Chapter 763 : Flustered

[A/N: Just a reminder, Mieko wasn't a part of Fujin's class. She was a year younger than him and Hoka. She just graduated in her 3rd year while Fujin and Hoka graduated in their 4th year.]

Seeing Fujin's reaction, Genki laughed and patted Fujin's shoulder while saying, “I'm just joking. I can guess that your missions are so difficult that we will only be in your way.”

For once, Fujin agreed. While he rarely did missions, the ones he did were absolutely nuts. The entire ninja world was still in the dark about how Kumo lost more ninjas than Suna despite not being in a war.

Seeing Fujin nod without any hesitation left Genki and his comrades speechless. Genki was just giving Fujin a way out so that he wouldn't need to answer his awkward question. He didn't expect Fujin to actually agree. He awkwardly thought, ‘Shit! I forgot how shameless he can be! He hasn't changed a bit!’

Fujin chuckled on seeing their reactions and said, “Well, we may not do missions together, but we'll be marching together today. Unfortunately, I don't know much about leading armies. So, I'll be in your care, seniors.”

Fujin addressed Genki and the others with him. They immediately smiled and assured Fujin of their support. Fujin looked at Genki and said, “I'll be catching up with my classmates, Sensei. I'll see you later.”

Genki smiled and said, “Of course.”

As Fujin disappeared, Shin chuckled and said, “He's still as cheeky as ever. He got us good with that nod.”
The others around him agreed. A Jounin said, “You are very lucky, Genki. To get a student like him in the academy. It's like a god-given gift.”

Genki smirked and said, “That's why I said that you should teach in the academy for some time. Not only is there a chance that you could teach very strong future ninjas, but the kids are also full of energy and ideas. I couldn't have become a Jounin without their help.”

Renjiro glanced at them and thought, ‘Hmm, not bad. If he wants to become a Hokage in the future, he'll need the support of the Jounins. Socializing with dozens of Jounins is a good start. And, since he has a civilian background, the civilian Jounins would support him just like they supported the Fourth Hokage. However, does he truly want that seat? Or was he just being polite due to Genki?’

Renjiro wasn't sure. As much as Fujin loved learning new and powerful jutsus, he had never shown any similar ambition for authority. Even so, he was already a Council Member and a definite candidate for the next Hokage. So, Renjiro couldn't get a proper grasp on Fujin's ambition despite being one of the closest people to him.

While Renjiro wondered and Genki's group discussed Fujin, Fujin's batchmates were still discussing ninja ranks. Nora sighed and asked, “What about Hoka? He is already a Jounin. Can he reach Fujin's level?”

Everyone looked at Hoka again. Before he could speak, Hana said, “He'll be Jounin for only a few more days. My father said that Hoka will be promoted to Elite Jounin very soon due to his performance in the war.”

The eyes of everyone around widened. After all, they hadn't seen Hoka in action. Someone commented, “You've got to be kidding me! An Elite Jounin at just 16!”
“Man, I thought our batch was already very good due to Fujin. Now Hoka is also about to become an Elite Jounin!”
“That's right. We have Fujin, a rank S ninja, Hoka, who'll soon become an Elite Jounin, and Teru, who is an Anbu Captain. It's a shame that Yori died and we still don't know where Nobu went after graduating. Otherwise, we might have two more Jounins.”
“That's right. But we can discuss that later. Congrats, Hoka!”

Immediately everyone gathered around Hoka and began to congratulate him. Hoka smiled and replied, “Thanks guys…”

He suddenly turned his head to his left. Others followed his gaze quickly and saw Fujin, who asked, “You guys seem rather energetic. What's up with the congratulations? Did you two finally get together?”

In the blink of an eye, both Hoka and Hana became red. Hoka said defensively, “What do you mean? Stop shit-talking every time!”

Seeing Hoka and Hana flustered, Fujin chuckled internally while thinking, ‘Oh, young love. I nearly forgot how fun it was to tease them…’

Needless to say, their reactions didn't go unnoticed and others saw it too. Without exchanging a single word, everyone smiled. As for Fujin, he didn't show a single expression and muttered, “Oh, so that wasn't it. Why were they congratulating you then?”

Nora thought, ‘Man, he really is the strongest! Despite teasing them so openly, there wasn't even a slight change in his expression! As expected of Fujin!’

