As everyone was looking at the new file, Fujin said, "This file consists of the land deeds to all the open lands at the chosen location and around it. I represented the village and made deals with every landowner in and around that area in the last couple of days. The prices agreed upon are as per current land rates and only Lord Hokage's signature is left to complete these dealings.
If this proposal is voted on and agreed upon in this meeting, then we could complete these deals today as well before the details are leaked to the public. It'll help us save a lot of money.
It can even help us raise money by selling the land in the future at the right time, striking a proper balance between profits for the village and development around the Guidance Hall.
If we don't and these guys come to know of my proposal, then they will want to renege on my terms as the deals won't be finalized until the council approves of the proposal for obvious reasons."
Silence engulfed the council room once again! This time, it was absolute silence! Every single one was staring at Fujin with a stunned expression. Fujin had done something that not a single one of them had thought of!
Except for one person, everyone looked at Fujin as if he had just snatched the food from their hands, just as they were about to eat it! The fact that Fujin was the one to put the food in their hand didn't make it any easier to digest.
As for the only person who wasn't thinking that he was looking at Fujin with his eyes full of disbelief. Hiruzen still couldn't believe it! He thought, 'Is that real? Did he just do that? Did Fujin do something that would actually benefit me???'
Having always been on the losing end due to Fujin's antics, Hiruzen couldn't believe that it was real. Even when he had some gains, he'd be forced to compensate in some other manner. For instance, when he won 120 million Ryo by betting on Fujin in the Chunin exam, Fujin immediately made him get the swords he wanted and also made him spend several weeks teaching the Wind Vacuum Technique to Fujin. However, just now, Fujin had given him something that could allow the village to gain hundreds of millions of Ryo with little effort!
Seeing that Fujin didn't suddenly say something that would cost him a kidney, Hiruzen almost wanted to cry tears of joy. He thought, 'Finally! My years of investment and hard work have paid off! First the puppets and now this! I don't remember the last time I was so happy!'
Even though Fujin noticed that Hiruzen was pleased, he didn't know how pleased Hiruzen was. If he could read Hiruzen's thoughts, he would have definitely tried his luck and asked for the Edo Tensei jutsu.
Hiruzen's blissful state was broken when one of the civilian council members said, "I think it'll be better if we wait unt…"
He was mercilessly cut off by Hiruzen who said, "You are right, Fujin. You have done a great job. We will analyze the proposal right now. The meeting will end only after we have voted. If any corrections are needed, we will make them later."
The civilian council member who was speaking just looked awkwardly at Hiruzen. He wanted to speak before Hiruzen did, but never expected to be cut off so harshly and be completely ignored. Everyone else who planned on taking advantage of the situation just sighed and gave up.
Trying to take away benefits from Fujin and trying to do the same against Hiruzen were two completely different things. Since Fujin had handed everything to Hiruzen on a silver platter, there was no way Hiruzen would share it with anyone else.
Of course, it was the village that would be gaining and not the Sarutobi clan. Hence, no one tried to argue any further and just began reading the proposal thoroughly while lost in their own thoughts.
The civilian council member who had opened his mouth cursed, 'This dumb kid! Why did he give everything to the village? Couldn't he have just claimed some benefits and left the rest for us? Wouldn't everyone be happy then?'
At the same time, Senju Hiromasa wondered, 'Did he do so due to his naivety? Or did he do this intentionally? But why would he refuse to curry favor with everyone in the council? Everyone would have been grateful to him for the opportunity. Then again, we already owe him a favor for taking down Danzo.'
Shikaku, who was the one who knew Fujin most clearly out of anyone in the room other than Hiruzen, analyzed, 'No, Fujin isn't naive. Currying favor with everyone else would have been more beneficial for him than just giving all benefits to the Hokage. After all, the Sarutobi clan would have benefitted as well.
Seeing Hokage's eyes, I'd say he didn't expect it either. So, he didn't influence Fujin to do this. I guess that just leaves two possibilities. I know that Hokage has been helping him with his training. The Wind Vacuum Technique which he is known for comes from him as well. It might be his way of thanking him. Or…'
Shikaku glanced at Fujin and thought, 'Or he felt that the council members who he gave such a chance wouldn't be thankful. Instead, several could have acted together to get as many benefits as they could, leaving him with very little. It could have also resulted in others seeing him as a soft target when political plays were concerned. After all, he has no experience in these matters.
From that perspective, his move is near perfect. After all, he has made a major contribution to the village, be it economically or militarily. Once the news spreads, almost every ninja in the village will be grateful to him. Though I guess Katsuhiro deserves some credit as well. Hmm, now that I think about it, his involvement is quite surprising. I didn't ever see him as the type of guy who would come up with something like this…'
Hiruzen had a similar thought. Even though he was joyous due to Fujin's gift, what had given him joy wasn't the money Konoha would earn, but rather the fact that it was Fujin doing something beneficial for him. While thinking about that, he inevitably thought about Katsuhiro and soon felt the same as Shikaku.
Hiruzen wondered, 'That's right, I almost overlooked this… Since when did Katsuhiro begin coming up with such good ideas? In the forty years he has been a ninja, he has never given any such suggestions…'
Hiruzen immediately became suspicious. Soon, his eyes widened before going back to normal size. He thought, 'I nearly forgot! The Anbu ninjas I had placed to keep an eye on Root reported Katsuhiro visiting Root a couple of times after Danzo was removed from the council.
If he is involved with Danzo, then it might be possible that this idea came from Danzo and not Katsuhiro. That is far more plausible. However, why would Danzo make Katsuhiro help Fujin after what happened?'
Knowing his old friend, Hiruzen immediately smelled a scheme. Thoughts ran through his mind. In just a couple of minutes and while he was going through the proposal, he figured out most of Danzo's plan!
He glanced towards Fujin and thought, 'This was a trap. A trap for Fujin. Danzo likely expected him to steal credit. Even if he didn't, the proposal would have made the clan leaders see Fujin as a threat.
However, Fujin didn't steal the credit. Seeing his nature, that wasn't surprising. There are a lot of things that he can take credit for but he instead prefers to keep them a secret. And thanks to the changes he made to Katsuhiro's proposal, the clan leaders don't see it as much of a threat as they would have otherwise.
Fujin avoided one trap due to his nature and nullified another due to his diligence. That's a relief! However, he is oblivious to these schemes.
For Danzo to do something like this, it'll only mean one thing. He wants to replace Fujin with Katsuhiro on the council. If my guess is right, he will now try to give the credit for the proposal to Katsuhiro, making the ninjas grateful to him instead of Fujin. That might give him just enough capital to threaten Fujin's seat. Hmph, I'll strike first. Let me see what you'll try then, Danzo!'
Even though Hiruzen's guesses were accurate, he didn't know that Danzo had stopped supporting Katsuhiro after the incident as he wouldn't be able to use the council to make a comeback. Katsuhiro was planning on progressing the plan by himself.
As a result, Katsuhiro would soon find himself competing against a Hiruzen who thought that he was facing Danzo! Not to mention, Fujin was unaware of the fact that Hiruzen had connected the dots. Nor was he aware of whether Danzo was still helping Katsuhiro or not. Hence, he had his own plans which he would be putting into motion very soon after the meeting ended.
Katsuhiro, who had just spent two miserable months being forced to correct the proposal again and again, was unaware of the misery that still awaited him.
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