Chapter 33: Chapter 33 : I really am a Ninja!
After having Hokage's word to treat his mother, Rei stepped back. Mieko then stepped forward and said, "Lord Hokage, I don't want any reward." This surprised everyone. Even Hiruzen was surprised, but he hid it and calmly analyzed, 'Is this a way the Uchiha are retaliating for their constant monitoring?' He then tried to convince her a couple of times, but she declined to get any reward. Hiruzen sighed and looked over at Fujin and thought, 'The Uchiha matter makes me feel my age. Well at least he should have a reasonable request. This day should end properly.'
Fujin on the other hand was dumbfounded by both his fellow 'toppers'. He thought, 'What the fuck? One begs for his mother's life, and the other refuses to accept any reward? Why do they wanna make my life harder?' He then calmed himself and muttered to himself, 'Sigh whatever. It doesn't matter. The Dao of Shamelessness must live on!'
He steeled himself and stepped forward. He put up a smile and an excited expression while thinking, 'This is it. For this moment I carried 2 swords in person for 5 whole months!' He then said, "Lord Hokage. For my reward, I want two swords made entirely of chakra metal." He then looked at the Hokage with excited and hopeful expression while hoping that somehow his eyes sparkled like in anime.
Majority of the students weren't aware of chakra metal. However almost every teacher knew it. And they were absolutely shocked by the request! Genki, who was standing close by, had his jaw dropped after hearing what Fujin said. If Fujin had seen him, he would be sure that he could fit an egg in Genki's mouth. Kakashi's eyebrows twitched at request. He thought, 'Talk about extravagant! Even my father's blade wasn't entirely made of chakra metal.'
The one who was shocked the most however, was Hiruzen. Despite wearing the Hokage's hat and having excellent control over his emotions, Fujin could still see his shock. Of course he totally ignored it. He thought, 'Whether Hiruzen is happy, or so shocked that he dies of a heart attack is none of my business. Hmm, WAIT!! If he dies right now, then it'd be very bad. But..... Yeah, I don't think just this much shock would be enough to kill this old freak. He did live through 3 brutal wars without even taking a single major injury!'
Hiruzen's mind went totally blank for a second. He then thought, 'Made entirely of chakra metal? Even the ones they sell in Konoha only have around 15% chakra metal. Rest is made of other common materials. The last time someone made a sword entirely of chakra metal was when Sensei commissioned to cast that sword. And it cost well over a hundred million Ryo to make that sword! Of course, this kid is probably not aware of that fact, and I could fool him, but that's still worth tens of millions of Ryo!'
He then looked at Genki to see if he knew what's going on, however he was clearly shocked too. In fact, he didn't even notice the Hokage looking at him.
Hiruzen thought, 'Now what to do? I can't directly say no. That would be too demotivating. Also it won't look good for me to deny him. If I do, I'm 100% sure that Danzo will spread rumors saying that the Hokage lies to academy students.' Hiruzen thought hard for another few seconds and came up with a reasonable excuse. Seeing that Hiruzen was ready to talk, Kakashi noticed and chuckled internally, 'It took Lord Hokage 13 seconds to answer. That kid sure is something.'
Hiruzen finally sighed and said, "Sadly I can't give you what you want because no one makes swords made entirely of chakra metal."
Fujin wasn't aware of the fact that chakra blades weren't entirely made of chakra metal and thought that Hiruzen is just making an excuse. He showed a dejected expression and said, "A couple of Tanto made of chakra metal then?"
Kakashi's eyebrows twitched again at Fujin's new request. He did struggle to keep his laughter in after seeing Hiruzen's expression. Genki, on the other hand, was even more shocked.
Hiruzen replied again, "Sadly, even they aren't made entirely of chakra metal."
Fujin was almost pissed at hearing that reply. But he calmed himself and thought about what Hiruzen had said. A few words stuck in his mind, 'aren't made entirely of chakra metal'. It then clicked him, 'Wait, in my previous world, didn't such production involve a lot of alloys, or other materials? Even gold jewelry wasn't 100% gold. Is that what he is referring to?'
