Chapter 449: Fujin's Frustration

Fujin arrived in Konoha a couple of hours before noon. He went straight to the Hokage Building and was about to walk into the mission center when someone called out his name.

Fujin turned around to see Hatake Takao coming towards him. Takao appeared in front of Fujin and said, "Fujin! Here you are. I visited your house and the 23rd training grounds in the morning to find you."

Takao had gone to look for Fujin in the morning following Hiruzen's instructions. However, he wasn't at his house or in the training ground. Instead, he met Naruto who informed him that Fujin hadn't returned from his mission. He went to the Mission Center to confirm it and informed Hiruzen about the same. As a result, Hiruzen had begun creating another squad. However, as luck would have it, Takao had come down for some work at the same time that Fujin arrived at the Hokage Building.

Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, "Does Lord Hokage need me??"

Fujin was surprised. It hadn't even been a few minutes since he had returned to the village and yet Hiruzen was looking for him. Takao nodded and answered, "Lord Hokage was looking for you earlier in regard to a mission. You should meet him and see if he still needs you to go for it."

Fujin wondered, 'A mission right when I wanted to head to the Land of Hot Water? Sigh, I hope it is in that country or some place beyond it.'

Fujin replied, "Alright. I'll go see him."

He handed Takao a scroll and said, "Hand it to Shichiro. It contains mission files and dead bodies that had to be collected. Please inform him that I have completed all the missions."

Takao accepted the scroll and replied, "Sure."

Fujin walked over to Hiruzen's office and entered the room. Hiruzen looked at Fujin and said with a smile on his face, "It is good to see you, Fujin. How did your missions go?"

Fujin casually answered, "They went well. There were no complications."

Hiruzen said, "Good, come sit. I have received a mission from the Daimyo of the Land of Hot Water which is eerily similar to one of your past missions."

Fujin said, "I recently faced a question while training. I wonder if you know something about this."

Hiruzen asked, "What did you face?"

Fujin replied, "I was wondering whether we can use Juinjutsu to permanently strengthen ourselves or give us new abilities."

Hiruzen was surprised by the question and became serious. He hadn't expected Fujin to ask such a question. He wondered, 'Did he witness anyone having such abilities or did he just think it by itself?'

Hiruzen couldn't be sure. He asked, "Are you aware of the Uzumaki clan?"

Fujin nodded. Even though almost no one from Fujin's generation would know about the Uzumaki clan, Hiruzen wasn't surprised to know that Fujin knew about them considering how much time he spent in the Library and learning the seals. He said, "Most of the Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu in Konoha come from the Uzumaki clan."

Fujin had speculated it to be the case. So he wasn't surprised. Hiruzen continued, "The Uzumaki clan was a step ahead of the world in terms of sealing. It was why they were considered a threat by other villages and annihilated before the start of the Second Great Ninja War.

However, even in the Uzumaki clan, a seal like you said was never propagated. It was only during their final struggle that their leader, Uzumaki Ashina, showed abilities similar to what you described.

I'm not sure what exactly you mean by giving permanent abilities, but I guess you mean being able to do something beyond what normal seals should. The seals Uzumaki Ashina used touched that concept and were speculated to be able to take our understanding of Fuinjutsu and Juinjutsu to the next level.

However, with his death, the technique was lost. I'm not sure why he never taught the technique to anyone else in his clan. Or perhaps he did but no one else was able to learn. Another possibility could be that everyone who he taught those seals was killed in the war. Or perhaps someone survived and the knowledge still exists but that person has kept it a secret."

Fujin was surprised by the answer. Though he had asked Hiruzen, he wasn't expecting Hiruzen to know anything about it. He thought, 'Uzumaki Ashina... Wasn't he the leader of the Uzumaki clan when Hashirama was alive? Unfortunately, I barely remember anything about him. Now that I think about it, I don't think much was shown about him anyway.

I wonder if these Juinjutsu seals were passed down in the Uzumaki clan or if he created those seals by himself. Regardless, it shows that even if you don't worship Jashin, you can create seals that are similar to the ones that form in the Ritual or at least have the potential to reach that level.'

Fujin asked, "Did no one try to investigate what seals they were? Also, what abilities did the seal give him?"