Chapter 654: Eliminating Fujin!

Rasa looked at Baki's report with a stunned expression and muttered, "Scor... Scorch Release?"

He looked at the messenger and commanded, "Call the council meeting, right now!"

The ninja immediately left, seeing Rasa's mood. Rasa looked at the report once again and wondered, 'How did a Konoha ninja gain Scorch Release? Did Pakura have a child with a man from Konoha?'

He thought for a bit before concluding, 'No, even though she was foolish, she was very loyal to the village. Not to mention, she was always occupied by the Third Great Ninja War during that time.

Could it be that Suzuki Fujin's bloodline had someone with Scorch Release? Or did he fuse Fire and Wind elements to create Scorch Release? Both possibilities are rather troublesome to deal with.

Hopefully, Gaara, Temari and Kankuro were just mistaken. I'll need to confirm this with Orochimaru as well. If he indeed has it, then that boy must die! I won't allow any other village to have Scorch Release! Even if he doesn't, I'll still eliminate him! He has become too big of a threat to be left alive!'

After the preliminaries, Baki talked with the Rasa's children and learnt the details of the battle. He was horrified when he heard about the Scorch Dragon that had appeared followed by the Wind Dragon which left a massive scar in the Forest of Death! He didn't dare to tarry and sent a message to Rasa as soon as he could.

Within a few minutes, the entire Suna council assembled in their council room. Rasa placed the scroll received from Baki on the table and said, "I just received an update from Baki. My children saw Scorch Release being used during the fight between Orochimaru and Fujin, presumably by Fujin. And, Fujin forced Orochimaru to retreat once again! This time, it happened inside the village and Baki believes that it is true."

Shock appeared on everyone's faces. Goza muttered in disbelief, "This... Fujin forced Orochimaru to retreat twice???"

Ryusa added, "Forget about that! How did Konoha get our Scorch Release?"

Joseki said, "This is unbelievable. What do we do about our plan? Do we still go forward with it?"

Even the experienced ninjas couldn't help but lose control of their emotions and the council became chaotic as everyone began discussing Suna's next move. Rasa's expression became ugly as he said loudly, "Silence. Why are you panicking so much?"

The council immediately quietened down and everyone looked at Rasa. He said, "Even though Baki sent a report, he hasn't witnessed either of the clashes. Even Gaara and the other two were several kilometers away from where their first clash had happened. So, they are unaware of the specifics as well.

We will only learn the truth once I meet with Orochimaru and confront him. Seeing the financial situation of the village, we will have to move forward with our plan unless there is no choice. If we don't, then the Daimyo will continue clamping down on us.

Besides, irrespective of whether we attack Konoha or not, Suzuki Fujin has to die!"

Everyone in the council nodded solemnly. Until a few days ago, they hadn't taken Fujin that seriously. Most still didn't believe that the ruckus in their Eastern territories was caused by him. It was only when Hiruzen spread the news about Orochimaru's defeat that they considered him more seriously. However, they were still sceptical of the news. Only now did they understand how big of a threat he actually was? No one disagreed with Rasa's words.

However, Goza couldn't help but say, "I agree, but how can we kill him? Even someone like Orochimaru couldn't kill him. We should have tried to do so when the Tsuchikage warned us about him. I'm afraid that it is too late by now."

Tojuro immediately said, "Even though he is strong, there are still various ways of killing him. The basic way is to lure him out by creating troubles that would force Konoha to deploy him.

We can set a trap and kill him by ambushing him with great numbers. Perhaps Lord Kazekage could himself participate in it. If not, then we could poison him during an ambush and eliminate him."

Goza replied, "Baki mentioned in the report that he is an excellent Medical Ninja as well. Using poisons might not work. But you're right. Setting an Ambush led by Lord Kazekage might be the only way."

Tojuro nodded and added, "Yeah. If it doesn't work, then we will have to use unconventional methods. He is only 16 years old. Considering his young age, perhaps we could try honey-trapping him. He is of the age to fall for it.

Another option is trapping or capturing a few people close to him and making him rescue them. Or we could set up a situation that appeals to his morals and take advantage of it to sneak attack him when his guard is lowered. After all, compared to us, Konoha ninjas are known to be very soft. Even if he maintains guard, he'll give us a few opportunities."

