Chapter 538: Seeking the Serpent's Aid

Fujin looked at the scroll and analyzed, 'While I am quite fascinated with puppet mastery, trying to become a puppet master doesn't have much benefits for me. Though it is quite good, it is unlikely for me to raise my puppeteer skills to the level of my Wind jutsus. It also falls quite short of Flying Thunder God and Eight Inner Gates.

The only good thing is that learning it will be extremely easy for me. I can easily improve my control over chakra threads by spamming the Shadow Clone jutsu and I am already a Grandmaster in Fuinjutsu. More importantly, I have Sasori's puppets to study. I can easily learn the mechanisms of his puppets and raise my puppeteer skills to a very high level.

Within a few months, I can raise it to a level that would be below only Sasori and Chiyo's level. The only thing I lack is medical and poison knowledge. However, I am planning to study that as well. So I have everything I need to learn puppeteering.'

Fujin was in a strange situation. He didn't see much benefits to learning puppeteering. However, it was just too easy for him to master it with his current skills!

Fujin shook his head and decided, 'I will decide what to do after I improve my medical skills and learn more about poison. I have finally completed my training on Wind Domain and have mastered Flying Thunder God jutsu. Once I open the Fifth Gate, I'll ease up on training Eight Inner Gates as well. That will finally ease up my schedule. If I begin focusing on Puppeteering as well, then I'll be locked in another brutal training regimen for a few months!'

Fujin's time had been extremely tight for the last few years. He didn't want to go into such a tight schedule once again unless it was extremely critical for him.

Fujin analyzed, 'That said, there are some issues. For starters, the seals on these puppets... Even though I am a Grandmaster in Fuinjutsu, I can't look down on others. I can't even begin to imagine the seals needed to convert a dead human into a puppet and retain that human's skills and Kekkei Genkai.

Even if I don't learn puppeteering, I should spend the next few days learning the seals Sasori used. Of course, the bigger issue is if there are any seals in these puppets that allow Sasori to detect the location of his puppets over a long distance.

Though I suppressed the seals, I can't be too sure as there are too many freaks in Akatsuki. Who knows what else they know? In addition, Sasori made no effort to chase me at all. It's too big of a risk to leave these puppets in the Phantom Haven base...'

Fujin had the idea of giving these puppets to the Phantom Haven Society. If someone there had an interest in puppets and focused on it with dedication, the Fujin could raise an Elite Jounin in a very short time. However, if Sasori had any way of detecting the puppets and showed up there when Fujin wasn't present, the Phantom Haven Society would be history in no time.

Fujin didn't want to take such a risk. He decided, 'I guess there is no choice but to take them to Konoha. I'll give Hiruzen a few puppets and keep the rest to myself. Considering the level of these puppets, this might be a good opportunity to ask Hiruzen for another Forbidden jutsu. While I would like Edo Tensei, I doubt he will give it to me considering that he refused to share the Scroll of Forbidden Seals with me. However, getting that Forbidden jutsu might be doable.

Oh well, I'll do that. The only thing is that I will need to study the seals before handing the puppets to Hiruzen. That'll mean that I can't do the second mission that Hiruzen assigned me...'

Fujin thought for a few seconds before deciding, 'Oh well, that mission isn't compulsory. Hiruzen can just deploy some more Anbu squads and dig to the bottom of those incidents.'

Having made his decision, Fujin created several Shadow Clones. He created an underground base using the Earth Release Camp jutsu while his Shadow Clones inscribed several seals in the surrounding few kilometers to alert Fujin in case anyone came close to that spot.

In the base, Fujin created several Shadow Clones who immediately began studying Sasori's human puppets.

Fujin's concerns, though valid, were still unwarranted. Sasori had no way of tracking his puppets so far away from him. While Jashin might have seals that could do so, Hidan had no knowledge of it. And, Sasori won't let anyone else tag his puppets unless he had no choice. As a result, though Fujin was careful, he wasn't in any danger at all.

While Fujin was studying his puppets, Sasori returned to the Land of Rain and informed Konan and Pain about what he had encountered. Both Konan and Nagato were surprised to learn of such a technique.

Konan thought for a bit and asked, "Did your opponent use the Wind Vacuum Technique?"

Sasori answered, "No. If he did, I'd have connected the dots. Do you suspect that it is The Spectral Swordsman?"

Konan replied, "The way you described those 5 escaped is very similar to how Kakuzu described him escaping. Those 5 could have been his clones. Other than that, there is no other clue. However, he is still a suspect as he could have created that technique and used it for the first time. Anyway, I will ask Zetsu to keep an eye out for a ninja who can use such a technique."

Sasori nodded. He was about to leave when Nagato said, "You have been without a partner for a long time. Hunting Orochimaru alone is risky. We have found a new partner for you. Go along with Itachi and Kisame to the Land of Stone."

Five days later, Fujin stored the puppets back in the scrolls and exited the underground base as he thought, 'I guess I was worried for nothing. I didn't find any seals that could allow him to track me over long distances. That said, it'll be better to not take this scroll to the Phantom Haven base. Anyway...'

A smile appeared on Fujin's face. In order to create Human Puppets, Sasori had created several new seals that were probably unknown to anyone else. Thankfully, those seals weren't as advanced as the ones Jashin priests used and Fujin could study and learn those seals with some effort.

In addition, Sasori's utilization of the seals that Fujin knew was quite unique as well. It allowed Fujin to explore a completely different direction. While Fujin wasn't interested in walking down that path, it was still very helpful and gave Fujin several new ideas.

Fujin decided, 'After I visit the Phantom Haven Base, I need to find a few test subjects to test out the Eight Trigrams Divination Seal. Also, it is time to create Fuinjutsu Battlefields. I have been pushing it back for too long.'

Fujin began moving towards the location of the Phantom Haven base but suddenly stopped after a few minutes. He thought, 'Ugh, I nearly forgot! I have to bring some money along. I would have stolen from the Yamakawa family, but Sasori showed up!'

Fujin immediately changed his direction towards Tanigakure. Within a span of a few months, Tanigakure were in panic for the second time. A few months ago, Fujin and Shigeki had infiltrated the ninja village and killed a major family. The village had raised their defenses and made them several times more potent while the remaining powerful families were on alert.

Their situation was just like the situation in Konoha after Fujin destroyed the Root headquarters. Just when things had started to calm down, they received news of the destruction of the Yamakawa town!

Even though there weren't many civilian deaths, the Yamakawa family was wiped out! Apart from a few kids who weren't in the mansion, there were no survivors. The few ninjas who were present in the town informed them that they had seen Puppets attack the mansion and surround the town. A couple of them also reported that Sunagakure ninjas killed the Yamakawa ninjas and that the wounds on the Yamakawa family members were made by wind.

In a panic, Tanigakure sent several ninjas to the Yamakawa town and requested quick assistance from Konoha. When Hiruzen received the emergency request, he thought, 'Looks like Fujin did a great job. They are convinced that Sunagakure attacked them. But, how did he attack them with puppets? Did he practice puppeteering in secret? And, why did he kill the kids in the mansion?'

Hiruzen wasn't sure. Regardless, he quickly dispatched Guy and a couple dozen other ninjas to Yamakawa town to assist Tanigakure ninjas.

Unknown to Tanigakure, they had requested assistance from the very person who ordered the destruction of the Yamakawa family. And, the very person who carried out the destruction was leisurely strolling in their streets while muttering, "Now then, which are the three most corrupt Nobles here?"