The council went through the proposal carefully, inspecting every single point and seeing whether they could find any flaws or any scope for improvements that might help them delay the proposal a bit. Unfortunately for them, there were no flaws and making any improvements would require a lot of time to ponder. It wasn't something they could come up with on the spot.
In around an hour, everyone had gone through the proposal a couple of times. Seeing that everyone was done reading, Hiruzen asked, "Does anyone have anything to add to it?"
No one said anything. Hiruzen looked around once before saying, "In that case, let's put it to vote. All those in favor, raise your hands."
After Danzo was removed from the Council, the number of people in the Council had gone back to 16, as it was before Fujin became a part of the council. It meant that if there was a tie, Hiruzen would get an additional vote for the tiebreaker. In addition, the Clan Leaders only had 7 out of the 16 seats, meaning that they were in the minority. 9 votes would be needed to fail the proposal.
As the one who put forth the proposal, Fujin raised his hand. Hiruzen raised his hand as well as the idea was extremely beneficial for the village no matter how he looked at it. Koharu and Homura supported it for the same reason and raised their hands.
Apart from these 4, there were 5 civilian council members. Each of them was bitter that Fujin had taken away a chance to earn millions from them. However, the proposal was for the benefit of the civilian population as even the ones who weren't ninjas wanted their children to become one. If they dared to vote against it, they would be booted out of the council within days. None of them dared to risk that and all 5 raised their hands.
Among the clan leaders, Senju Hiromasa was the first one to raise his hand. In fact, he was even quicker than the Elders and raised it alongside Fujin and Hiruzen. He was the only clan leader who didn't have any reservations about Fujin's proposal and would have wholeheartedly lobbied for it if Fujin didn't have enough support.
Shikaku and Choza didn't particularly care much about the proposal and raised their hands as well. The remaining 4 clan leaders had reservations, but seeing that voting against them would be pointless, they raised their hands as well. As a result, Fujin's first official proposal was unanimously passed!
Hiruzen smiled and said, "A unanimous vote after a long time. I suppose that shows how important the Guidance Hall will be for our village. Great work, Fujin. I'm glad that we decided to induct you into the council."
Fujin nodded while commenting, 'Of course you are, you old fox. What's the use of words? Just ask me what reward I would like!'
Since joining the council, Fujin had gotten rid of Danzo's influence and gave two ways to strengthen our village. He also gave a nice little boost to the village's finances and economy. Any leader would be pleased.
Unfortunately for Fujin, Hiruzen had become too smart to say anything in regards to that. He turned his eyes back to the council and said, "I have checked the land deeds as well. They are properly documented and priced. I will sign them now. The construction of the Guidance Hall will begin immediately. The funds will be assigned within a couple of days and this project will be given the highest priority."
Everyone agreed. Hiruzen signed the land deeds. Since no one had any other proposal, the meeting finally ended and everyone dispersed.
Hiruzen returned to his office. Even though he had signed the papers, he still had some work to do, such as actually paying the ones who were selling the land. He quickly got to work and dispatched his subordinates to bring them to the office while he ran the numbers.
After analyzing everything, a smile appeared on Hiruzen's face. He thought, 'The village will need to spend around 60 million Ryo to purchase the land. Building the hall and some surrounding infrastructure will require another 40 to 50 million Ryo.
However, the village will earn at least 300 million Ryo by reselling the lands at the appropriate time. If I want to be aggressive and time them appropriately, then it could even exceed 1.2 billion Ryo.
That said, there is no need to do so. It's more beneficial for the village to focus on economic activity. In time, the returns would be much higher due to that. Not to mention, the people will be more happy.'
Hiruzen let out a sigh of satisfaction while thinking, 'I didn't think that greedy brat would give me such a nice gift. I was almost tempted to let him choose a reward…
Thankfully, I managed to resist the urge after remembering what happened every time I said those words. Considering his current level, he'll likely directly ask for the Scroll of the Forbidden Seals.
However, it is better if he doesn't come into contact with unethical jutsus just yet. I don't want to repeat the same mistake I made with Orochimaru. I'll wait till Fujin matures sufficiently before allowing him access to jutsus like Edo Tensei. It'll ensure that he doesn't get influenced by them at a young age.'
While Hiruzen had been quite liberal in teaching Fujin jutsus so far, he was adamant against teaching Fujin any jutsus that could lead him down the dark path. He decided to wait until a few wars took place and see how the wars would impact his personality before deciding whether to allow him access to such jutsus.
Hiruzen thought, 'Even though I can't reward him directly, it doesn't mean that I can't do anything for him.'
A clone appeared next to Hiruzen and immediately disappeared from the office. He entered the Anbu Headquarters under the office and entered Eagle's office. Eagle was surprised to see his father so suddenly and asked, "Did something happen?"
Hiruzen's clone answered, "Well, nothing very serious. Anyway, listen carefully."
Hiruzen's clone informed him about the Guidance Hall proposal that Fujin had proposed and explained to them all its features and advantages. Eagle was surprised to hear everything.
He said, "I never have heard of anything like this. This will be very helpful to the village. Even beyond increasing the strength of the youngsters, it'll also improve the relationship between the younger and the older generation. The benefits will be endless."
Hiruzen's clone nodded and said, "I know. That is why the proposal was accepted unanimously. However, there is a hidden play. I need you to take care of it."
Eagle's expression became peculiar upon hearing that Hiruzen wanted to suppress Katsuhiro from whom the idea had originated. He became serious after hearing a possible link between him and Danzo and what Hiruzen speculated was Danzo's plan to replace Fujin with Katsuhiro.
He sighed and said, "Elder Danzo never gives up, does he? I understand. I'll ensure that the village knows the 'truth'!"
Hiruzen's clone smiled and said, "Good. I'll leave it to you."
He dispelled himself. Eagle immediately got to work. He summoned some of his most trusted subordinates and informed them about the situation. A few minutes later, a couple of dozen Anbu ninjas exited the base and mixed into the common people under disguise.
As Hiruzen had expected, Katsuhiro was doing the same. Right after the meeting ended, he met up with one of the civilian council members and asked him about the details of the meeting.
The council member looked at him peculiarly while wondering why he was so enthusiastic about the meeting and the proposal. Even though Fujin had given him the credit for the idea, he had also said a lot of other things…
Even so, he informed Katsuhiro about everything that had happened. His expression became ugly after hearing how Fujin described his proposal! He almost vomited blood when he heard that Fujin worked hard for a couple of weeks to correct his proposal. His rage increased his blood pressure once again!
Even so, he was surprised when he heard about the changes Fujin had made to the proposal. Especially the financial aspect, it was something he had completely overlooked.
He thought, 'I underestimated this boy. Even though the basic idea of Guidance Hall came from Danzo, the number of changes he has made almost makes this look like a new proposal. Even though he mentioned my name, he will get the main credit. How did he even do all this in just 2 days? Was he just messing with me?'
He shook his head and decided, 'It doesn't matter. I will make him pay. Even if the council gives you credit, what matters is what the people think! Even though opening the Guidance Hall to the clans increased its chances of being accepted, it also gives me a weapon against you! I'll completely ruin your reputation! That would put enough pressure on the Hokage and the Council to appoint me to the council!'
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