Most in the council agreed with Tojuro's recommendations. Even Rasa felt that those tactics could provide them with an opening. However, Ryusa thought for a bit and said, "It might not be that easy. Don't forget the reputation of the Spectral Swordsman. He was brutal and heartless despite his young age. I don't think such ruthlessness will tone down with age. If anything, it might be worse now!

We can't put him on the same standard as others from Konoha. If we have to, then it might be more appropriate to consider him similar to someone like Danzo, especially considering the shit he pulled off in the Eastern part of our country."

The council became quiet once again. Tojura frowned and asked, "What about the ones close to him? Do we have any reports related to that?"

Everyone paid attention as Ryusa answered, "After getting that message from Tsuchikage, I asked some of our spies to keep an eye on him. However..."

Helplessness appeared on his face as he continued, "Spying on his house is very difficult. It is located on the outskirts of Konoha with no one around. As a result, our spies couldn't tarry around his house. At most, they could walk by. And they couldn't do that frequently either. Hence, we barely have any personal information on him.

Around a year ago, they began construction around his house and turned it into a compound. The spies believe that the compound could house around a couple hundred people. We don't know who exactly moved in because the spies didn't dare to go around there due to the presence of Anbu ninjas in his compound."

Everyone in the council frowned. Even though Ryusa gave some intel, it was useless with regard to how to deal with Fujin. Sajo asked, "What of his squads?"

Ryusa answered, "That isn't very helpful either. From our intel, he was part of three squads. I checked the intel on all of his teammates. His Jounin sensei was Senju Renjiro and his teammates were Hyuga Hoka and Uchiha Mieko. When he became a Chunin, he joined two squads. The first one was the same as his Genin squad with his classmate Senju Teru replacing Renjiro. The other was a Chunin squad led by Sarutobi Tamotsu. After that, I believe he joined their Anbu and we don't have any information about his teammates..."

Sajo interrupted him and asked, "That should be sufficient for us to target. Why did you say that it isn't helpful?"

Ryusa answered, "Because of what I was going to say. From his Genin squad, the Uchiha girl died during the Uchiha Massacre and everyone from Tamotsu's squad except him died around 4 to 5 years ago. Even though Tamotsu is alive, he is retired and handicapped. The only ones who are still alive and active are Renjiro, Hoka and Teru.

However, Renjiro is an Elite Jounin, so capturing him without killing him would be very difficult. Hoka is a Jounin, but since he is a Hyuga, capturing him is pointless. I haven't found much information on Teru, so I believe he is in their Anbu and hence almost impossible to track."

Goza muttered, "No wonder you said that it isn't useful. There is almost nothing that we could exploit!"

Tojuro muttered, "His teammates are either dead or sufficiently strong. Is it a coincidence or did someone in Konoha act in the dark to ensure that he doesn't have any weakness?"

Ryusa shrugged and said, "Hard to say. Knowing it wouldn't help us either. Regardless, hoping unconventional means work wouldn't be a good idea unless we can get more intel about him."

Seeing that the morale of the council was low, Rasa said, "Even if there's no guarantee of success, we will still need to try as long as we have a chance. In fact, we need to make an attempt before we put our plans into action. Killing or critically injuring someone like him beforehand will decrease our losses considerably.

Irrespective of whether we succeed or not, we need to increase the number of Elites that will participate in this attack. Make adjustments to the plan and increase their numbers in any way you can while giving the highest priority to not alerting Konoha about our movements. In the meantime, I'll arrange a meeting with Orochimaru and confirm the details from him."

Everyone in the council nodded. Without wasting any time, everyone got to work!

As for the one they were targeting, he was completely unaware that Suna was cooking a scheme to eliminate him. Then again, he didn't particularly care as he expected several villages to try the same.

Fujin appeared on the training ground and saw Naruto breathing very roughly. He teasingly asked, "You ran out of breath from such a simple training session? Are you sure you can handle the responsibilities of the Hokage? They are far heavier than the little pressure you are enduring."

A tick mark appeared on Naruto's forehead as he exclaimed, "This is nothing! I can do this for the entire month without any rest! Believe it!"

His false bravado disappeared in an instant and he looked at Fujin with a dumbfounded expression as Fujin clapped and said, "Good, because this will be your training for the entire month!"