He then asked, "Lord Hokage, what do you mean by 'aren't made entirely of chakra metal'? Do they only put a little bit of chakra metal and then something else in the sword?"
Hiruzen nodded nervously, not liking where the conversation was headed to. Fujin then excitedly began saying, "Lord Hokage, then...." However, he was cut by Hiruzen. He asked, "Fujin, can you tell me why exactly do you want a sword made of chakra metal?" While asking this question, he was desperately thinking, 'I need to change topic fast! Can't let him continue talking about this.'
Fujin, upset at being cut, said, "I was told that they assist in chakra flow. I like using swords, and want to be better at it by using chakra flow."
Hiruzen narrowed his eyes and asked, "How do you know about chakra flow?"
Fujin did get a hint that Hiruzen was aiming to change the topic, however he wasn't much concerned. He could always 'innocently' get back to the topic. Hiruzen might be a hundred times better at negotiating, however being a 10 year old kid had a lot of advantages. He answered without any hesitation, "Michi sensei"
Hiruzen then looked over begrudgingly at Michi who was at the sides. He thought, 'That's it, I'm assigning him a weak genin squad and will make him do nothing apart from D rank missions for half a year! We have pretty much recovered from our losses, so loss of one chuunin won't be felt.'
He then explained very 'kindly' to Fujin, "You don't need swords made of chakra metal to use chakra flow. You can use them on normal swords too, however they break if you do." Fujin thought, 'Yeah, I know. Get to the point.' Hiruzen continued, "There are actually special swords that are made to aid chakra flow. In the land of Iron, many samurai use those swords. As for chakra metal, it's a bit problematic and could get you in trouble."
Fujin naturally knew that. Having swords worth tens of million Ryo would put a target on his back. Which is why he was planning on leaving them with Hiruzen. He thought, 'That's a valid concern. Though I'm sure that it isn't the main reason for him to not give me chakra blades. But this new info does intrigue me. Why didn't any of the weapon shops have it?'
He left that question for later and asked, "Is it possible to make those swords to assist wind chakra flow?"
For the first time today, Fujin asked a question genuinely. However it still put Hiruzen on edge. He thought, 'Yeah, it can. They would have to use wind nature chakra metal for it though. And it'll still take the cost to millions!'
Hiruzen replied, "Yes it is, but it's better for you to not get it yet. How about this, when you are ready, I'll help you get in touch with the right people to make a sword like that."
Fujin dejectedly thought, 'I am sure I could get in touch with them myself pretty soon.' However he still nodded. Hiruzen was finally happy that he saved millions of Ryo. He was going to talk but Fujin spoke again, he asked "Lord Hokage, you said the sword that you'll give me is used by samurai, right?" Hiruzen nodded while really hoping that there were no more extravagant requests. Fujin continued, "Then could you have someone teach me Samurai Saber Techniques? Please"
Hiruzen thought about it. For one, he was happy that the request didn't involve tens of millions of Ryo. Secondly, he had noticed Fujin's interest in swords. He thought, 'Having a swordmaster sensor who specializes in wind release can be a very useful asset. Though we can't teach Samurai Saber Techniques liberally, teaching it to a few kids is acceptable.'
He nodded and said, "Alright, I'll assign you a teacher for it."
Fujin then politely thanked him and stepped backwards while secretly thinking, 'Being an innocent little kid has a lot of advantages. Though I don't think I can ever beat Hiruzen again in negotiations. That old monkey has the experience of negotiating after 3 Great Ninja Wars, and the ones he negotiated with were a hundred times more unreasonable than me!'
Looking at Fujin stepping back, Hiruzen released a sigh of relief. He then congratulated everyone and left quickly. While leaving, he decided that this would be the last year he'd give out rewards to the topper. After Hiruzen left, many teachers awkwardly stared at Fujin. However he just ignored them and pretended to not notice any of their stares.
After Hiruzen left, all the respective class teachers handed the headbands to their students and praised them for graduating early. They were asked to visit the academy after 3 days.
On getting the headband, Fujin put it on. His first words after that moment were, "Wow, I really am a ninja now!"
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