Chapter 859 : Tsunade's Regret! (Patreon)

Before Tsunade could ask anything else, Hiruzen explained, “Fujin's house initially had a normal amount of seals inscribed by a Sealmaster. However, when he became a SealMaster himself, he inscribed a ridiculous amount of seals before anyone could notice.
Back then, I thought he'd stop at that.
Yet, he kept increasing the number of seals on his house as his knowledge of Fuinjutsu deepened. Each time I thought it'd be the last time. By the time I realized his nature, it was too late…”

Hiruzen grumbled under his breath, “That brat still keeps adding on to those seals. Does he think the moon will drop on his house?”

Hiruzen's words, though soft, were heard by everyone in the room. Seeing Hiruzen at a loss due to Fujin's peculiar obsession surprised them. Over his long life, Hiruzen had dealt with countless peculiar and eccentric individuals. Be it Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Danzo, or even his counterparts in other villages. It wasn't frequent to see Hiruzen like this.

Tsunade, still doubtful, muttered, “So, you mean to say, Fujin inscribed thousands of stealth seals of various types, and an even greater number of barrier seals and who knows how many explosive seals under them for no reason other than to protect his house?
I even saw a Four Symbol Seal and 32 seal tags of the Five Seal Barrier. Worse, I don't even know if those 32 are from the same eight sets or where the final tags forming the Five Seal Barrier are placed! Are you certain there's nothing hidden in there?”

Hiruzen answered, “Yes, there isn't. I have visited him a few times. He never acted secretively, even subconsciously. You can visit him too, though I'd recommend using another reason. Besides, it isn't the only case. You and Jiraiya asked me earlier about how different his interpretation of our words can be, right? Send a Shadow Clone to his office.”

Jiraiya and Tsunade followed his instructions. Curious, Kakashi sent a Shadow Clone as well. Within a minute, they received memories and doubtful expressions appeared on their faces.

Kakashi muttered, “There were dozens of seals in the room, all of them are seals that are used to hide other seals. So, the real number of seals must be several times higher.”
Jiraiya estimated, “From what I was feeling, there should be more than 500 seals in that room. This was the first time I stood in a room with such a dense number of seals. It was suffocating.”
Frowning, Tsunade said, “Did he treat the office as his house? Even though he's young, he is smart enough to know that isn't acceptable. What do those seals do?”

Hiruzen sighed and answered, “Nothing. And no, he didn't do it without any reason.”

Everyone looked at him curiously, wondering why Fujin had done something so outrageous. Their confusion increased further as Hiruzen continued, “When I showed him his office, I informed him not to treat the office like his house. I specifically instructed him not to inscribe thousands of seals in his office.”

Shizune wondered, ‘Then why did Fujin still inscribe so many seals? Or did something change later?’

Their eyes widened as Hiruzen explained, “Unfortunately, Fujin interpreted my words in a manner I didn't think possible. I said not to inscribe thousands of seals and he interpreted it as he should inscribe 999 seals in his office.”

Shizune was stunned, disbelief appeared in Kakashi's right eye and Jiraiya's jaw fell. Tsunade's eyes twitched as she finally wondered, ‘Exactly why did I accept this job? Who in their right mind even thinks like that? Surely he can't be that oblivious!’

Tsunade now regretted accepting the seat of Hokage. Unfortunately, it was too late to escape responsibilities. She asked, “What do you mean by those seals doing nothing? How can 999 seals do nothing?”

Hiruzen answered, “When I confronted him, he said that he thought I said so because I was facing an issue in here. Apparently, those seals do nothing but hide the seals underneath them. Since he didn't know what I supposedly wanted, he hasn't inscribed any more seals there. And, he explained it to me so thoroughly that, for a moment, I began suspecting my earlier words to him…”

The disbelief of the people hearing Hiruzen only increased. Jiraiya noticed Tsunade's worried expression and thought, ‘I knew he was peculiar, but I didn't think he was so peculiar. Apologies Tsunade. I didn't know it. Though even if I did, I don't think I'd do things differently…’

Tsunade didn't notice her teammate's gaze. Her mind was racing, remembering every word she spoke to Fujin and finding out whether she could be in trouble. Hiruzen instantly understood what she was doing and thought, ‘I lost count of the number of times I calculated the same. Unfortunately for her, it is already too late. The only good thing is that he has calmed down considerably in the last year and even gave me a great gift. Then again, it might be just because of how careful I have been…’

In the end, Tsunade could hopelessly sigh. She muttered, “Oh well, at least now we know who will overhaul the village's defenses.”
Hiruzen immediately said, “I wouldn't recommend that.”
Confused, Tsunade asked, “Why not?”

