Hiroshi shook his head and said, "It means they were sure Iwagakure wouldn''t make a move. Either that, or they have a different arrangement to take care of Iwagakure in case they attack." No?v(el)B\\jnn

    Kusagakure''s council members glanced at each other, confirming that they weren''t the only ones having such a hard time believing it. Even so, no one had any point to disprove their leader''s words. In mere seconds, they experienced a range of emotions. Strangely, the last emotion they felt was relief... Indeed, they were relieved that they took this opportunity to mend their relationship with Fujin.

    ——

    A large-scale war wasn''t the appropriate place to test his students. So, Fujin had kept them out of the attack on the base of Kusagakure rebels. He didn''t want to see any of them die to a stray kunai or shuriken. On the contrary, the smaller bases in the Land of Rice presented a perfect opportunity to give them some experience.

    Under Bunjiro and Fujin''s careful watch, they participated in almost every battle and killed at least a dozen Otogakure ninjas each. Thanks to the time they spent under Danzo''s care, Fujin didn''t need to worry about them adjusting to killing like Renjiro once did with his squad. On the battlefield, his five students were like fish released into the sea.

    The Oto ninja hatefully said, "You cursed brats! Orochimaru-sama wouldn''t spare you! You may think you have won, but he will avenge us! Hahaha! Leave the rest of your miserable life in the fear of not knowing when Orochimaru-sama will strike you!"

    Despite his threatening tone, there wasn''t a hint of fear on the faces of Fujin''s students. Instead, Yuji teased, "You sure have a lot of confidence in your boss. It''s almost as if we didn''t destroy his main base. Hehehe."

    Yuji''s taunt sent the Otogakure''s ninja''s rage through the roof. He wanted to respond but no words formed in his mouth. After all, what Yuji said was true. Memories surfaced in the Otogakure ninja''s mind.

    A few hours ago, he was at the main base where Orochimaru handled matters related to Otogakure. Of course, due to the wounds inflicted by Hiruzen, Orochimaru was more focused on nursing his injuries instead of managing the hidden village. Even though Fujin had killed Kabuto and sealed his Edo Tensei, Orochimaru still had quite a few capable Medical Ninjas who were working round the clock to heal him, granted they were a considerable distance away from Kabuto''s level. Despite not attaching himself to any subordinate, Orochimaru felt his absence.

    The Otogakure ninja expected Orochimaru to stay there until his condition stabilized, but he recalled the change in Orochimaru''s expression when he learnt that the Konoha army led by Suzuki Fujin had found their main base. Without a moment''s hesitation, Orochimaru decided to abandon the base.

    He escaped with some of his subordinates while sending the rest in a different direction to divert the attention of Konoha ninjas. The tactic successfully threw Fujin off his tail but raised doubts about Orochimaru''s capabilities in the hearts of his followers. His godlike image fell considerably.

    Seeing the hesitant expression on the face of the Otogakure ninja, Yuji grinned and continued, "How about you stop dreaming and tell us where your leader ran away like a scared little girl? I''ll see..."

    Sayaka interrupted him, "That''s enough playing around. Focus on the mission."

    Needless to say, they had no reason to trust his words. On the other hand, his memories wouldn''t tell any lies. Just as they stepped close to him to knock him out, a grin appeared on his face, alarming Fujin''s students. The Otogakure ninja thought, ''It is exactly as Orochimaru-sama said! You want to read my memories? Hahaha! Be my guest!''

    At the next moment, he exploded! It wasn''t a simple explosion from explosive tags. Instead, Orochimaru inscribed several explosive tags on him before he escaped. His body blew up from the inside out, destroying his brain in the process. No one could read the memories from his brain any longer.

    Shoma muttered nervously, "That was scary! He almost got us!"

    Hikari agreed, "Yes. If Sensei hadn''t taught us to flicker without hand seals, we''d be dead!"

    Yuji immediately added, "She''s correct. We didn''t slack off, Sensei."

    Fujin said, "Well, to be sure, I''ll be doubling your training in this aspect so that the four of you can catch up to Takeshi."

    Bunjiro and Konomi watched speechlessly as Fujin''s remaining four students looked at Takeshi with eyes full of complaints. Needless to say, none of them dared to voice their complaints. They were sure Fujin would triple it if they did so.

    Takeshi sighed in relief internally thinking that he was safe. Unfortunately for him, Fujin continued, "Just in case they haven''t been slacking and you''re just talented, your training will be doubled too, Takeshi. After all, it''d be embarrassing if others catch up with you in the aspects you''re talented in, right?"

    It was Takeshi''s turn to suffer. The poor boy could only nod obediently, no matter how unwilling he was. His fellow students watched his misery with glee. While they were going to suffer, it definitely felt better when all of them suffered together.

    Konomi''s eyes twitched as she realized, ''No wonder they''re so strong...''

    Fujin explained, "Anyway, what I''m holding is this ninja''s soul. This is an application of a technique created by Lord Second and later improved by Kato Dan. Though it''s a bit tricky and very dangerous, this technique can be used to read memories too. Fortunately, the soul takes some time to depart after the body dies."

    Fujin began reading his memories directly from his soul while others observed with a deadpan expression. The same thought ran through their minds, ''So, even though he destroyed his brain, it was a useless sacrifice?''

    The Otogakure ninja could have never expected that his remains would be looked at with pity by the very same Konoha ninjas he tried to kill.

    ————

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