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Chapter 928 : Changes in the Council!
🕑 Added 2025-07-03 03:35:07 +0000 UTCNaruto raised his arms to shield his face from the blast of wind and shards of earth thrown up by the explosion. Through the gap between his fingers, he watched the swirling dust and smoke with a tight frown. Tch… His cool move, one he’d been so excited to pull off, had been brushed aside like it was nothing! A mix of irritation and helplessness welled up in his chest, but he clenched his fists, refusing to let it sink him completely.
Before he could vent his frustrations, he heard Jiraiya sigh, “Fancy techniques may seem cool, but if you don't train your movement and reaction speeds, they'll be useless against any formidable opponent…”
Naruto immediately whined, “Aw, c’mon, Pervy Sage! How am I supposed to hit you when you move like that? You grabbed my arm before I could even blink!”
“You moron! That is why I said you should improve your reaction speed! Do you think Orochimaru will stand like a statue waiting to hit him? In the time it takes you to create a Shadow Clone, create a Giant Rasengan, run towards him and smash the jutsu into him, Orochimaru can grab Sasuke and vanish to the other end of the continent!” Jiraiya immediately scolded, his voice sharp and strict.
Having trained Naruto for over a year, he had long grown used to his idiosyncrasies. He had heard every sort of whining and complaints from Naruto and knew how to deal with each of them. The only thing he couldn't curb was Naruto's tendency to suddenly make a suicidal move during their spars.
As Naruto calmed down and became solemn on hearing Sasuke's name, Jiraiya sighed, ‘Maybe it was a mistake to attempt harnessing Nine Tails’ power. Naruto is relying less and less on tricks and clever traps lately, replacing them with reckless, head-on charges. The fox’s chakra is boosting his strength, but it is slowly dulling the unpredictability that used to make him dangerous.’
The thought vanished as quickly as it appeared as Jiraiya shook his head, ‘No. Minato must have a reason to split the fox and make his son the Jinchuriki.’
Seeing Naruto finally focused, Jiraiya asked, “Do you remember what happened when you sparred with Fujin's students the last time?”
Though Jiraiya had taken Naruto along with him and was devoted to training him, the essence of their journey was different as compared to what had happened in the original story. Jiraiya's main focus was finding Orochimaru and ambushing him, not training Naruto. As such, he had to return to the village at times to recalibrate his search. Jiraiya was referring to the last time he had returned to the village, which was around a month and half earlier than when Fujin messed around in Iwagakure.
Naruto replied, “Yeah! I remember! They were super fast! Without Shadow Clones, I couldn’t even touch ‘em!”
A frown appeared on his face as he complained, “But that’s ‘cause they’re always training with Bushy Brows’ sensei! That’s cheating! They are almost like mini Bushy Brows!”
Jiraiya snorted, “They have a long way to reach the level of Guy's pupil. At my level, it is impossible to keep up with merely physical strength. Perhaps Guy is the only one who can do so.”
“Huh? Then how’d you move so fast? And how come Sayaka and the rest can do it too?” Naruto asked, his voice full of surprise and confusion.
Jiraiya answered, “I employed a combination of physical speed and Body Flicker jutsu. Fujin's students did the same. Their normal speed wouldn't be much quicker than your speed. However, they can use the Body Flicker jutsu seamlessly without using any hand seals, creating the illusion of being much faster than you. Just like how I did just now.”
Naruto's eyes widened. Jiraiya continued, “It's good that you have got a hang of the Giant Rasengan now. However, we'll stop training the Rasengan or trying to harness Nine Tails’ chakra for now. Until you learn to use the Body Flicker jutsu without any hand seals and master it as well as your Multi Shadow Clone jutsu, you won't train anything else!”
Naruto immediately agreed, “Alright! Let's begin… Wait! You didn't tell me how to improve my reaction speed!”
Jiraiya chuckled, “That part’s simple. Whenever you sense something’s off, flicker away right away. Always watch your surroundings, and keep safe spots in mind to jump to. If you're alone, flicker far. If you’ve got teammates, flicker somewhere near them. Do that enough times, and your reaction speed will catch up naturally. And of course, we’ll do some drills to sharpen... Huh?”
A black tag tied at Jiraiya's waist suddenly began burning. He glanced at it and his expression became grim. Naruto asked, “What's that, Pervy Sage?”
