A wry smile appeared on Fujin's face as he thought, 'Since when did I become so stupid? Why should I develop a localized version of the Assassin's Rush jutsu to increase the speed of my jab? Instead of releasing wind towards the back of my elbow, why don't I release it from the tip of my fingers? All the speed will be transferred to the Vacuum Bullet directly. And I won't need to do any wasted movements that could drop hints to my opponent.'

Fujin maintained a minute of silence for missing such an obvious trick to solve his issues. Finally, he shook his head and thought, 'Leave it. Such things need to click. Otherwise, one may not see it even if it is in front of their eyes. Still, I should work on the localized version of Assassin's Rush as well later on. Perhaps I could test it against Guy.'

Fujin raised his right hand to his chest level and pointed his index finger forward. He closed his eyes and recalled how he normally used the Assassin's Rush jutsu.

Soon, a small amount of chakra appeared on Fujin's finger. It quickly transformed into wind and was released from Fujin's entire index finger instead of just the tip. Fujin watched with deadpan eyes as a gentle breeze moved for a couple of feet before dissipating.

He let out a sigh and complained, "This won't be as easy as I thought. Why does everything have to be so difficult?"

Fortunately, it consumed very little chakra. Fujin created a dozen Shadow Clones and started his training to modify the Assassin's Rush jutsu.

Fujin trained till 2 AM. Since the jutsu consumed very little chakra, he needed to visit the Wind Training room to rest just once. Due to his clones, he made rapid progress. However, he was still far away from reaching a satisfactory level.

He walked to his home and took a bath before diving into his bed. Lying in his bed, he thought, 'Just another couple of hours for the effects of the pill to end. To think that I still don't feel any physical tiredness. This pill is good. Still, this is so difficult

In the last 118 hours, I have had 80 clones working on the Four Symbols Seal for at least 108 hours. Which means that I spent 8960 hours learning that seal. That's more than a freaking year! A freaking year without any break! And still, I haven't mastered it. How the fuck did Minato, Jiraiya, Orochimaru and Hiruzen even master this?

I wonder if the Uzumaki clan had some sort of shortcut to learn this seal that they know of. Or is it simply a difference of talent? Then again, it is possible that all four of them took the same route as me and needed to work on it for a long time with numerous clones. All four have or had more chakra than I have right now.

Leave it. It doesn't matter. I am very close to mastering it. I should be done in another session or two with these pills.

Hiruzen said that I should take a day's break after the effect of the pill runs out. But I suppose he didn't imagine that I would train for so long. It might be better to take two days off.

Then I'll focus on physical training while simultaneously improving my control over Assassin's Rush for a week. Then I can consume the pill once again and repeat the entire process 5 more times until the 3 months are up.'

Fujin closed his eyes and kept lying in his bed without thinking about anything else. The last 5 days were very taxing on his mind. He needed a long sleep and a break from continuously straining his brain to find ways of increasing his strength.

At dawn, the effects of the chakra pill ended and Fujin fell into a deep sleep.

While Fujin slept peacefully, a ninja entered Iwagakure. He moved stealthily and entered into the Tsuchikage's building without attracting much attention.

The messenger, who Onoki had sent to Kumo, returned and silently entered the Tsuchikage's office.

Onoki saw him and said, "Everyone, leave."

Immediately, everyone except the messenger left. Onoki asked, "How did it go?"

The messenger said, "It went as you predicted, Tsuchikage-sama. The Raikage didn't give me much trouble."

He quickly handed Onoki a scroll. When Onoki grabbed it, a huge pressure was lifted from his shoulders. The messenger thought, 'Finally. I was so tense and worried that someone might rob me. And I had to travel to such dangerous areas as well!'

Onoki noticed his expression and chuckled. He said, "You have done well. You can take a couple of weeks off. When you leave, ask the Anbu outside to call for Kitsuchi."

The messenger quickly said, "Thank you, Tsuchikage-sama."

He took his leave. Onoki inspected the scroll and thought, 'All 1000 Earth Crystals here. It looks like Kumo hasn't developed a substantial number of Earth affinity ninjas.'

Though Onoki was pleased with getting so many resources, there wasn't any happy expression on his face. He stared at the scroll and sighed while thinking, '1000 Earth Crystals for the lives of 47 Jounins. This is so not worth it.'

Onoki kept the scroll down and began writing another letter. It was addressed to the Fourth Raikage and included numerous details about Fujin's abilities.

While he was writing, Kitsuchi arrived and entered the room. He noticed the scroll on the desk and asked, "Kumo paid the price?"

Onoki nodded. He finished writing on the scroll and tossed it at Kitsuchi.

Kitsuchi grabbed the scroll and began reading. His eyes widened. He exclaimed, "This? Shouldn't we"

Onoki cut him off and said, "None of the information there is a lie. Besides, we just suffered a heavy loss. Why should we ensure that Kumo doesn't lose any ninjas? Let them fight him. No matter which side gets hurt, both results are good for us."

Kitsuchi nodded. Onoki instructed, "Send this scroll with a messenger bird. After a couple of days, increase Fujin's bounty. Raise it to 50 million Ryo. But don't mention any skills beyond Vacuum jutsus and Fuinjutsu."

Kitsuchi became a bit thoughtful. After a few seconds, he asked, "Do you want to deal with the Akatsuki as well?"

Onoki's expression became a bit grim as he said, "That organization gives me a bad feeling. To have so many rank S rogue ninjas gathered together. If they decide to partner with some village in the future, that village will immediately have a huge advantage over the others. If they want to, they could take over a minor village and turn it into a major one.

An organization that is so strong and with no mentioned goals can pose a lot of danger. Though I doubt Fujin would be able to kill their members, it'd be great if Hiruzen tasked his students to hunt them down."

Kitsuchi nodded. He realized, 'No matter whether Kumogakure takes action or whether Akatsuki does, irrespective of their success or failure, Iwa will get a lot of advantage. Sigh, the old man is worthy of his title.'

Kitsuchi immediately got to work. Around a day later, Raikage received the scroll Onoki sent.

Raikage's office -

Ay sat in his chair, reading the letter. Around him, Mabui, Darui and C were present. Ay read the scroll and muttered, "This brat has become strong."

He handed the scroll to the three to read. Darui, C and Mabui's expressions became serious as they continued reading. Finally, Darui sighed and muttered, "I knew that he would become strong. But I didn't expect him to reach this level in less than 3 years."

Mabui questioned, "The Tsuchikage said that he could run away from Roshi and Kitsuchi. Do you think that he is telling the truth?"

Ay replied, "It should be the truth. In fact, I suspect that Iwa experienced some sort of painful loss against him. That's why they are trying to get us involved.

The information he sent mentions the same Vacuum jutsus that Darui reported. The only addition is the Vacuum Waves jutsu. The more critical matter is his Fuinjutsu skill and his Flying summon. This information, along with the fact he managed to escape from Kitsuchi and Roshi shows what threat his talent could be in the future.

But, Onoki should be hiding a lot more information. Information that could cause us a lot of losses. We can only have a chance of killing him after we figure out this information."

Mabui nodded and asked, "That's right. We can't expect him to care about our well-being. But, should we still make a move against him?"

Ay answered, "We don't have an option. Since Onoki sent this information, he must have concluded that this kid has a very high potential. Since he specializes in Wind Release, Konoha likely intends to raise him as someone to handle our village during a war. So getting rid of him before he matures will be the best scenario for us. Otherwise, he could cause a lot of deaths in our future wars with Konoha."