Chapter 281: The Fifth Hokage?

Hiruzen had the same thought as Shikaku. He didn't dare to imagine what Fujin might do the next time if they said that his performance was unsatisfactory. He quickly nodded and answered, "Your performance has been very good. You will be promoted. However, we haven't arranged any Anbu subordinates for you yet. So you will be an Anbu Captain only in name."

Fujin replied, "That's fine. I will be visiting the library. And I also need a break after such a long mission. Preferably at least one or two months long break to learn new Seals and jutsus. Take your time. I'll file the report later. See ya."

Fujin immediately disappeared from the room despite none of the doors and windows being open. Shikaku and Hiruzen looked at where Fujin was standing.

Shikaku cursed in his heart, 'This brat! He created such a mess and didn't even stay to discuss how to handle it! And after giving me month-long headaches, he has the gall to ask for a month-long vacation?'

Meanwhile, Hiruzen thought, 'Seals? Sigh, he will soon begin bugging me for Flying Thunder God.'

Shikaku looked at Hiruzen and asked while sighing, "Lord Hokage, if we don't promote him and send him for such a mission again, do you think he will try to assassinate Rasa?"

Hiruzen didn't reply and began considering it. After all, there was already an instance of a Kazekage disappearing. Unknown to him, the assassin's age back then wasn't much older than Fujin's current age.

Hiruzen shook his head and said, "Unlikely, unless you specifically mention it. Regardless, his performance has been excellent."

Shikaku was dumbfounded. He thought, 'Does no one understand sarcasm?'

He smiled bitterly and said, "It's not that his performance is excellent. Rather, it is too excellent! Making a Jinchuriki lose control and killing an Elite Jounin was a bit too much. Suna will be forced to retaliate. And they will likely retaliate in an extreme manner.

Not to mention, in addition to that, he killed 16 Anbu ninjas, a few Jounins and likely dozens of Chunins and Genins. And I still haven't considered the dead nobles, burned Provision Depot or the stunt he pulled in Shunkuto!

In the history of Suna, they have only once taken a bigger loss than this during peacetime. And they started the Third Great Ninja War. We have to be careful in case Rasa decides to start another war."

However, Hiruzen shook his head immediately and said, "No, the situation is completely different. When the third Kazekage died, Suna was very vulnerable and Rasa's position as the 4th Kazekage wasn't very stable. In addition, they were surrounded by 3 major villages that were preparing for war.

The current matter is an internal one and doesn't directly threaten their strength. And of the 3 major villages that surround them, one is in a formal alliance and another is embroiled in a civil war. So they won't choose war right now."

Shikaku analyzed Hiruzen's words and nodded, "That makes sense. I guess Suna will be a mess for a few months. They will either focus entirely on stabilizing the situation, or they might do it alongside sending Anbu units into our country. Regardless, once their mess is resolved, they will retaliate somehow. We have to be prepared."

Hiruzen nodded and said, "We do. But we have time. Due to the mess that Fujin created, Rasa will be forced to deploy at least 1000 Suna ninjas in the West to calm them down. In addition, he has also deployed a few hundred ninjas in the Wind Capital. The other cities might also ask for additional security as a precaution. And they will also have to scour the desert to look for the culprit.

This will ensure that he can't make a big move for the time being. So you just need to prepare for the moves they make in the dark. No need to create any more trouble in the Land of Wind for now. Hopefully, their anger will fade away by the time these issues are sorted.

However, the schemes they come up with have to be crushed. It's best if all Suna ninjas who infiltrate the Land of Fire are killed. Fujin's actions, though provocative, are a good deterrent. If we stop their schemes, then they will be even more afraid of breaking the alliance."

Shikaku sighed. He will have to work a lot and won't be able to laze around for the next few months. He said, "Alright."

He began walking out. Hiruzen instructed, "Have a Yamanaka Jounin read Susumu's memories. And create a scroll describing his Genjutsu jutsus and hand it to me. We won't be placing it in the library. Also, create a list of Jounins who will benefit from learning these jutsus and can keep them a secret."

Shikaku nodded and replied, "I'll get to it, Lord Hokage."

He left the room. As he sat alone, his previous thoughts surfaced in Hiruzen's mind as he wondered, 'Could Fujin be a candidate for 5th Hokage?'

Hiruzen let out a sigh. The matter of selecting the Fifth Hokage had been troubling him for years and he still didn't have any solution. He thought, 'It'd have been great if Jiraiya or Tsunade accepted this position. Unfortunately, neither have the will to do so. As for others, there is no one qualified.

If I retire now, the next Hokage will be Danzo. That wouldn't be good for the village. Though he is loyal to the village and his ambitions would benefit Konoha, he doesn't have the strength needed to fulfill his ambitions despite those Sharingans and Lord First's cells.

I was hoping Kakashi would rise to the challenge and reach my level. Seeing his potential, I and Danzo worked in the background to increase his reputation and give him sufficient fame. Unfortunately, despite being looked at as the leader by the younger generation, he is still too weak.'

A frown formed on Hiruzen's face as he thought about Kakashi, 'In terms of talent, Kakashi doesn't lose out to even Minato. His growth trajectory was very fast even exceeding my and my students' strength at his age. Unfortunately, ever since the 3rd Great Ninja War ended, his growth has stagnated. He hasn't trained enough and spends most of his time in front of the memorial stone or doing missions.

Not to mention, according to the intel Itachi sent, I doubt Kakashi could win against any of the Akatsuki members. At the current rate, I guess Kakashi will need around 5 to 7 years to reach my level. Unless something makes him feel like his strength isn't enough and he pushes himself once again.

As for Fujin, I never considered him until now. Though his mission record is impeccable, he didn't fight anyone truly strong other than Kaminari. But with such a performance, he is far more capable than I expected.

Even if I consider that he used hit-and-run tactics and only used a sneak attack to kill Susumu, that is still quite good. Especially if he can pull off something like this during a war. It could force Sunagakure to withdraw half their troops from the frontlines.'

His crystal ball lit up and showed the scene inside section A of the Library. Hiruzen thought, 'As I expected. He has already started looking at the seals. Once he masters the seals in this section, he will come asking for Flying Thunder God. If he can master it, his threat on the battlefield will be no less than Minato.

Though it is a big if. Regardless, he has one advantage over Kakashi. He has a hunger to grow strong. Though he isn't as relentless as Guy, he still trains a lot and even asks for vacations to train.

Unfortunately, he is quite young as well. He should be 14 soon. He will need 5 to 7 years to completely mature as well. Sigh, I'll have to hold my old bones together for the next 7 years. The only plus point is that we might have more than one option for the Hokage seat. A situation similar to when I and Minato were selected.'

With another sigh, Hiruzen stopped thinking about this matter. He got up and left the office.

As soon as he left, Fujin flickered to Konoha's library. Though he had travelled non-stop for a day, he couldn't stop himself from visiting the library and checking out what all jutsus were available.

He reached section A while recalling Renjiro's words as he thought, 'Though Renjiro emphasized the importance of mastering Rank C jutsus, I have long reached a bottleneck. I won't be able to improve those jutsus any further without investing significant time. It's time to learn the Rank A jutsus. I hope the library doesn't disappoint me.'

With eyes full of expectations, Fujin stepped into section A of the Library.