Chapter 286: What makes a jutsu Rank A?

For one hour straight, Fujin continuously trained the Assassin's Rush jutsu. His breathing became heavy as he thought, 'Damn, it's been such a long time since my chakra reserves hit so low. Rank A jutsus are very taxing on chakra. But, it isn't as bad as I thought it'd be.'

A thoughtful expression appeared on Fujin's face as he thought, 'I used to think that the more destructive or complicated a jutsu is, the higher ranked it'd be. However, now that doesn't seem to be the case. After all, in terms of pure destructiveness, none of the rank A jutsus I read is anywhere near as destructive as Infinite Breakthrough jutsu.

Instead, it seems like the jutsu is ranked depending on how efficiently it can utilize the Yin and Yang aspects of the chakra. Though I learnt this jutsu just an hour ago, I have tried it dozens of times. And I don't see any way to optimize it further like I could optimize my rank C and B jutsus.

The reason for this is that this jutsu is already optimized to limit. It's the same for Wind Explosion Clone jutsu. The ratios of the Yin and Yang chakra were optimized to be what is the most effective.

So looking at it from another perspective, when I optimized my jutsus using Yin and Yang chakra earlier, I was actually increasing their ranks. Or at least bringing them closer to rank A.

This is why I directly managed to learn Blade of Wind jutsu. After all, I had already modified Wind Sword jutsu enough to replicate the same results as the Blade of Wind jutsu.

I guess the experienced Ninjas like Hiruzen and Orochimaru have already completed this process for all or most of their jutsus. It's probably why they don't use a lot of higher-ranked jutsus as their rank B and C jutsus are basically as strong as a Rank A jutsu. I guess Renjiro was implying this back then. I thought he was just referring to supercharging jutsus.'

Fujin concluded, 'In essence, a rank A jutsu is a pinnacle jutsu that can't be improved any further. As for the S rank jutsus, they probably can't be explained with this logic. They should be jutsus that either surpasses these limits like Rasenshuriken or jutsus that are beyond logic like the Dead Demon Consuming Seal.'

Fujin began walking out of the training ground thinking, 'Anyways, I'm on the right track. No point in thinking about S rank jutsus for now. Time to meditate until I recover my chakra.'

A mischievous smile appeared on Fujin's face. His chakra signature transformed as he changed into his Anbu attire with a different mask. He entered Anbu's training in one of the Wind Training rooms.

Within the next six hours, he absorbed all energy from the Wind Crystals in 3 Wind training rooms! He left as quietly as he arrived while thinking, 'Looks like maintaining disguise anymore wouldn't be possible. There is no way Hiruzen won't know that it is me. Still, this is fun. I'll keep up the disguise for old time's sake, hahaha.'

He left the Anbu headquarters and continued training the Assassin's Rush jutsu. In the next hour, his chakra ran out once again. However, he had reduced the number of hand seals required to use the jutsu to just one! Satisfied with his progress, he went out for dinner.

Around the same time, an Anbu ninja appeared in Hiruzen's office and reported, "Lord Hokage, the energy in Wind Crystals in 3 Wind Training rooms suddenly disappeared. As per my estimates, 2 of them should have had around 40% energy while the last one should have had around 75% energy left."

Hiruzen's expression immediately went dark. He cursed in his heart, 'That brat! I knew it. There's no one else as greedy as him. He didn't even wait for two days after returning!'

Hiruzen looked at the Anbu and instructed, "It's fine. You don't need to monitor Wind Training rooms anymore."

The Anbu ninja was puzzled. He wondered, 'Why did you make me monitor it for over a year then? And why did the problem suddenly start? And why is your expression so dark?'

Seeing how dark Hiruzen's face was, the Anbu ninja didn't dare ask any questions and left obediently. Hiruzen angrily thought, 'How many hundreds of millions of Ryo worth of Wind crystals did this brat eat?'

However, he soon sighed helplessly as he analyzed, 'But if his speed of absorbing the energy is so high, it means that his talent in Wind Manipulation has increased even more which is good for the village. If he can reach S rank, then this is a small cost to pay. I'll turn a blind eye to it.

Besides, it's not like I can ask him to stop anyways. Even if I make him admit, I can't do anything to him. And knowing his greedy nature, he'll likely spend months in those rooms until Konoha runs out of Wind crystals!'

