Chapter 413 : Hiruzen's Confusion (Patreon)

Fujin became serious and analyzed, 'Though my seals can spy without being detected, there is a limit. As long as I don't use them for spying, no one will notice anything odd. Even Hiruzen, with his expertise in Fuinjutsu and decades of experience, wouldn't sense them.

But, once I use it, top ninjas should instinctively feel that something is wrong. So, I can only use it a few times before people start suspecting something is wrong.

Fortunately, my target isn't the Clan Leaders. Even though they are important, they barely know anything important happening in the village. After all, everyone is in the dark about the Uchiha Massacre. Only the four of them know about it and perhaps Shikaku might have guessed it. The rest are completely in the dark. Even if they have their guesses, it's not something I can spy on.

The ones I wanna keep an eye on are those two Elders. Once things start getting tense, I can know what schemes they are cooking by keeping an eye on them. Fortunately, I know the future events. So I won't have to use this frequently.

So, the chances of getting discovered are low. Even if they discover it, linking it back to me will be difficult. Besides, even if guess that it is me, they can't do shit to me without any proof. Their era is long over. And I have no intention of being polite and respectful with them like others.'

Though Fujin had just joined the council and didn't intend to offend everyone in it, he didn't mind doing so when the need arose. In fact, he was looking forward to it. Fujin thought, "I found politics very tedious in my previous life and stayed far away from it. To think that I would be jumping in it at a mere age of 15 in this life… Who'd have ever thought?'

Fujin's gaze turned towards the door. A couple of seconds later, a knock was heard. Fujin said, "Come in."

Two men opened the door and entered inside. Fujin observed them. Both were in their mid-20s, had average builds and their chakra was just high enough to be considered as Chunin-level.

Just like Fujin, the two of them were also observing him. Both had complicated feelings. They both had civilian backgrounds. Both were proud of having a safe job inside the Hokage's Building. However, the boy in front of them was 10 years younger than either of them.

Yet, he had such immense power that his bounty was 50 million Ryo and he had been selected to become one of the few Council Members inside Konoha and represented the highest number of ninjas than any other Council Member apart from the Hokage and the Elders.

Though they felt that the other civilian Elite Jounins would have been better choices, neither dared to disrespect Fujin.

One guy respectfully said, "I am Haruma."
The other guy said, "I am Yasushi. Lord Hokage assigned us to assist you in your duties as a Council member."

Fujin nodded and said, "Good. This seat is mine. Feel free to take any other chair in this room. Did either of you assist any other council member before me?"

Yasushi nodded and said, "Yes. I had assisted Lord Yamanaka Inoichi before you. Haruma has been newly assigned though. So it's his first time assisting a council member."

Fujin said, "That's good. You can guide Haruma on how everything's done. Did Lord Hokage give you my information?"

Yasushi answered, "Not much apart from your name."

Fujin said, "I see."

Fujin thought for a few seconds and instructed, "I'm not sure how Inoichi handled his Council duties. As for me, I won't be in the office often. So you two will have to handle anyone who wants to meet up with me. If there are any visitors, you will make a note of who it is and send a report to my house in the evening.

I live in the house across from the 23rd Training Ground. I'll handle all the meetings on Saturday. So unless there is anything urgent, you two won't be disturbing me and just arrange for the meetings to take place on Saturday. Is that understood?"

Both Yasushi and Haruma nodded and replied, "Understood."

Fujin asked, "Is there anything else that you would like to know or discuss?"

Haruma didn't say anything but Yasushi asked Fujin a few questions about how he should act in various scenarios. Fujin patiently answered him. 15 minutes later, Fujin asked, "Anything else?"

Yasushi shook his head and answered, "No. It's just that we will have to report your work schedule to Lord Hokage."

Fujin replied, "Alright. You can do so. I'll see you later."

In front of both their eyes, Fujin's figure disappeared from the room. Sweat gathered on their faces. Haruma asked nervously, "Yasushi-senpai, did you see him leave?"

Yasushi shook his head and said, "I couldn't see him at all. He just disappeared."

Haruma sighed and exclaimed, "No wonder Lord Hokage appointed someone so young."

Yasushi chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. How can someone whom Lord Hokage appoints be ordinary? Luckily for us, he seems very laid back. As long as we don't mess up, we won't face any difficulties on this job."

Haruma nodded with a smile on his face. For officials working in the Hokage Building, all they wanted was a boss who wouldn't purposefully make things difficult for them. Hence, both Yasushi and Haruma were happy with their new position.

Both reported to Hiruzen and informed him about Fujin's arrangements. Hiruzen asked them a few questions before dismissing them. Sitting in his office, Hiruzen analyzed, 'Just meetings on Saturday… It looks like he will not be using this position to increase his influence in the village.'

Hiruzen analyzed for a couple of minutes before letting out a sigh. He got up and began walking towards the office he assigned Fujin. As he walked, he thought, 'I have been too impatient. Though becoming a Council Member representing the civilian ninjas offers the potential to gain a very high influence in Konoha, Fujin will not do that.

The reason is simple. He most probably doesn't know what the use of creating such an influence inside the village is. Even if he dreams of becoming the Hokage, he wouldn't know that this is the easiest way for him to create a support base.

Regardless, this isn't bad. Even if he doesn't actively try to gain influence, his influence will gradually increase in time due to the post. More importantly, his combat prowess has improved faster than my calculations. So even without this seat, his influence will increase rapidly once we enter a conflict.'

Hiruzen thought for a while and nodded to himself while thinking, 'That's right. I don't need to worry about increasing his reputation and influence anymore. Perhaps it is a good thing that he isn't actively increasing it as that could have created some internal strugg…'

Hiruzen's thoughts stopped as soon as he entered the office he had just assigned to Fujin. His expression became very dark. He looked around the room. His eyes saw dozens of seals at every glance.

He muttered to himself, 'This boy! I told him not to overdo it! I can easily sense over a hundred seals inside this room. And most of them are seals that are used to hide other seals. How many seals did this boy inscribe in this room? And how did he inscribe them so rapidly? It's been just over half an hour since I assigned him this office and I doubt he did it in front of his assistants.'

Hiruzen was speechless. Chakra concentrated in his eyes and they began glowing as he observed the seals with all his focus. 5 minutes later, he let out a sigh and stopped looking.

He thought, 'I inspected through two layers of disguise. I can't inspect any deeper without dismantling the seals. But, I don't understand this. I clearly asked Fujin not to overdo it. Why did he still inscribe so many seals and hide them under so many layers? He hasn't openly disobeyed me before this. Did he discover something?'

Hiruzen left Fujin's office while analyzing what Fujin could have discovered and returned to his office. After a few minutes, he shook his head and thought, 'I can't think of anything. Even if he discovered anything, why didn't he come and inform me instead of creating such a complicated network of seals? I'll wait until the meeting. If he doesn't talk with me until then, I'll ask him myself.

Regardless, his ability at Fuinjutsu is remarkable. Though he is far from being the best Grandmaster in Konoha, his speed of inscribing seals might be the fastest in Konoha. Either that or he has created a ridiculous amount of Seal Imprints. But, in that case, he would be the fastest Grandmaster at creating seal imprints.'

Hiruzen stopped thinking about Fujin and got back to work. He had suffered enough headaches for a day to bother Fujin that day.