A frown appeared on the face of every clan leader. Not one of them wanted the Root to restart officially. Apart from the Hyuga clan, every clan had to contribute a significant amount of their talents to the Root in the past. And, no one was happy about it.
Shibi snorted and asked, "Since when did Root begin taking in untalented ninjas? Over the last few decades, more than a thousand talented ninjas were incorporated into the Root. More than half of them die during the training phase itself. And despite such losses, not a single rank S ninja came out of the Root."
Danzo argued back, "The Root's contribution to the village is unquestionable. Without Root, Konoha would have had to face the full force of all our neighbours. Even if no rank S ninja appeared in the Root, its contribution far exceeds that of any rank S ninja."
He looked at Shibi and added, "As for your words, this time I will take in the ninjas ranked last in the academy and raise them. Using your words, there won't be any loss to the village, right?"
Fujin was impressed by Danzo's words. He thought, 'Impressive indeed. In terms of words, he is as good as Hiruzen. Even if Danzo recruits only untalented ninjas at first, once his authority increases, he will immediately pounce on talented kids from the clans. I wonder how the clan leaders will oppose him.'
As he thought, Fujin's gaze turned towards Shikaku. As Fujin expected, Shikaku said, "Elder Danzo, no one in this room is a fool. So stop treating us as one. Restarting Root is out of the question. However, I can understand your concerns.
Though Root won't be started, we can make arrangements for Root instructors to teach students in the academy. We will even have the regular teachers assist Root instructors in the academy to have the optimal result."
A smile formed on Fujin's face. He thought, 'What an answer! Hehe, if all the future meetings happen like these, then they will be rather fun to attend.'
Just like Fujin, the remaining clan leaders liked the answer as well while Danzo's expression became slightly darker. Shikaku's reply showed his strong stance against restarting the Root.
At the same time, he also gave a way for Danzo to solve the issue he had raised. In addition, by saying that the academy teachers would aid the Root instructors, Shikaku ensured that they could keep an eye on what the Root instructors were doing and ensure that Danzo couldn't increase his influence.
Of course, Danzo wouldn't accept difficulty so easily. He replied, "How can that be the same? The methods of teaching in the Root and the Academy are completely different. It won't have any effect on the students."
Shikaku immediately replied, "That's not right. According to you, the reason why the academy students are lacking is because the teachers aren't good enough and are taking it easy. Since Root instructors don't share the same problem, they should be able to deliver much better results."
Danzo argued back, "They will, but they won't be able to raise them to Anbu standard by training them in the Academy. At most, they will become stronger than a normal Genin while a few will become Chunins. That will be a huge loss for the village. That is why I insist that the Root program needs to be restarted."
Shikaku was about to reply again, however Danzo stopped him. Danzo knew that an argument between the two of them would be endless and without much point. He said, "Almost all of the students who are at the bottom ranks are from civilian backgrounds. I would like to hear what the council member who represents the civilian ninjas has to say on this matter."
In an instant, everyone's eyes turned towards Fujin. Fujin, who was merely interested in watching the drama, was caught off guard. He thought, 'Eh? Me? Why does he want to hear my opinion?'
At the same time, Danzo thought, 'If I put this to vote, Hiruzen and the 7 Clan Leaders will oppose me. I can get the remaining 8 votes in my favor. Previously, Hiruzen could use his extra vote to reject my proposal. But now, it depends on Fujin. Though I don't have much hope of him voting in my favor, it will allow me to see if Hiruzen was sincere when he said that Fujin won't listen to everything he says.'
A similar thought ran through the heads of the Clan Leaders. Shikaku wasn't worried as he had interacted with Fujin several times. However, the others didn't know much about him. Since Hiruzen had nominated Fujin, they believed that Fujin would follow Hiruzen. But, Danzo's sudden question created some doubts.
Fujin looked at Danzo and wondered, 'Is he trying to make things difficult for me because I rejected his invite? Regardless, how do I answer this question? I can't say that I just want to enjoy the drama, can I?'
Fujin fell into deep thought. His mind quickly thought about the points he should speak about and began analyzing how he should articulate them.
Danzo said once again, "What are your thoughts, Suzuki Fujin?"
Fujin casually replied, "It's a rather complicated and important matter. Give me a couple of minutes to think about it."
Fujin's reply surprised some of the council members. A smile appeared on Hiruzen's and Shikaku's faces as they were very familiar with Fujin's ways. Inoichi and the rest thought, 'To not be pressurized in such a situation and casually ask for time to think… He is impressive.'
For the next couple of minutes, everyone in the room looked at Fujin who sat calmly without looking at anyone. Finally, he looked at Danzo and said, "The point of academy students not having sufficient training is valid. I have been in contact with one of the students and the lack of proper training is rather apparent."
Fujin's words caused some of the clan leaders to frown. At the same time, Danzo became hopeful. He had expected that Fujin would directly refute him. So Fujin's words were a pleasant surprise to him.
Fujin continued, "However, I'm afraid that sending them to Root would cause a calamity in the village and will cause an existential crisis for the village.
From your earlier discussion, it seems like more than half the talented kids recruited into Root die. I'm not sure how the clans in our village are able to bear such high costs, but the civilian families in the village can't bear such costs.
After all, most families have only one or two children. If dozens, or worse hundreds, lose all or half their kids while the kids should have been studying in the academy, I'm afraid that it would cause widespread riots in the village.
As a result, no family would be willing to send their children to the academy. We would lose the main source from where our village gains new students. So while I do agree with your observations, I'm afraid that your solution would just make matters far worse very quickly."
Fujin's answer caused a smile to appear on Hiruzen's face. He thought, 'Very good answer! He used Danzo's tone and made the problem sound far worse than it was. With such an answer, the 5 civilian members can't support Danzo or they will face backlash and could get replaced.
With his answer, he not only took away the 5 votes that would have been in Danzo's favor but even turned them in his favor. I wasn't mistaken in wanting to make Fujin a negotiator and including him in the Council.'
Shikaku smiled as well and thought, 'I'm so happy that he retired from the Anbu. From his eyes, it seems like he might have some hostility with Danzo. Good, I can use him to deal with Danzo in the future and rest even more in the future.'
The remaining council members also began seeing Fujin in a new light. Other than Choza and Homura, no one expected such an answer from Fujin. Even Choza and Homura were impressed as Fujin spoke in a high-pressure environment instead of casually discussing with Hiruzen.
Danzo's expression became dark once again. He countered, "Ninjas are tools for the village. They should be prepared to sacrifice their lives for the good of the village."
Fujin replied nonchalantly, "Good luck convincing anyone how losing 50% ninjas during training is good for the village. Besides, the Academy students aren't ninjas. So I'm afraid that your logic doesn't hold true. Your methods would just give our village a bad name like the Village of the Bloody Mist. I'm sure that no one here wants our village to meet the same fate as Kirigakure."
Danzo replied, "That's completely different. Don't compare my methods to their barbarian wa..."
Finally, Hiruzen interrupted, "That's enough. Restarting Root has far more disadvantages than advantages. That is very evident from the discussion that we just had. Unless you want to put it to vote, this discussion ends here."
Danzo looked at Hiruzen but didn't say anything. He was aware that he would lose if a vote happened. So he didn't bother asking for one.
Hiruzen looked at Fujin and asked, "What are your views on how to improve the training for the students?"