For the next couple of days, Fujin repeated the same activities. He made rapid improvements while making Hiruzen's heart ache due to how rapidly he was going through the Wind Crystals.

Finally, on the fourth day, Fujin stood in the training ground. A large amount of chakra appeared on his back. The chakra began converting into Wind and blasted backwards with huge force. Fujin was instantly propelled towards the trees. He quickly changed direction without slowing down and navigated through the densely packed trees for a couple of minutes.

As he moved, chakra gathered on his right fist. He jumped upwards before changing his direction downwards. The winds propelled him rapidly towards the ground as Fujin punched the ground.

Immediately, a loud sound could be heard. A crater with 15 feet radius and 3 feet depth was formed on the ground. At the same time, multiple cracks spread through the ground for dozens of meters.

Fujin jumped back on his feet with a grin on his face. He shook his palm as he muttered, "Speed is Power. This jutsu amplifies the power of the Senju Taijutsu Style even more. However, it hurts like hell. I'll need to mix Iron Skin jutsu into this as well later on. For now..."

Fujin rapidly weaved hand seals and slammed his hand on the cracked ground.

'Wind Release: Geyser Creation jutsu'

Immediately, the air began moving rapidly in the crater and through the cracks in the ground. In a second, sharp winds rushed out of the cracks. At the same time, the sharp winds inside the cracks began widening them.

Fujin stopped the jutsu and analyzed, 'I initially thought that this jutsu would only be useful to kill enemies hiding underground. In the Fourth Great Ninja War, this technique could be used to kill Zetus by thousands if I catch a large number of them underground.

But, on second thought, this can be an excellent continuation while using the Senju Taijutsu Style. After all, no one would want to take a hit from a chakra-enhanced punch head-on. If I use the chance to punch the ground and release this jutsu, the enemy will be caught completely off guard. It will be a good tactic. But I'll have to learn how to use this jutsu without hand signs as well.'

Fujin let out a sigh as he thought, 'I was planning to move on to Fuinjutsu today. Leave it, I'll master this jutsu first. If I'm assigned new Anbu members under me, I'll have to train them. And the initial missions will likely be Police duties in the village. I can use that time to learn the seals as well.'

Fujin continued training. While he trained, Shikaku was busy reading the numerous reports that he kept receiving. He muttered, "First Iwa moved 500 ninjas to the border with the Land of Birds and 750 ninjas to the border with the Land of Bear. In response, Suna deployed 200 ninjas on each of the borders. And in Kumo, many ninjas are moving around. All this confusion over a simple promotion mission..."

Shikaku was left speechless. He thought, 'Fortunately Suna and Iwa haven't moved into those buffer countries. Otherwise, Kumo will move for sure. And this time we won't be able to fool the world and get the Land of Iron to be in the same camp as us.

Still, I believe Onoki just got worried due to how many Suna ninjas moved West and took precautionary measures. The matter should cool down after a few weeks as neither intends to start a war.

But, if three major villages are moving around and we don't move, others will get suspicious. Kumo might think that we are weak or unprepared for war. Meanwhile, Suna will confirm that we were behind those recent events.'

Shikaku got up and laid a map on his table as he analyzed the actions Konoha should take to come out of this period unharmed. After running a few calculations, he made up his mind and went to Hiruzen's office.

Hiruzen looked at Shikaku and immediately realized why he was there. Shikaku said, "Lord Hokage, in light of recent events, I have come up with a pla..."

Hiruzen cut him off and said, "No need to consult me. Just implement what you planned. I have full confidence in your capabilities."

Shikaku's expression immediately became dark. Hiruzen knew all about the recent events. However, since Fujin had returned to Konoha, there would be no further hostilities. So the situation would defuse by itself as no one other than Kumo wanted a war. Shikaku obviously realized Hiruzen's thought process. His face was dark because Hiruzen threw all the work on his shoulders.

He nodded and left the room. Later that day, 500 Ninjas left Konoha and moved towards the border with the Land of Grass. They had strict orders to not enter it. At the same time, smaller squads sneakily left Konoha one by one. In 3 days, around 1200 ninjas had left Konoha this way. They all met up at the assigned location for Kakashi to take control of this army.

They stayed hidden while preparing for war. However, Shikaku arranged for Kakashi to drop hints of their movements. In a few days, all the major villages became aware of a large Konoha force wandering around their borders with the Land of Hot Water.