Hoka replied, “They were congratulating me since I may be promoted to Elite Jounin soon.”

Fujin raised an eyebrow and asked, “That's worth celebrating?”

Hoka stared at Fujin with a dumbfounded expression while others were left speechless. Fujin shook his head in disappointment and said, “You're slacking too much, Hoka. Come with me. I know just what you need to do. Hmm?”

Fujin looked around to see everyone looking at him strangely and asked, “What's the matter?”
A Yamanaka ninja said, “You just said that becoming an Elite Jounin wasn't worth celebrating…”
Fujin replied, “Oh, it's definitely worth celebrating once you reach there. However, don't slack off after that like this guy. There is still a lot of scope to grow beyond it.”

Fujin sighed and said, “Even I'm still quite weak. Had I been in Lord Third's position, I'd have fallen to Orochimaru's scheme. So, even I can't afford to slack off yet.”

Fujin's classmates were surprised by his words. Be it the fact that Fujin still wasn't satisfied with his strength or that Fujin thought so far ahead was something that none of them considered. It made them look at Fujin in a new light.

The only one who was full of complaints was Hoka. He thought, ‘This asshole! Not only did he tease me for nothing, but he is also accusing me of slacking! When did I slack? I train till I drop daily!’

Unfortunately, Hoka didn't get any opportunity to voice his complaints. Fujin glanced at his classmates and smiled, “We didn't meet much after the academy ended due to our respective missions, but it's good to see that everyone from our batch has already become Chunins. Hana, Teru, and Hoka have even surpassed that. While it's a shame that some faces are missing, I hope that everyone from our batch becomes a Jounin.”

Smiles appeared on everyone's faces as Fujin reignited the flames in their hearts. While someone becoming Chunin at 15 or 16 wasn't comparable to someone like Fujin, such a ninja would still be considered very talented. Not to mention, they were still very young. They still had dreams of reaching rank S, irrespective of whether they succeed or not. Immediately, several of them began saying, “Of course, we will!”
“Jounin isn't enough, wouldn't it be epic if the entire class becomes Elite Jounins?”
“Thanks, Fujin. Don't worry, we won't let our batch's reputation fall.”

Fujin smiled and was about to speak when he stopped and looked behind. He said, “It was great meeting you guys. I'll hang around sometime later. However, I have to go now.”

Everyone followed his gaze and saw that Shikaku had arrived. They nodded and wished him luck in his new role as the commander of the army. Needless to say, Fujin took Hoka with him as he left. Leading a large army consisting of over 3 thousand ninjas was a lot of work. Fujin fully intended to pawn the boring tasks on Hoka.

Fujin thought, ‘While leading 3,000 ninjas sounds exciting, this mission will be a bore. This army has no opponent. No one will make a move against Konoha right now and Konoha's leadership has little interest in going to war. So, it'll be just military exercises and hunting some poor bandits and rogue ninjas. I might as well stay in the background and focus on filling up the lake. Anyway, this guy can certainly put up an act…’

Shikaku's appearance was quite different from how he normally looked. The most noticeable change were the large bags under his eyes. His entire face looked exhausted and his body looked drained of energy! It was almost as if he'd collapse any second and fall asleep!

Fujin thought, ‘Even if I assume that he did paperwork all night, that still shouldn't reduce him to this state… Bastard is definitely acting.’

Fujin and Hoka flickered next to Shikaku. Hoka worriedly asked, “Shikaku-san… Are you alright?”

Shikaku glanced at him, but before he could answer, Fujin patted his back with a lot of force and said, “Don't worry, Konoha's Jounin Commander is very strong! Isn't that right, Shikaku-san?”

Shikaku glanced at Fujin with a look full of complaints. If Fujin hadn't spoken up, he'd have let the Elders step in and divide the work among the council members. However, Fujin had pushed him right into the fire. He sighed and muttered, “I'll be alright” while promising himself, ‘I'll get back at you for this maneuver, Fujin!’

[A/N: Won't be able to do a double today, not sure if I'll be able to do it tomorrow either as the upcoming chapters will focus on the army and will need a lot of research. So, I can't say for sure when the double release will be. It'll probably be better to consider it as a surprise than expecting it daily.]