Naruto: The Wind Calamity

Chapter 937: Chapter 930 : Doubts over the Future!

The hood fell back, revealing Danzo's familiar, time‑worn face. Yet his eyes, once always half‑hidden behind shadows and bandages, now stared openly back at them, dull and lifeless as only the Edo Tensei could bring.

For a moment, the room was utterly silent. Fujin's face stiffened, his brows drew together, and a rare flash of raw surprise cut through the calm mask he so often wore. Even Jiraiya, normally quick to cover his emotions with humor or bluster, couldn't hide the disbelief twisting across his features.

Danzo's gaze settled subtly on Fujin, almost hidden behind the emptiness of reanimation. But it was present - a probing stare, cold and measuring, as if searching for a crack, a flicker, anything that might confirm his suspicion.

Despite the evidence and logic not supporting him, Danzo's instincts still pointed towards Fujin. He wanted to see if Fujin's shock was genuine or whether he was already aware and merely acting.

Being stared at continuously by Fujin, Danzo couldn't focus his entire attention on him, lest it arouse Fujin's suspicions. However, the remaining four members in the office got a short opportunity to do so while Fujin was focused on the reanimated Danzo.

However, they didn't see any flaws in Fujin's shock. His shock wasn't any less than Jiraiya's or the clan leaders nor was it overly dramatic. Yet, that was a flaw in itself.

Hiruzen analyzed, 'Fujin isn't aware of Danzo's capabilities like Jiraiya. And, he hasn't suffered due to Danzo like the clan leaders. He doesn't have the emotional connection with him that Koharu and Homura possess. As such, his shock should have been slightly lesser than the rest.'

Danzo, Tsunade and Shikaku noticed this as well. While it wasn't proof of anything, it hinted that Fujin knew more than he let off. As for what it was, they could only guess for the time being.

Fujin noticed Danzo's gaze staying on him longer, but didn't notice others doing the same. However, he didn't bother thinking about it. Instead, a deep frown developed on his face, his expression becoming graver every millisecond!

Fujin continued staring at Danzo and asked, "How did someone slip into the village unnoticed and assassinate you? Was it that Uchiha from Akatsuki I faced? No, he shouldn't be that strong. And, you should have been prepared for him. Who was it?"

Jiraiya, who wasn't aware of the situation, became just as serious as Fujin as he realized the grave implications of such an event. As for the rest, Fujin's words confused the heck out of them!

Shikaku asked, "Assassination? Why did you reach that conclusion?"

Fujin finally withdrew his gaze from Danzo, looked at Shikaku and asked back, "So, that wasn't the case?"

From Shikaku's tone, even Jiraiya could see that Fujin had guessed incorrectly. So, Fujin's response wasn't suspicious at all. However, they were still curious. No one had reached such a conclusion until then.

Shikaku asked, "It isn't, but I'd like to know why you thought so."

Seeing Fujin's frown deepen, Shikaku quickly added, "Don't ask why, just tell me."

Shikaku's reaction puzzled Jiraiya, who wondered, 'Why is he interested in Fujin's reaction instead of telling us how Danzo died?'

Seeing Shikaku so serious, Fujin explained, "I didn't see any signs of destruction in the village, an impossibility in a battle leading to Elder Danzo's death. So, the only viable options are a silent assassination, or him being killed outside the village. However…"

Fujin turned his gaze back to Danzo and continued, "He didn't leave his cave even when we were attacked by Orochimaru, who led the forces of Sunagakure and Otogakure, to defend the village. What could make him go outside the village to fight to death?"

Danzo, who was focused on finding more flaws in Fujin's expressions and words, was caught off guard! In the past few hours, he had imagined hundreds of scenarios of how Fujin would react when he saw him reanimated. However, none of those scenarios contained Fujin questioning Danzo's courage and loyalty!

Shikaku realized, 'No wonder he was more surprised than Jiraiya-sama. He likely thought of Danzo being assassinated inside his Root office without putting up any resistance. That is rather scary. Sigh, Danzo's words have planted an unnecessary doubt in our minds. Now then, how do I cover this?'

Shikaku understood how weird it was to ask such a question during such a critical time. This wasn't like when Hiruzen educated Fujin after letting him observe his negotiations. Danzo, the Shinobi of Darkness, the leader of Root, a rank S ninja of Konoha, and one of the most feared ninjas had been killed!