Hiruzen answered, “While his ability to inscribe a large number of seals is indeed shocking, he likely achieves that through a combination of seal imprints and Shadow Clones. Other than that, he hasn't differentiated himself from other Grandmasters. He's still too young to do so.
If we task him with overhauling the village's defenses, I'm afraid he'll do so by inscribing a ridiculous amount of seals, something that might make his house look like a child's play. Only a Fuinjutsu Grandmaster could control and maintain such a large number of seals. Actually, even they'll struggle to do so.
Regardless, the Grandmasters wouldn't like to spend their time maintaining the seal formation daily. The defenses have to be something that a Sealmaster could control with ease. We'll be better off having the other Grandmasters overhaul our defenses.”

Hiruzen paused, before adding, “I was tempted just like you. However, I decided against doing so for these reasons.”

Hiruzen's analysis, though not incorrect, was slightly behind the time. A year ago, his analysis would have been perfect. However, he was unaware of the large amount of time Fujin spent trying to create the Myriad Tetragram Seal. The number of times his Shadow Clones failed while creating the seal exceeded the number of seals on his house!

As such, Fujin had learnt a lot. He had made several breakthroughs in Fuinjutsu during that process. The final result, the Myriad Tetragram Seal, was one of the most advanced seals in the ninja world, even exceeding the Strength of a Hundred Seal created by Tsunade.

As such, Fujin was no longer lagging behind his counterparts. While he obviously lacked experience and fell short in several aspects compared to the Fuinjutsu Grandmasters in Konoha, he also exceeded them in a few aspects.

He was already better than even Hiruzen when dealing with Tailed Beasts. Fujin also exceeded them in terms of using Fuinjutsu amid battle thanks to the several battlefields he created. Even in terms of laying traps, Fujin was among the best. This was the only aspect Hiruzen was aware of since Fujin displayed it in the Land of Lightning.

As such, Fujin already stood shoulder to shoulder with the Fuinjutsu Grandmasters of Konoha despite his relative inexperience. That said, even if Hiruzen was aware of this, he might have been reluctant to let Fujin create the village's defenses due to the remaining reasons.

Jiraiya muttered, “I suppose having him inscribe the seals after a plan is created is out of the question too due to what he did in his office.”

Hiruzen nodded. Jiraiya sighed, “That'll be too much work, though I suppose it is better than having additional work later. Anyway, I'll be off to track Orochimaru!”

Tsunade immediately glared at Jiraiya, stopping him in his tracks. While he was a Grandmaster too, Jiraiya didn't want to do something so boring and time-consuming. Hiruzen coughed and said, “There's no point in searching aimlessly. Let's narrow down the search first. Also, Kakashi would have to inform his students. The remaining Uchiha kids have to be informed too.”

Tsunade added, “We also have to keep an eye on Fujin's house. I hope there are no complications there. We have enough headaches as it is…”

The group discussed further, making Jiraiya stay in the village until things cleared up. They also formed a committee consisting of nearly all Fuinjutsu Grandmasters in Konoha to undertake the cumbersome task of overhauling the village's defenses.

Unlike Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Tsunade, who were Fuinjutsu Grandmasters, Kakashi had nothing to do with that meeting. He walked on the streets of Konoha while wondering, ‘Now then, how do I tell this news to them?’

Kakashi could easily imagine the reactions of his students. He immediately developed a headache. Sighing, he resigned himself to the task and decided to meet with his two students. He bit his thumb, weaved a hand seal, and slammed his hand on the ground. He sent a couple of his ninken to call Sakura and Naruto for a meeting.

“YOU ARE LATE!” Naruto and Sakura screamed in unison, as Kakashi finally arrived on the training ground a couple of hours later.

Not giving Kakashi any time to make excuses, Naruto complained loudly, “Why did you call me from my training sensei? I was training with Guy sensei to become faster than Sasuke! The next time I fight him, I'll show him what speed is! Also, why didn't you call Sasuke here?”

Sakura, wanting to see Sasuke, asked, “Yes Sensei! Where is Sasuke?”

“Actually,” Kakashi said, “This meeting is due to Sasuke…”
He paused for a few seconds before stating, “A few hours ago, Sasuke was kidnapped by Orochimaru.”