Inside the main office in the base, Shigeki and Hayato sat on the opposite side of the desk. Both were looking at half a dozen papers on the desk while doing several calculations in their head.
After a few minutes, Hayato sighed and said, "Our size is getting bigger. It's getting difficult to handle everything by ourselves."
Thanks to the funds provided by Fujin, the Phantom Haven Society was able to expand rapidly. When he first started it, they had only 12 members other than Fujin. However, in less than a year, their numbers had increased by more than 10 times!
Shigeki nodded and replied, "Yeah. We can handle it for now but if our numbers double once again, then we will need to delegate these tasks to others and only do the final approval. Even if our numbers don't double, we won't be able to handle it all once the students become Field Agents."
Hayato agreed and said, "We are almost becoming like an official hidden village. Hmm, what happened?"
As he was talking, Hayato saw Shigeki's expression becoming serious. Shigeki said, "Someone just activated the barrier. Shiden is probably back. Let's go."
He immediately flickered. Hayato couldn't flicker without any seals and was a bit slower. He weaved a hand seal and flickered while thinking, 'He returned so soon? That's strange. Earlier, he always visited with a gap of at least 3 months. However, it has just been a month since his last visit.'
As soon as they arrived outside, they saw Shiden landing in the base along with a red-haired girl. The others in the base who were at the top were also looking at them.
Shigeki immediately flickered in front of Fujin and said respectfully, "Shiden, it's great to see you again so soon."
Fujin's clone nodded and said, "It's good to be back."
He looked at Karin and said, "She is Karin. She'll be joining us. Her rank will be Field Agent, but for now, she'll focus on training like the students.
Karin, he's Shigeki. He's a Vice Leader of the Phantom Haven Society and the Leader here in my absence. If you have any queries, you can approach him."
Even though his words created a lot of questions in her mind, Karin nodded and said respectfully, "I'll be in your care."
Shigeki looked towards Karin and thought, 'So that's why he's early. This is the second time he's brought a young ninja here. Will her talent be as ludicrous as Ranmaru?'
Shigeki didn't understand why Fujin had brought a little kid the previous time. All his questions and doubts were blown away when he saw the progress Ranmaru made in the academy. His talent was off the charts! None of the older ninjas in the base had seen anyone even remotely as talented as the boy in Tanigakure! It had increased their respect for Shiden by another level. Since he brought another young ninja, Shigeki became curious about her.
Fujin's clone looked at Hayato and said, "Hayato, make her staying arrangements and introduce her to some of the facilities here. I'll catch up with Shigeki."
Hayato nodded and said, "Alright."
He quickly took Karin away while Fujin's clone and Shigeki walked towards the main office. As they walked, Fujin's clone gazed at the buildings in the base. As compared to the initial rough structures he had created, the base now had a completely different look. All the buildings were properly built.
The academy and the living quarters looked far more pleasing to the eye and were comfortable for everyone to use. A hospital had been built to teach Medical Ninjutsu and treat injured ninjas. Mini-training grounds had been built around the academy to practice simple things like shuriken throwing and Taijutsu. Of course, the main training grounds were outside the base in the massive valley.
The main headquarters was decorated a bit to make it look more grand than the remaining buildings. The library was made artistic as well. The two of them entered the headquarters and walked into the main office. Both sat down as Fujin's clone said, "So, how's everything here? Did anything major happen in the last month?"
Shigeki immediately updated Fujin on everything that happened since his last visit. In the end, he added, "Even though nothing major has happened, we have made a lot of progress. Our spy network in the Land of Rivers has been completed. We have one informer in every village and town except Tanigakure.
Since you warned us about a possible conflict between Konoha and Suna, we stopped trying to extend it directly into the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind. Instead, we followed your leads and expanded in the two countries from the south in the coastal areas. We should be able to expand all the way to the eastern parts of the Land of Wind in a few months but it is difficult to expand into the Land of Fire as the Konoha ninjas frequently patrol the areas.
So, we directly moved through the seas and extended the spy network into the Land of Tea. We should be able to complete it within a month and then we will extend it to the Land of Noodles. We'll need your guidance to expand it beyond that."
Fujin's clone said, "You've progressed very well. No need to worry about expanding beyond it. Let's consolidate our current network and ensure that everything is working efficiently. We can begin expanding once again once there aren't any more issues."
Shigeki nodded and said, "I and Hayato were of the same view."
Fujin's clone asked, "What about the new recruits? How many members do we have now?"
Shigeki sighed and answered, "I'm not sure if this is a good thing or bad. We rescued 7 villages in the last month and ended up recruiting 73 children. Currently, we have 131 students, 23 Field Agents, 24 if I include Karin and just 3 Captains.
We'll need at least 2 years before some of the students might be ready to perform field operations. However, going by your standards, they might need another couple of years to be promoted to Field Agents.
Unless we can somehow recruit a few dozen Field Agents and a few Captains, we won't be able to look after more students. Not to mention, we don't have any Commanders except you and me."
Fujin's clone replied with a hint of sadness in his voice, "Under normal circumstances, I'd have considered this as a happy problem. However, being able to recruit so many students shows how messed up this world is. It proves how important our existence is."
Shigeki's heart stirred due to the sadness in his voice. He couldn't help but feel sad as well. At the same time, his belief in the Phantom Will strengthened! He muttered, "That's true. Even though we are doing good, we still need to do a lot more."
Fujin's clone nodded and said, "Yes. However, it is also important that we survive to do our work. Without sufficient strength, our goal will remain just a dream.
Don't forget that we don't enjoy the same benefits as a Ninja village. We can't train a large number of kids at the same time. For the time being, stop recruiting new students. Only recruit if someone displays high talent like Ranmaru. We will focus more on quality than quantity.
Due to what they have experienced, all the students will be highly motivated. With our training plan, they will become stronger faster even compared to the kids in the major villages even if they aren't as talented as them.
Right now, they have just started training. In the next 12 to 18 months, you'll observe some students standing out as compared to the rest. Once that happens, we can implement my idea for making clubs in the academy. After that, you'll see the students taking care of each other and reduce the pressure on teachers. That might allow us to recruit some more students.
Of course, even though the recruitment will stop, our activities shouldn't. Continue helping the villages you can help while avoiding confrontation with Tanigakure."
Shigeki immediately nodded and said, "I understand."
Fujin's clone continued, "As for recruiting Field Agents, Captains and Commanders in decent numbers, that'll be difficult. Not everyone will believe in the Phantom Will. There are too many like Raiga who'd cause trouble instead of solving it.
Instead of focusing on recruitment, focus more on increasing the strength of our current members. By the time the students start becoming Field Agents, our current Field Agents should become strong enough to become Captains. Similarly, the Captains should work hard to become Commanders. It'll take a while, but this is the most stable way to become strong enough to achieve our goals."
Shigeki thought for a bit and agreed with Fujin's thoughts but he had a few doubts. He said, "While I agree with your thoughts, it isn't easy to make older ninjas stronger. How will we do that?"
Fujin's clone chuckled and said, "That is the other reason for my visit."
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