Jiraiya muttered solemnly, “Trouble… Something must have happened in the village. It's time to head home…”
——
The structure of Konoha's council had changed considerably over the last year and half. Koharu and Homura were forced out by Tsunade when she learnt of the truth behind the Uchiha Massacre. Hiruzen had retired too, in part due to exhaustion, but also to prevent any hard feelings among his former comrades.
With Jiraiya refusing to formally become a member of the council, no one had replaced the seats of Homura and Koharu yet. But Hiruzen's seat in the council was taken over by his elder son, Sarutobi Hokuto. He represented both the Sarutobi clan and the Anbu in the council. However, he held just one vote unlike his father because the Anbu didn't get a vote in the council.
With Tsunade returning to the village, Senju Hiromasa officially retired as well, passing on the leadership of the Senju clan to Tsunade. As such, Tsunade now held two votes, just like how Hiruzen used to.
With minimal interference from Danzo and the other Elders and complete support from the Clan Leaders, Tsunade had abolished the five civilian seats on the council and relegated the former council members to other administrative duties.
Most of the Clan Leaders would have also liked to eliminate the seat representing civilian ninjas which Hiruzen forcefully created and reduce future competition, but no one wanted to irk Fujin needlessly. With his faction already formalized by them and him having the full support of Tsunade, Hiruzen and Shikaku, no one bothered to scheme against him. That said, Fujin hadn't been in any council meeting since he left on his adventure.
As a result of these changes, the environment in Konoha's council was the best it had ever been at any point since the village's creation. Never before was the council so amicable, harmonious and devoid of conflict. Ironically, the council hadn't ever been so weak either, with Tsunade being the lone rank S ninja!
Yet, today, the environment in the council was anything but pleasant. Due to the gravity of the situation, both Homura and Koharu were invited to this council meeting, but their presence failed to calm the situation.
A heavy, suffocating silence hung over Konoha’s council room — so thick it felt as if even the air refused to move. When Danzo stayed hidden underground even during an assault on Konoha, every clan leader believed that Danzo would only die of old age. Yet, a reanimated Danzo stood in front of them!
The revelation of Danzo’s death, and the existence of an ancient monster who could rip out a soul with a single gesture had drained the color from many faces. Fear flickered in the eyes of even the most stoic clan heads, and for once, no one dared to break the silence with a question or objection.
Unlike his frank admissions to Hiruzen and Tsunade, Danzo kept some secrets from the Clan Leaders. He didn't inform them of the experiments done on his right arm, mentioning neither Hashirama's cells nor Izanagi. Instead, he spun off that segment of the battle as Akuro being so overbearing that he was repeatedly pushed to the brink of death!
The reason was to keep these forbidden experiments and techniques a secret from the majority and ensure that Clan Leaders do not demand the same augmentations being done on them in the future. That decision should solely belong to the Hokage and only the most suitable candidates should be chosen. The stash of Sharingans still with Danzo were already handed over to Hiruzen for this purpose. Of course, someone like Shikaku would be informed of it later.
If not for the fact that Akuro may use Shisui's eye, Danzo might have hidden that detail too, though it would have been more to stop his reputation from falling further.
After a long silence, Shikaku sighed, “Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, Fuinjutsu, countering Genjutsu… Akuro is at the peak in every aspect…”
Massaging his forehead to relieve his headache, Shikaku muttered, “To think this is while he is still recovering…”
He looked at Hiruzen and Danzo and asked, “What countermeasures did you decide on?”
Hiruzen and Danzo informed the council of their speculations and most of their future plans. While others processed the information while simultaneously considering how to strengthen their clans, Shikaku said, “I agree with your analysis. I'll come with you too.”
Comments
Devil Hex
In a min
Mael
Any news ?
Melegant
He definitely has more chakra than base naruto in shipudden(the four times kakashi type shit) and better fighting skills and jutsus at least. Id scale higher than sage mode naruto for sure. After all beating the 6 pains is much more about having the right skill set and affinity(the one that absorb chakra is a real bitch to fight without sage mode after all. Maybe a bit stronger than ms Sasuke? I don't think he can match up kmc1 baruto in speed for now(raw speed and flying thunder god are diff). But he can certainly fight like minato so at least that much maybe?
Zereket
Hex-san, is Fujin's overall strength equal to Naruto's in his first Kurama mode? And is he close or far from Sasuke with the eternal mangekyou?
