Chapter 402: Promotion

As they waited for the food, Fujin made some small talk with Naruto and asked him some questions about his daily life, which Naruto talked about enthusiastically.

After some time, the owner arrived with the order. Fujin looked at him and wondered, 'Is he so scared that he won't even ask his employees to serve us fearing that they might make a mistake? Oh well, whatever.'

The owner arranged the food on the table in a way that made it very pleasing aesthetically. Though nervous, he put up a smile on his face and said, "Enjoy your meal. I hope it is to your liking."

A look of surprise appeared on Naruto's face. It was the first time someone had arranged food for him this way. He enthusiastically said, "I will. Thank you, old man!"

He immediately dug in. Fujin didn't particularly care about the aesthetics but enjoyed the range of emotions the owner was experiencing. He began eating as well.

The food was obviously delicious. Naruto exclaimed, "This is delicious."

Fujin nodded and said, "Of course it is. Did you think that only noodles taste good?"

Naruto said, "I didn't know. I have never been here before."

He continued eating. Fujin thought, 'Of course, he didn't. Only one restaurant in the village accepts him enthusiastically. It's little wonder why he prefers eating ramen all the time. Though, to be fair, it does taste good and needs minimal time and effort to make at home, making it very convenient for an orphan who lives alone and has no idea on how to do so properly.'

The owner watched nervously from a distance. Seeing that both were enjoying the food, he breathed a sigh of relief. After some time, all the food on the table was cleared. Fujin asked Naruto whether he wanted more, but Naruto was full. So, Fujin asked the owner to bring the bill.

The owner offered to have the food on the house once again, but Fujin insisted on the bill. Not wanting to offend him unnecessarily, the owner brought him a bill.

Naruto looked at it curiously and was shocked. The total amount was 5460 Ryo. He asked, "So much?"

Naruto generally spent only a few hundred Ryo in Ichiraku and depended a lot on the coupons to get free or discounted ones. Fujin nodded and said, "Yup. And considering how much you ate, you have to pay 4380 Ryo."

He placed the bill in front of a shocked and tongue-tied Naruto. Naruto nervously grabbed his frog-shaped wallet and said, "I don't think Gama-chan can afford that!"

Fujin immediately laughed lightly and said, "I'm just messing with you."

Naruto looked at Fujin and pouted in annoyance. It was the second time in a very short time that he got pranked. Fujin paid the bill and they returned to the training ground.

Recalling Fujin's words, Naruto excitedly asked, "Which trick will you teach me to help me learn the Gale jutsu quickly?"

Instead of answering him, Fujin asked, "Did they teach you the Leaf Concentration exercise in the academy?"

Naruto nodded and replied, "Yes, Iruka-sensei did."

Fujin asked, "How long can you hold it?"

Naruto answered, "I am not sure. Maybe 5 minutes."

Fujin sighed internally and thought, 'Yeah, I guess so.'

Almost everyone from Fujin's class could hold it for longer after just their first year. So, Naruto's current ability was just too bad. And it had nothing to do with his large amount of chakra and instead just showed a serious lack of effort on Naruto's part.

Fujin said, "My trick is very similar. You'll sit on the ground, stick a leaf to your forehead and use chakra to ensure that it doesn't fall off your head. However, while you do that, you will also try to feel the winds flowing around you that will make that leaf fall off your head.

If you can feel the winds properly and ensure that the leaf sticks to your head for 2 hours continuously, you'll be able to learn Gale jutsu in a few days."

Naruto's eyes widened. He asked, "Only a few days?"

Fujin nodded and said, "Yes. However, keeping the leaf stuck to your head for that long won't be very easy either. You'll need to be very serious to do so. But, if do manage to do that, it will be very helpful in any Wind jutsu you learn in the future."

Naruto immediately replied, "I'll keep the leaf stuck to my head for 2 hours. Believe it!"

He immediately grabbed a leaf, sat on the ground and placed it on his head.

Fujin's words about feeling the wind were obviously bullshit. It had nothing to do with the Leaf Concentration exercise or the Gale jutsu. He just said it so that Naruto would have something to do while doing the Leaf Concentration exercise and wouldn't quit out of boredom like he did when Iruka tried to get him to do that.

Fujin looked at Naruto and thought, 'As long as I don't teach him the Shadow Clone jutsu and use it to train him, his growth shouldn't explode beyond control. I'll get him to improve his chakra control and teach him a few Wind until Graduation. I'm interested to see how Naruto would develop if he already has a few Wind jutsus under his belt before Graduating.

Anyway, Naruto will be here for a while. I have already spent a lot of my time with him. This is enough rest for me.'

Fujin created a Shadow Clone and went back to his home. He dismissed the clones in his basement, created new ones and continued working on the Flying Thunder God Seal.

A couple of hours later, the Shadow Clone watching over Naruto suddenly became alert and turned his eyes in a direction. A few seconds later, an Anbu ninja stealthily flickered behind him. He muttered a few words in his ears and left. Naruto, who was still training, didn't notice the Anbu arriving and leaving.

Fujin's clone wondered, 'Hiruzen wants to see me? That's strange. I expected Danzo to make a move. However, he hasn't done anything yet while Hiruzen called for me.'

He created a Shadow Clone with the least amount of chakra and dispelled it. Immediately the memory was sent to Fujin and the clones in the basement. Fujin wondered the same but couldn't say for sure. He grabbed the report he had written and left towards the Hokage Building while his clones continued working.

A few minutes later, he appeared inside Hiruzen's office and asked, "Did something happen?"

At the same time, he handed over the report and said, "This is the mission report for my previous mission."

Hiruzen accepted the scroll and handed him another scroll. He said, "The reason for calling you is related to this mission. Due to your recent achievements, I have decided to officially promote you to the Elite Jounin rank."

Fujin's eyes widened for a moment. He asked, "Officially? Isn't that too soon?"

Though Fujin's strength had long reached that rank, Konoha would rarely grant it to ninjas who were still very young. In fact, Kakashi was promoted to that rank just slightly more than a year ago while Guy had been promoted only a couple of months ago and both were nearly a decade older than Fujin. So, Fujin wasn't expecting this promotion.

Hiruzen replied, "No. I don't promote ninjas officially to this rank to avoid them being targeted too much by our enemies. But, you have already been attacked several times and have proven yourself to be strong enough to ensure your safety and inflict heavy losses on the enemy. So no need to worry."

Fujin nodded and said, "Alright. Thanks for the promotion."

Fujin didn't particularly care much about the promotion. It didn't grant him a lot of benefits other than increasing his reputation. And, it didn't have much disadvantage either as his bounty was already very shocking.

Fujin asked, "Is that all?"

Hiruzen nodded. Fujin said, "Alright. I'll see you later, Grandpa."

He turned around and was about to walk out when Hiruzen said, "I almost forgot."

Fujin stopped and turned around. Hiruzen said, "I recently saw you with Naruto. What is your opinion of him?"

Fujin looked at Hiruzen and wondered, 'He should have been told about this yesterday or this morning. Don't tell me that he promoted me just to get a good excuse to call me here without seeming overbearing...'

Of course, he didn't show his thoughts on his face and said, "He is definitely interesting. The amount of chakra he has is enviable. Unfortunately, he hasn't trained properly. His ability to manipulate and control his chakra is extremely bad."

A frown appeared on his face as he asked, "Did the Academy teachers ignore him? Or has the Academy become very lenient lately? There is no way he'd be this bad if he had someone like Genki-sensei looking over him."