Everyone became serious upon hearing Fujin's words. At the same time, they were curious as well.
Fujin explained, "As I told Shigeki, I won't be staying here frequently. In my absence, Shigeki will be the leader here. As such, the rest of you need to follow his instructions."
No one opposed it. They were quite familiar with Shigeki and didn't have an issue in working under him. In fact, they preferred it to working under an unknown person like Fujin.
Fujin continued, "Once I leave, you'll have to focus on 4 tasks. The first one is obviously making this base and the mini bases more hospitable. As for the details, I'll leave it under your capable hands. You can visit nearby villages and towns to buy whatever you need. Just make sure to hide your identity and don't let anyone trail you."
Shigeki asked, "Will you be providing us with monetary support? Though we do have some money, I doubt any of us has enough to undertake such a huge project."
The others agreed with Shigeki. While they each had some money due to being rogue ninjas and bounty hunters, none were very rich. To their relief, Fujin nodded and tossed a scroll to Shigeki.
He said, "This scroll has over 41 million Ryo. I had arranged 25 million Ryo initially. However, I met a few bandits and rogue ninjas who were willing to 'donate' to our just cause."
Everyone had a weird expression on their faces. They all understood what 'donate' implied.
Fujin placed a few more scrolls on the rocky table he was leaning against and said, "These scrolls contain weapons that those kind souls donated. Put them to good use. Anyway, returning to our topic, the second task you'll handle is creating an information network.
Needless to say, these informants won't be members of Phantom Haven. So, no need to explain our goals or to give them much information. Just pay them and treat them as employees. Retain or replace them based on how useful they are.
You can use civilians or rogue ninjas who have a good reputation for this purpose. If any rogue ninja shares our values and goals, then we could recruit him or her in the future. You could divide yourselves into teams to handle these two tasks at the same time. You can start with the third task only after the first two are complete."
Shigeki interrupted Fujin and asked, "Shiden, which areas should our information network cover?"
Fujin replied, "Every place except the Hidden Villages. We can't keep an eye on them without attracting a heavy backlash. So leave them be."
Fujin's words surprised everyone. Shigeki said, "But, we are surrounded by strong countries. We won't be able to do anything in their territory even if something happens."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yes, we won't be. But that doesn't mean that we should stay oblivious to the atrocities happening there. Our information network will cover the entire world. I believe that our efforts will be very successful in the Land of Rivers. It might make us feel content and satisfied.
However, the information about the atrocities happening in the rest of the world is what we need to remind ourselves that there is still a lot more that we need to do. We need to know what else is happening in the world to give us the motivation to make ourselves strong enough that one day we might be able to make a difference for those helpless people as well!"
Fujin's little motivational speech immediately inspired and motivated them. None of them had thought from this angle. In fact, they would be extremely satisfied as long as they made the Land of Rivers a safe place!
Hayato looked at Fujin in disbelief and thought, 'I can't believe such a kind person exists. With his capabilities, he can easily live a peaceful life anywhere he wants to and yet he wants to do so much!'
Just like Hayato, the rest of them were touched as well. Fujin was satisfied with their reaction. He continued, "The third task is to use this information to rescue the people who are being attacked by bandits or rogue ninjas. Until I say so, we won't engage in a conflict against a hidden village. The tasks we undertake will only be the ones we are sure to complete without any loss. As I said earlier, we need to stay alive to do good work.
Anyway, if you manage to kill the bandits or the rogue ninjas, you will confiscate their money and weapons. What you confiscate has to be handed to Shigeki, who will be handling the finances. The money will be used for our operations or to help the affected people rebuild their villages and homes.
During these rescue missions, if you find any kids who are orphans and have the talent to become a ninja, you will give them the opportunity to join the Phantom Haven Society. If any parents want to send their kids who have the talent to become ninjas to us, you can accept them as well. However, let the parents and the kids know that they might not ever see each other again. If they still agree, only then accept them.
Your fourth and last task is to guide those kids. Raise them to become splendid ninjas in the future who believe in the Phantom Will. Though we have good intentions, changing the fate of the world wouldn't be possible in just one or two generations. They will have a far bigger role to play as compared to us.
Of course, since you'll be teaching the kids, only recruit as many kids as you can train properly and bond with. If you recruit too many, not only will you guys become exhausted, but the kids will also feel abandoned. I don't want to see that happening. Is this understood?"
Everyone began thinking. After some time, Mitsuo asked, "But, if we do this, won't we be doing just the job that the hidden villages do? The only difference is that instead of getting paid, we do it for free and help everyone."
Fujin answered, "In a sense, but not exactly. In truth, every hidden village has the power to eliminate all bandits and most of the rogue ninjas in their country. They just don't because these bandits bring in jobs for their ninjas and help run the economy of the ninja villages. After all, who will be hiring ninjas if the world is peaceful?
We don't need to think about that. Once our strength grows, we will be sweeping through all bandits and rogue ninjas in this country. What we do after that will depend on how Tanigakure reacts when they don't get many mission requests."
Fujin's words forced everyone to think. Suddenly, they all understood the implications of creating such an organization. They immediately realized how Tanigakure would react if they suddenly stopped getting mission requests!
The village would stop receiving funding soon if that happens. As a result, the interests of all forces in the village would be harmed. They would immediately begin investigating the reason behind such happenings. They might even resort to creating fake bandit groups and rogue ninjas to create trouble so that they get missions. It might put them at direct odds against the Phantom Haven Society.
Everyone nodded solemnly. They understood that they might have to clash with the mighty hidden village in the future. However, there was also a sense of excitement as everyone other than Shigeki had someone they wanted to kill from Tanigakure.
What none of them saw was that such a development could lead to other hidden villages becoming wary due to such a development. They might aid Tanigakure in eliminating the Phantom Haven Society. Only Fujin saw this threat, but he wasn't concerned as it was highly unlikely that the Phantom Haven Society would become that strong anytime soon.
Shigeki nodded and said, "Alright. We understand. We will do the best we can while keeping ourselves safe."
Fujin nodded and said, "Good. I'll now explain my plans on how to raise and guide the kids we recruit. Does any of you have any experience in guiding young children?"
Everyone exchanged glances. After a minute, one guy said, "None of us have taught in the Academy. However, all of us have some experience in guiding Genins."
Fujin nodded and said, "Alright. But guiding Genins and guiding untrained kids are completely different. I have created training plans and noted them down in scrolls which I will leave with Shigeki for you to refer to in the future. For now, make yourself comfortable. It will take quite some time to explain everything."
Everyone sat on seats that were made of rocks as well. Fujin explained all his plans on how to train the kids. The plan was quite similar to how children were raised in Konoha's academy but with quite a few changes. For starters, the focus was very heavily inclined towards practical and combat skills instead of theory. The plan was created aiming to make every dedicated student as strong as a Chunin before they turned 12.
Unlike Konoha, which had only implemented a part of Fujin's recommendations, Fujin intended to implement everything here from the word go. The academy inside this remote valley would be the first in the entire ninja world to have clubs and offer specializations to every student despite being the youngest and having access to the lowest amount of resources.
