Chapter 837 : 'Misunderstanding'

“Yeah, let us sell this information too.”

The entire council looked at Fujin weirdly. Other than Shikaku, not a single person expected Fujin to say something like this. Even Tsunade and Jiraiya looked at Fujin in a new light.

Fujin explained, “Kumogakure and Iwagakure will pay a high price to learn about a threat that could kill their Kage or kidnap their Jinchuriki. We could even blame him for kidnapping Han. Even though Sunagakure has been wrung dry, they should still fork up more resources to learn of such a threat. The only disappointment is that it's unlikely for either faction in the Land of Water to pay anything due to their state…”

None of the council members paid much attention to his words. Once Fujin suggested the idea, they immediately realized the pros and the cons. Their mind was still stuck on how absurd the idea was. Yet, somehow it made complete sense.

Under normal circumstances, no village would sell information that was this critical. They would instead wait for Obito to cause some harm to other villages, indirectly making Konoha's position stronger. However, the four Great Villages didn't pose a threat to Konoha for the time being. None of them were in a position to launch a huge war. Conversely, Akatsuki felt like a greater threat.

So, it was logical to sell such information despite its absurdity. Understanding the threat such a ninja would pose, Konoha could demand a higher price than the Third Kazekage's information. It was just that Fujin proposed this idea, someone who hadn't had much exposure to business, as opposed to the Clan Leaders and Elders, who handled several financial matters for their respective factions.

Tsunade couldn't help but think, ‘This boy… His thought process is completely different from that of a normal youngster. What did he go through to find opportunities in such vague and unrelated matters?

Hmm, no. That's not what this weird feeling is. I understand now. He's treating these deals as a way to extort resources from other villages. He's a few steps ahead of sensei in this aspect, though I can't say whether it is a good thing…’

Jiraiya noticed the same thing while the remaining council members got a glimpse of what evoked Hiruzen's interest in Fujin. Shikaku thought, ‘I had heard tales of him extorting the old man during graduation and his chunin exams… No wonder he pushed so much to bring Fujin into the council and on negotiation teams! He just wanted other villages to experience what he had to…’

For a moment, Shikaku was worried that the next Great War might start when Fujin overdid on such matters. He could only pray that he'd be retired from official duty by then.

Hiromasa suddenly chuckled and said, “Not bad. What we received from Kusagakure and Sunagakure is already enough to recover from our losses. If we can make Iwagakure and Kumogakure pay a heavy price, it'll be a good boost to help us improve our forces to the next level.”

With Hiromasa breaking the ice, several others chuckled as well.
Tsume said, “Indeed, this is a good idea.”
Inoichi added, “We must make this a high priority.”
Hiashi replied, “I agree, but we shouldn't be impatient. Otherwise, they'll suspect something fishy and may not be prepared to pay a high price. We need to first build trust by selling the Third Kazekage's intel.”

The entire council, consisting of several respected people, began discussing how to extract the maximum price from other villages like a group of bandits.

Suddenly, Koharu coughed and said, “You are putting the cart in front of the horse.”
Everyone's gaze turned towards her. She looked at Fujin and said, “You took all the elemental crystals Sunagakure gave in exchange for the information about the Third Kazekage. Do you want to do the same again?”

Fujin thought, ‘Well, I wasn't planning to take any. But if she is asking me so kindly, refusing would be rather impolite…’

Luckily or unluckily for Koharu, Tsume spoke before Fujin could open his mouth, “That wouldn't be appropriate. The deal with Sunagakure is a different matter. Fujin's actions were the reason why they capitulated so easily. The deal related to the Third Kazekage was just a cherry on top. We can't treat every case similarly. The more appropriate action would be to give him 25%, as we do when a clan contributes majorly to a particular task.”

Tsume wasn't present in the Hokage office when Koharu tried to lecture Fujin for being greedy. So, she didn't know Koharu's intentions and assumed that Koharu wanted Fujin to get a fair share since nearly all the work had been done by him.

Of course, it was strange to see Koharu looking after Fujin despite their disagreements in Fire Capital, but Tsume had seen stranger things. In politics, benefits frequently outweighed petty squabbles. Quite often, council members who were on the opposite sides joined hands if both their factions benefited.

Tsume merely assumed that this was one of those cases. She didn't want the Inuzuka clan to lose out on their share of the fortune Konoha was about to earn. Since the other clans would have similar thoughts, Tsume wasn't afraid to speak her mind.

Koharu immediately understood, ‘She misunderstood me!’
Koharu quickly said, “However, he is only one ninja…”

Koharu wanted to say that Fujin was alone without any clan. As such, he shouldn't be treated as a clan and the benefits he got should be substantially lower. Unfortunately, she was cut off by Inoichi, who said, “That's incorrect. He is looking after over a hundred orphans from the Land of Water. In the future, they'll be a huge part of our Anbu. Even though it isn't official like the clans, it is more or less a faction and Fujin is the de facto leader.”

Much like Tsume, he was afraid Koharu and Fujin had reached some sort of deal behind the scenes. He didn't even let her make an argument.

Koharu wanted to respond, but Hiromasa said, “Actually, that's not completely fair. The clans, even the smaller ones, get resources from the village every year. Fujin's faction doesn't receive any such budget, though the kids are being trained by the Anbu trainers. To make things fair, we should give Fujin a bigger share of this deal or assign his faction resources just like clans get.”

Without wasting a breath, Inoichi said with a smile, “With the way those kids are growing, the latter is inevitable. We should make it official now.”

More than the orphans, it was Fujin's growth that was extremely overwhelming. While they would look out for their interests, none of the clan leaders wanted to oppose Fujin if they could avoid doing so. Inoichi knew it was just a matter of time before his faction received a similar status as the ninja clans. In the past, Danzo, Homura and Koharu had developed their clans substantially when they gained fame and strength. So, he expected Fujin to do the same at some point in the future.

The loss of Fujin taking some of their resources was insignificant compared to the gains from selling the information. Inoichi didn't need any time to calculate. Choza nodded, “Hmm, that is reasonable. I agree with Inoichi.”

Tsume and Hiromasa agreed too while the rest kept watching the scene in disbelief. The rest had seen Koharu and Fujin clash in the Hokage's office. They knew Koharu wanted to ensure that Fujin didn't get anything and not the opposite. Yet, Fujin's faction now somehow had the support of four clan leaders!

Koharu was completely at a loss of words while Homura failed to understand how things reached such a stage. Fujin was surprised as well. He never anticipated such a thing. For once, he was being selfless until Koharu decided to poke him. However, even before he could counter her, Tsume, Inoichi and Hiromasa worked together to make the village pay him a neat little sum.

With a smile on his face, Hiromasa asked, “What do you think, Fujin? Is this acceptable?”

Naturally, Fujin didn't have any problem with such a deal. Though he could push for more benefits, it wouldn't have made any difference to him. Besides, he wasn't planning to take anything initially. As such, he could only nod.

With him having the support of four clan leaders, the remaining three had no option but to go along with this arrangement despite knowing what was truly happening. With seven clan leaders supporting him and Tsunade not showing any opposition, there was nothing Koharu could do or say to clear up the confusion.

Homura looked in confusion as he wondered, ‘What the hell happened here?’