Chapter 415: Council Member Suzuki Fujin

Seeing Hiruzen's smile, Fujin cursed, 'Why is this old fox smiling? It almost feels like he is enjoying my helplessness!'

Unfortunately, there wasn't much that Fujin could do. He asked, "Is there any chance you can arrange a meeting between me and Lady Tsunade, Grandpa?"

To Fujin's disappointment, Hiruzen shook his head and said, "Unfortunately, I can't. Until a Great War breaks out, she won't return to the village. She has sacrificed too much for the village and doesn't want to be disturbed unless it's an emergency."

Fujin sighed once again. He didn't say anything and thought, 'I guess I can only wait for her to return to the village. Even though finding her shouldn't be too difficult, I have no relationship with her. So, it is highly unlikely that she will agree to help even if I track her down. I can only wait until Naruto changes her heart. That said...'

Fujin looked at Hiruzen and wondered, 'Will events really play out as I remember? Hiruzen is an entirely different league as compared to what I remember about him from the show. I don't see him playing with roof tiles when facing Orochimaru.

That said, it is unlikely that Orochimaru is as weak as I recall either. Just like Hiruzen, he barely used any good jutsu in that fight apart from Edo Tensei. Tobirama didn't use his Flying Thunder God from what I remember while Hashirama wasn't as overbearing as he is. Even if Hashirama's strength was limited due to the Edo Tensei not being as perfect as it was during the war, he could still be far more devastating.

Besides, I myself have become a factor that others must consider. Even if they don't get the news that I killed Juzo, the bounty should show that my threat is at least comparable to Kakashi's. And I am an expert in Wind Release. In a war, just my ability to strengthen Fire jutsus will be very devastating. Not to mention, I have already created a lot of mess against Suna and Iwa...

Sigh, so many complications and calculations. No point in thinking too much about it pointlessly. I'll just see what happens and act accordingly.'

Hiruzen let out a chuckle on seeing Fujin think so deeply and said, "Don't worry so much. Even if no war happens, Tsunade will eventually return to the village. When she arrives, I will ask her to help you. Now, let's talk about why I called you here."

Fujin said, "Thank you. And yeah, I almost forgot that you called me here for some reason, haha."

Hiruzen smiled and said, "It's good to see that you are happy. This news is related to you."

Fujin raised an eyebrow and wondered, 'A news related to me? But I have been in the village all the time. Did someone I know experience something good?'

Hiruzen waited for a few seconds for some suspense to build up. Finally, he said, "Congratulations Fujin. You have been selected to join the Council of Konoha."

Fujin raised his eyebrows and wondered, 'Konoha's Council? What the hell?'

He asked, "What do you mean?"

Hiruzen asked, "You know what the Konoha Council is and who the council members are, right?"

Fujin nodded. He had studied the Council in Konoha very thoroughly. Hiruzen said, "We have decided to expand the council and add one more seat to represent ninjas who aren't from any ninja clans. I decided to appoint you to that seat and the council supported my decision."

Fujin thought, 'The council supported me? I barely know anyone in it and the council members have a lot of political influence. There is no way that they will just pass it along to someone who has no background. I guess Hiruzen played quite a few cards to make this happen.

Still, this is good for me. Extremely good! I wanted to enter the council before that incident took place. I didn't expect that I'd be able to join it so early.'

Fujin replied, "Grandpa, I barely know any Civilian ninjas. How am I supposed to represent them?"

Hiruzen waved his hand dismissively and said, "Even though there was no such seat earlier, the council works to ensure that everyone in Konoha is looked after properly. So you don't need to worry about it. At most, your job is to ensure that the council doesn't make any decisions that will harm the interests of the civilian ninjas.

The real reason why I got you in the council is to give you sufficient power for you to be able to negotiate without any worries."

Fujin was surprised. He said, "Oh, that sounds doable. Alright, Grandpa. I will do my best for the village. Is there anything I should know about being a council member?"

Hiruzen nodded. He briefed Fujin about additional duties he would have, about how to act in several scenarios that Hiruzen expected Fujin to face and also discussed with him the political implications of his appointment to the council. Fujin asked several questions to clear his doubts which were answered patiently by Hiruzen.

The two talked for over a couple of hours. In the end, Hiruzen said, "Don't worry too much. Even if you meet with some issue that you are not sure how to handle, you can just say that you'll handle it later and talk with me about how to resolve it. If I'm not in the village, you can consult Shikaku."

Fujin nodded and said, "Alright."

He let out a yawn and said, "If that's all Grandpa, then I'll go take my nap."

Hiruzen chuckled and said, "That's all. Go take a proper rest. I'll hold another council meeting soon to introduce you to it."

Fujin nodded. He got up and began walking when he suddenly had an idea. He turned around and said, "The ninja clans get a certain number of elemental crystals allotted to them every year, while the civilian ninjas don't have access to this. If any of the civilian ninjas ask me to raise this point, what should I say?"

Hiruzen replied, "Unfortunately, the number of elemental crystals we receive is too low and is decreasing continuously. If not for the deals we made with neighbouring countries, we wouldn't have been able to sustain it. So we can't allot the Elemental Crystals to everyone. In a few years, we may need to stop supplying them to clans as well.

But, as of now, as long as a civilian ninja shows promise, I will induct them into Anbu and give them access to it. Just like you and Bunjiro. The senior ninjas will all be aware of this, so they won't bother you about this matter."

Fujin nodded and said, "Alright. I'll see you later."

He disappeared from the office. Hiruzen stared at where he was standing and wondered, 'Was his query genuine or does he want more elemental crystals for himself for some reason? Hasn't he already reached his limit of using them?'

Hiruzen thought for a bit but couldn't reach any conclusion. After a few minutes, he dropped it and returned to his work.

Fujin appeared in his house in less than a minute and thought, 'That's a shame. Though Wind Crystals no longer have much of an effect on me while Fire and Earth Crystals are too slow to absorb, I haven't tried absorbing energy from the Lightning Crystals since the Chunin Exam.

Had Hiruzen given me the crystals, I could have used the Lightning ones in secret. After all, while Hiruzen can monitor the Anbu Training Facility, he can't monitor my house. Ah, leave it. It's highly unlikely that my rate of absorbing Lightning energy will increase as it happened with Wind Crystals.

Anyway, this is quite good news. I wanted to enter the council before Akatsuki started making their moves. I thought I'd have to influence Tsunade into creating such a seat for me. By then, considering how much stronger I'd have grown, I would have been able to force my way in.

I never thought Hiruzen would solve this issue for me so early. This will make implementing that plan much easier and the backlash will be smaller as compared to if I had just joined the council and displeased some of the members due to having forced my way in.'

Fujin yawned again and rubbed his eyes. He muttered, "I really need some sleep. I'll see how this goes after the first meeting is arranged."

Fujin went to sleep. While he slept, news spread rapidly throughout Konoha. The news that a new Council Member had been appointed surprised many people. The fact that the new Council Member was supposed to represent Civilian ninjas brought joy to the vast number of Civilian ninjas in Konoha.

Though a few people were sceptical about Fujin's selection for that seat, no one said anything considering his high bounty and the fact that the Third Hokage had recommended him for the spot.

Irrespective of whether people were pleased or not, everyone was talking about the new Council Member Suzuki Fujin.