn't care about it, Mizuki had also vomited and wasn't able to control his bladder.

He cursed, 'These assholes! What do they take my office to be? Half of my bad reputation is due to the Clan Leaders and other powerful ninjas torturing criminals after bringing them to my office. Couldn't they at least wait till I put them in a cell?'

Unfortunately, there was no one Ibiki could complain to. He could only take his frustration out on Mizuki. He summoned a couple of ninjas to clean up the mess and lock up Mizuki.

Fujin didn't particularly care what happened with Mizuki. He reached Hiruzen's office, tossed the scroll towards him and said, "I found this."

Hiruzen grabbed the scroll and looked at Fujin. He thought, 'That's it? What about the fact that you tried to peek into such a secret scroll that is supposed to have Konoha's forbidden jutsus? Should I just ignore the fact that you did it despite knowing that I was looking at you?'

Needless to say, Fujin didn't say a word about it. He couldn't care less about what Hiruzen thought about it. Instead, he reported, "Naruto was misled by Mizuki, who intended to betray the village. I have handed Mizuki to Ibiki. Deal with him as you must.

And Naruto managed to master the Multi Shadow Clone jutsu. He can create a thousand clones. Though he failed Graduation, the batches haven't been assigned yet. I recommend that we graduate him now instead of making him wait another year."

Of course, Fujin was just saying it for the sake of saying it. He knew that Hiruzen would do so even if he didn't say it. As he expected, Hiruzen nodded and said, "That's a good suggestion. I'll graduate Naruto from the academy. Do you have anything else to report?"

Fujin acted like he was thinking for a few seconds before shaking his head and replying, "Not that I can think of."

Hiruzen cursed under his breath, 'This brat!'

He asked, "Did you check the scroll?"

Fujin nodded and said, "Yeah, I was surprised to hear that Naruto used a super powerful secret jutsu to defeat you and take the scroll. I almost speculated that some pervert was pretending to be you and tricking Naruto. So, I just wanted to make sure whether it was real or fake and that Naruto wasn't practicing something harmful to him."

"You looked into it despite knowing that it is the Scroll of the Forbidden Seals?" Hiruzen sounded a bit angry and a bit disappointed in Fujin as he asked that question.

To his surprise, a smile appeared on Fujin's face as he answered, "I checked it because I expected it to be a fake, Grandpa. If an academy student was able to steal the real Scroll of the Forbidden Seals, then it would have been rather disturbing. Considering that you are growing older every passing day, I would have offered to keep it safe and help take some stress off your shoulders. As a youngster who looks up to you, that's the least I could do."

Fujin's response left Hiruzen speechless. His anger was obviously fake. He just wanted to put Fujin in a difficult spot and wanted to take the opportunity to reevaluate him. He didn't expect that Fujin would play him instead. He cursed, 'This cheeky brat. Not only did he try to peek into the scroll, he is making it sound like he did a completely noble act! Where is this concern about my old age when he asks me to send Shadow Clones to guide him?'

Unfortunately, there wasn't anything Hiruzen could say. Fujin's reply was just too perfect. He chuckled and said, "These old bones can still hold on for some time. Don't worry."

Fujin smiled and said, "I know, Grandpa. That's why I knew it'd be fake. That said, I can still help you keep the real one safe if you want. If it'll take some pressure off your shoulders, I'd be happy to endure it for you."

Hiruzen looked at Fujin with a deadpan expression. Knowing how many jutsus Fujin asked him for, it didn't take a genius to understand what Fujin wanted to do. He replied, "It's fine. It isn't much pressure considering everything else. If you want, you can hang on to this scroll."

It was Fujin's turn to be speechless. He wondered, 'What the hell am I supposed to do with it?'

He smiled and said, "I think I'll pass."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "You did a good job apprehending the traitor. I'll look into him now."

Fujin nodded and said, "Alright, I'll see you later."

He was about to leave when Hiruzen said, "Wait!"

Fujin stopped and turned around. Hiruzen said, "Did you think about whether you would like to become a sensei?"

Hiruzen had asked Fujin about this matter some time ago but Fujin hadn't given a clear answer. Fujin asked, "Aren't the Jounin sensei already decided?"

Hiruzen answered, "I do have several in mind but nothing has been finalized yet other than Kakashi's squad. Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke will be under his tutelage. As for the others, they haven't been finalized yet. I can appoint you as the Jounin sensei for team 8 which will have Inuzuka Kiba, Hyuga Hinata and Aburame Shino or team 10 which will have Nara Shikamaru, Yamanaka Ino and Akimichi Choji. All 6 of them are children of clan leaders. While their parents didn't say anything, they would like you to guide one of the squads."

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