Without losing his thoughtful expression for even a moment, Shikaku muttered, "That's an interesting take. I should have thought of it too, but missed it due to being too emotionally involved in it. If you think of it in this manner, then other villages should think similarly."

He glanced at Hiruzen and Tsunade and said, "I think we can bury this news, just like Lord Third's current status. Other than current and former Root ninjas and the few of us, no one is aware of Elder Danzo's death. Everyone else should believe Elder Danzo to be in his Root Headquarters.

We can observe the actions of other villages and organizations to see if there are any changes. It could tell us more about who else was involved."

Realizing what Shikaku was doing, Hiruzen immediately said, "That is a good idea."

Tsunade quickly added, "I'll task our spies to focus on this matter."

Losing his patience, Jiraiya asked, "Will you finally tell us what happened here? Who killed you?"

Jiraiya directly asked Danzo. For a moment, Danzo sighed internally, wondering, 'There's nothing wrong with Fujin's reaction… Are my instincts wrong, or am I being played by his acting skills?'

Without any way to find the answer, Danzo said, "It's more complicated than you think…"

Once again, Danzo narrated the incident in detail. Unlike with the clan leaders, Danzo didn't hide Izanagi and Hashirama's cells from Fujin for two reasons. One, if Danzo's suspicions were true, Fujin would know or learn of his skills anyway. Two, if nothing was wrong with Fujin, he would be one to take the lead and face Akuro and others eventually. As such, he needed to know how strong Akuro was!

Fujin paid careful attention to Danzo's every word. Had he not been involved, he would have accepted Shikaku's explanation and ignored his peculiar question. Since that wasn't the case, he understood Danzo had planted the seed of doubt in everyone's hearts.

As such, Fujin expected more traps ahead, and he wasn't incorrect. While narrating, Danzo twisted some of the events, explaining some differently while outrightly lying in some cases. He only did so while mentioning useless information since he didn't want to lie about the danger Akuro posed. He wanted to see if Fujin would react differently or subconsciously try to correct him. Unfortunately, Fujin never gave Danzo the reaction he wanted.

Fujin couldn't help but think amusedly, 'Interesting traps, but I bet even you can't imagine your killer to be none other than the young ninja standing before you, eh Danzo? If you did, even you would consider these little tricks childish…'

Having gained Danzo's memories, Konoha didn't have anything more to offer Fujin to increase his strength further. Unknowingly, Hiruzen had lost all control over Fujin. Fortunately for him, Fujin found staying in Konoha more beneficial than going rogue.

Fujin had also grown used to his life in the village. Not to mention, Konoha would be at the center of several important events in the future, events that Fujin wanted to participate in, or take advantage of.

Danzo finished his narration by mentioning the two distinct possibilities they had thought of. Needless to say, he didn't mention his suspicions about Fujin. He also mentioned their plans to raise the strength of the village by several levels, though he withheld some information.

He didn't mention Fujin becoming Konoha's pillar in the future. While having additional responsibilities aided young ninjas to be more stable and improve their strength, Hiruzen and Danzo didn't see a reason to dump additional responsibilities on Fujin.

Fujin was already progressing at a good speed. They didn't want to disrupt his progress without having any guarantees. In the future, once Fujin started slowing down, Hiruzen could use this to give him a second wind!

In addition, Danzo didn't talk much about forbidden techniques as Hiruzen didn't want to give them to Fujin immediately.

Jiraiya sighed, "Whether this is meticulous planning by Akatsuki, or a string of unfortunate coincidences, it is a grave headache. The future won't be peaceful. What's the plan now, Sensei?"

Unlike Jiraiya, Fujin was completely silent. He still appeared to pay full attention, but his mind was elsewhere. Or rather, his mind was completely stunned! He thought in disbelief, 'Holy Crap! How did they reach such a conclusion? I didn't even consider using Akatsuki as a cover while planning the trap! And what's with these absurd plans? This is several levels above the changes I proposed to the academy and the Guidance Halls…'

Their rich imagination caught Fujin by surprise. He also gained several new ideas. At the same time, he wondered, 'There's still around a year to a year and half before Akatsuki becomes active. If Konoha were to progress as they planned for that time, exactly what would the Fourth Great Ninja War be like? Will it even happen?'

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