In the Raikage office, Ay loudly exclaimed, "What did you say?"

Mabui repeated calmly, "Our spies sent reports stating that Orochimaru interfered in Konoha's Chunin Exams. Everyone in Konoha is saying that he was confronted and defeated by Suzuki Fujin, the Spectral Swordsman."

Ay had a hard time believing what he heard. He asked, "How accurate is this information?"

Mabui replied, "It's hard to say. None of the spies witnessed the battle. They only learnt about it as the information was rapidly spread throughout Konoha."

Ay frowned and analyzed, "Since the information spread so easily, it means that Konoha is actively spreading it. That should imply that they either couldn't keep this incident a secret or they just wanted to increase Suzuki Fujin's reputation.

There are three possibilities. The first is that they are just making up lies to increase that boy's reputation for some reason. The second is that the fight did occur, but the information they are spreading isn't accurate. And the last possibility is that he truly defeated Orochimaru.

Which of these three is it?"

A frown was visible on Ay's face as he analyzed the information. Mabui stayed silent and thought about it as well. Just like Ay, she was surprised as well. She thought, 'I knew that he was strong and expected him to give Darui a tough fight. However, if this news is true, then he could even be able to fight Raikage-sama! Considering his age, he is a terrible enemy to have.'

Ay analyzed, 'Knowing Hiruzen, he won't falsely increase the reputation of a ninja without any good reason. He is smart enough to know that if he does that, it'll bite him later. I could understand if Konoha was facing a grave threat and he wanted to deter others, but no one has made any major moves recently.

Not to mention, I already expected him to be close to Darui's strength. So it isn't as if he is promoting someone out of nowhere.

However, could he really be at the same level as Orochimaru? A 16-year-old boy defeating a Sannin His talent might be at the same level as Minato.

If the reports are true, then even I might not be able to kill him. Since he specializes in Wind Release, I'll need to be on guard against any secret Wind jutsus he might have.

That said, one thing doesn't make much sense. How could he become so strong within a few years while staying in the background? There aren't even any wars for him to mature through them like how most from my generation did.'

As Ay analyzed, he realized that he was missing a lot of information. He looked at Mabui and asked, "Do we have any Jounin rank spies in Konoha?"

Mabui shook her head and answered, "We don't, Raikage-sama. It is very difficult to maintain high-level spies in Konoha. We only have 3 at the Chunin rank and 8 at the Genin rank. The rest are civilians."

Ay thought for a bit and said, "Send secret missions to the Chunin rank spies and ask them to inspect the place where Fujin and Orochimaru fought. It might give us a better idea about what happened.

Also, send a message to all squads deployed to find and hunt Fujin. Ask them to be on standby. Until new orders are issued no one will take any action against him. In the future, Darui won't be sent to deal with him. If we get an opportunity, I'll personally make a move!"

Knowing Hiruzen's nature, Ay predicted that even if Fujin wasn't at the same level as Orochimaru, he should be at the level to be able to survive in a fight against him. It increased the difficulty of killing Fujin to a great extent while making any such missions extremely risky. Ay saw no reason to waste the lives of Kumo ninjas meaninglessly.

Mabui nodded and replied, "I'll get to it."

She quickly got to work. While Ay and Mabui discussed Fujin, another Kage's office was quite tense. Onoki had received several reports as well. He summoned Kitsuchi and Roshi, who were reading those reports in his office with a grave expression on their faces.

While Kumo was aware that Fujin was dangerous, Iwa had experienced his strength first-hand on more than one occasion.

Kitsuchi sighed and said, "I shouldn't have missed that opportunity. He was already as strong as me back then while being far more lethal on the battlefield. Now, we won't be able to kill him unless you fight him."

Roshi nodded and added, "To be able to force Orochimaru to retreat I didn't think he'd reach this level so quickly. If we fight again, I'm afraid our next battle might not end in the same way."

Hearing them praising the enemy, Onoki became annoyed and said, "Don't jump to conclusions yet. We still don't know how accurate this information is. That old monkey is very good at confusing everyone else."

Kitsuchi said, "That's true. However, considering that the plans we made for him are based on his strength 2 years ago, it's safe to say that they'll be more or less useless right now. If we try to kill him now, the only way would be to catch him off guard with the Dust Release or Tailed Beast Bomb. If we can't, then we'll need to sacrifice thousands of ninjas and come up with a reason for him to stay and fight. That's too difficult and costly."

Roshi added, "Not to mention, he's still only 16. If he continues growing stronger, then he might become as strong as the Third Hokage at his peak. That's a rather formidable enemy to have. Our younger generation doesn't have anyone who could go up against someone like that."

A scowl formed on Onoki's face as he cursed, "If only that damned Deidara brat didn't go rogue and join that cursed mercenary group!"

He looked at Kitsuchi and instructed, "Ensure that Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi don't slack off in their training. Tell them about Fujin and bring out their competitive instincts. If Iwa has to stand tall for the next 50 years, both of them need to be formidable rank S ninjas!"

Kitsuchi nodded and said, "I'll focus on it immediately."

Unlike the previous times they discussed Fujin, none of them discussed a plan to eliminate Fujin. Though it could still be done, the cost of attempting it in peacetime would be extremely high. To make matters worse, they couldn't guarantee any results even if Roshi and Onoki both participated in the fight.

The two warring factions in the Land of Water also received the news. The fourth Mizukage ignored it while the memories of the Spectral Swordsman flashed in the minds of his subordinates.

In the rebel camp, Mei was reading the reports as well. A smile appeared on her face as she said, "What a splendid young man."

Memories of her meeting with Fujin appeared in her mind. Ao and other leaders in the rebel camp discussed this news in a similar manner as Ay and Onoki. The only difference was that they weren't finding ways to eliminate him as they were already in an intense war.

The minor villages received the information as well. In fact, they received it faster than the three Great Villages as the sensei of their Genins sent them the messages. Those villages had long suffered at the hands of the Spectral Swordsman and were already terrified of him. Fujin's reputation grew even more terrifying in their hearts and they decided to bury all their complaints about his previous actions.

Of course, the most tense among them was none other than Kusagakure. Ashikaga Hiroshi was still like a statue after he read the report. After a couple of minutes, he let out a sigh of relief and muttered, "It's a good thing that we didn't accept his bait back then. If we did, then I'm afraid that Kusagakure would have been history by now!"

The memories of nearly every Kusa higher-up grabbing their weapons after Fujin gave them their third choice during the negotiation kept playing in his mind. Back then, Hiroshi thought that they might have been able to kill him at a great cost and the only reason they didn't do so was that none of the higher-ups, including him, wanted to be a sacrifice for others. However, Hiroshi now understood that the danger was much greater than he envisioned.

In the Village Hidden in Rain, Konan and Nagato receive the information as well. However, neither of them gave much importance to it. Both paid more attention to Orochimaru's movements than to Fujin's strength.

However, there was one village that attached more importance to this news than even Konoha! The Council of that village were sitting together and reading the reports sent by Baki with a grave expression on their face.

After a few minutes of silence, Tojuro angrily exclaimed, "That dumb snake! He's ruining all our plans!"