Chapter 496 : Fujin's Counterattack

Yasushi's thoughts were extremely accurate. Or rather, they would have been, had Fujin's words and thoughts been the same. Fujin thought, 'What's the use of trying to take credit? He obviously came prepared. If I had tried to steal the credit, I would have fallen into a trap. Even Hiruzen would have been unlikely to support my seat in the council if that happened.

Since I can't take the credit, why should I put in the hard work? Let him do it all by himself or with Danzo's aid. Besides, even though I never did any politics in my previous life, I do know how bureaucracy works. In the council, only I can put forth this proposal due to its nature. The civilian members can't do it as they represent the non-ninja population. The Elders obviously won't do it as they will offend the clan leaders. As for the clan leaders, there is no reason to even think.

So, let him put forth a proposal. I'll delay my response as much as I can and then point out the flaws in his proposal and ask him to redo it. As long as he fails to complete the proposal before the council meeting happens, he'll have to wait for 6 months until the proposal can be put forth again. That's enough time for me to figure out why Danzo's attempting this and who are the others that are helping him…'

Fujin's clone looked at Yasushi and said, "Let's handle the remaining cases. We will complete all the pending ones today."

Since he was there, he might as well complete everything. Yasushi and Haruma immediately got to work. While he continued working, Fujin's clone was thinking about the new issue that popped out of nowhere.

He analyzed, 'My position in the council should have been stable. If there is any instability, then it should be due to my last proposal. I didn't think much back then as I had thought of them on the spot. But when I analyzed it more later, I realized that it compromises the authority of the ninja clans.

In fact, it also affects Hiruzen's Sarutobi clan. So, if he decides against it, there is little I can do about it. However, this shouldn't be a reason for my seat to be vulnerable. After all, if Hiruzen is against it, then those changes will never be implemented. As such, no one has any reason to oppose me as long as I don't try to force those changes.

On the other hand, if Hiruzen is onboard, he'll convince the rest of the clans. In fact, even Homura and Koharu should support those changes. The only way an issue can occur is if Danzo manages to turn 1 or 2 clan leaders against me and also gains the support of the 5 civilian members and the 2 other elders.

Since he is pulling off this move, it means that he has made at least some gains. Otherwise, there is no point to it. But, why would any clan leader support him?

It's not like the issue is big. They will just need to put in more effort. As long as they can train their ninjas to be Jounins instead of stopping at Special Jounins, they will still be the ones in charge of the village. Not to mention, their survivability will increase.'

Though it was a plausible reason, Fujin didn't think it was big enough for anyone to actually oppose him. After all, Fujin's strength would remain irrespective of whether he was a part of the council or not.

The clone concluded, 'I guess he was hoping that I would mess up against this scheme. If I had presented this proposal as my own, then the clan leaders could have seen me as someone who wanted to make the civilians strong very aggressively. My proposed changes to the academy will make an impact in around 10-15 years. However, Katsuhiro's proposal will make an impact within 2 years. One is a future threat while the other is an immediate threat.

It would have allowed Danzo to influence a few clan leaders. And once he made it public that I tried to steal credit, he could have easily made Homura and Koharu vote against me and pressured Hiruzen against taking sides.

Hehehe, a good scheme indeed. Looks like that bastard is still not content. Killing him right now isn't beneficial for me. But it's time to clip his wings. Those Ame ninjas weren't good enough for practice. I was planning on visiting Kiri later but the Root ninjas should provide decent practice as well.

Also, I need to increase the attention I pay to the events inside the village. Specifically, those 5 civilian council members. They hold a significant vote share in the council… I haven't agreed to any of their meeting invites despite being on the council for so long. So, it isn't a surprise if they want to play political games. But, I don't have time to waste on them.

If they become a headache, I'll have to eliminate one of them. That should ensure that the remaining four stay within their limits. It'll also give Hiruzen an opportunity to induct someone more loyal to him. That said, why exactly did Hiruzen allow Danzo's influence on them to be so strong? It's such an unnecessary headache!'

He couldn't guess what Hiruzen was thinking. However, Fujin's clone was satisfied with the plans he created and stopped thinking about it. There was no need to overly complicate the situation. He continued working until late in the night until all the work was completed before dispelling himself and sending the memories back to Fujin.

In the basement, Fujin opened his eyes as he received all the memories. A smile appeared on his face as he thought, 'It looks like Danzo grew impatient with me staying in my house and in the training ground for months… Sigh, he is a lot tougher to deal with. Despite messing with me so many times, he hasn't given me a single opening to act upon.

As expected as someone who operates an organization like Root. He doesn't leave any tracks behind. If not for my knowledge, I wouldn't have been able to link these incidents to him… Though, it isn't entirely bad. Killing him this early would have made me miss out on a future opportunity. Besides, since he has so much free time on his hands, I'll give him something to be worried about instead of wasting his time on me.'

In an instant, 4 Shadow clones appeared next to Fujin. Each had 20% of the chakra Fujin currently had left. Immediately, all four changed their appearances and physiques to be completely different from each other. On top of it, they wore masks and cloaks to disguise themselves further.

Looking at each other, one clone said, "I'll go East."

"I'll go West."

"I'll take the Northern base."

The last clone didn't say anything. All four hid their chakra and disappeared from Fujin's house.

Inside Konoha, Root had one main base where Danzo generally stayed. However, that was one of the many bases Root controlled. When Fujin secretly inspected the village, he found as many as 37 other hidden underground bases! Of course, most of the bases were closed after Hiruzen cut off Danzo's manpower following the Uchiha Massacre.

However, the Root still operated 4 of those bases, covering every direction. Each of those four bases had 2 to 6 Root ninjas managing it at any point depending on the available manpower. Only if Root had to deploy all its forces outside the village would those bases be shut down. Fujin's target was those 4 bases!

Fujin's clones moved secretly through Konoha, leaving no signs of their tracks. Not a single ninja was able to detect them. The clone heading South reached his target first.

He stopped just outside the base as surprise appeared on his face. He analyzed, 'Hmm, there are 9 ninjas inside this base? That's strange. Is Danzo up to something? I need to check who it is. If Danzo is present here, I'll have to retreat. My main body can send a clone to target the main Root base instead.'

Fighting someone like Danzo would leave a lot of clues. Not to mention, killing someone as strong as Danzo would require Fujin to go all out and he still wouldn't be able to guarantee Danzo's death let alone keep that fight a secret. It couldn't be done with a mere clone.

However, since Fujin was attacking all four bases, the clone didn't see a need to be too careful. The Root bases were hidden very well from the public. All the bases were several meters below the ground. In addition, they were covered in numerous seals to ensure they stayed hidden and were strong enough to not collapse due to a few jutsus. So, there was no fear of any external forces interfering in the fight.

The clone directly entered into the base and activated his chakra field, covering the entire base. Immediately, all the 9 Root ninjas detected the chakra field and flickered towards the clone's location.

Behind his mask, a smile appeared on Fujin's clone's face. He thought, 'Good, Danzo or any other Elite Jounins aren't here. Time to go on a rampage!'

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