Fujin's clone suddenly realized why the two of them were complaining. He thought, 'Ah, I see. Since I was busy with training, I started visiting just once every fortnight. It had been almost two weeks when I left to establish the Phantom Haven Society. I spent more than two weeks there. Then immediately went to Mount Muteki and spent nearly 3 weeks there. Now that I think about it, I have been so busy that I completely forgot about this job. Sigh, that Hiruzen… Gives me so much work…'
Fortunately, Hiruzen couldn't hear Fujin's thoughts otherwise he would have summoned Enma and chased Fujin down or at least thought of doing that. Of all the Council Members other than the Elders, Fujin represented the highest number of ninjas. Yet, he was the one who worked the least.
Without any shame on his face, the clone asked, "Ah, I was busy with training and missions. Anyway, what's the issue? Since when did we start getting so much work for you to be so stressed?"
Yasushi answered, "Well, the day after you left for the mission, Katsuhiro-sama wanted to meet with you. He has something very important that he wants to discuss with you. However, you weren't there. He was patient until you returned from the mission, but since then, he has been pressuring us on a daily basis. We tried finding you, but your door had a sign saying that you were away."
The clone wondered, 'Katsuhiro? That old Elite Jounin? What does he want with me? That said, seeing how much these two are troubled, it looks like he has been doing more than just pressuring them. Sigh, it looks like I need to establish some prestige.'
Even though Fujin was extremely strong and feared in most of the other villages, in Konoha, he didn't have the same prestige. Whatever reputation he had was due to his bounty, rumors about him being the Spectral Swordsman and his seat on the Council. Only a very small group of people knew how terrifying Fujin's strength was. And, even they had never seen Fujin in action.
As such, his reputation was far lower than Kakashi or the clan leaders. Fujin didn't particularly care about this as he never faced any obstruction in Konoha. Hiruzen more or less agreed to his requests unless they were outrageous and Guy had selflessly taught him the Eight Inner Gates. He wasn't interested in any more influence. However, that was under the assumption that no one tried playing politics with him.
Fujin's clone said, "What was so urgent for him to keep visiting daily? Anyway, alright. Send a messenger to inform him that I have called him to my office."
Haruma asked, "Umm, should we go to call him?"
The clone replied, "No. Just send a normal messenger. You two don't need to act like messengers unless you are contacting me, Lord Hokage or the Jounin Commander. I'll meet you at the office."
In front of them, the clone closed the door and disappeared. As for Fujin's main body, he continued training in the basement.
Yasushi and Haruma exchanged glances. Relief could be seen on both their faces. The last three weeks had been rather tough on them.
Haruma said, "Though it didn't sound like it, it seems like he was upset."
Yasushi nodded and said, "Yes. I was worried that he wouldn't care about us. Katsuhiro has been an Elite Jounin for a long time and is very respected. In fact, he has been one since before Fujin joined the academy. I was worried that Fujin might not know much about politics. Thankfully, that doesn't seem to be the case. He might take this opportunity to establish his prestige."
A smile could be seen on Yasushi's face. He had seen several such political battles when he worked under Inoichi. However, Haruma was worried as he was new. He asked, "Katsuhiro is very reputed. In fact, he is the most reputed among the civilian ninjas. Almost all civilian ninjas look up to him. Will it create an issue if Fujin confronts him?"
Yasushi answered, "No. It'll just be a confrontation between them. We won't get involved. If Fujin loses, then we will be reassigned to some other duties. I guess some council members wanted to back Katsuhiro for the seat Fujin is in. You don't need to worry. Just sit back and watch. It is one of the only entertaining things about this job."
Unlike Yasushi who seemed to look forward to it, Haruma was still very worried. The two immediately left towards the Hokage Building. After sending a messenger to call Katsuhiro, the two returned to Fujin's office and saw his clone skimming through the documents in the office.
On noticing them, the clone said, "Good you two returned. Brief me about everyone who visited the office in my absence. Let's handle their issues."
Yasushi and Haruma immediately got to work. One by one, they began resolving all the cases that were raised during the past month. Fujin generally didn't receive many requests. While quite a few were curious initially, most lost interest after seeing how slow he was at responding, how little time he allocated for meeting up and how quickly he dismissed them. As a result, ninjas would only visit him if it was a critical matter.
Half an hour later, Katsuhiro showed up at Fujin's office and knocked on the door. The clone lazily said, "Come in."
Katsuhiro entered the office and looked at Fujin's clone who barely looked at him and said, "Wait a couple of minutes. I'll handle this case and then listen to you."
Without giving him any chance to respond, Fujin's clone began asking his two subordinates questions about the matter at hand. Both Yasushi and Haruma felt awkward but remembering the pressure Katsuhiro applied on them for the last few days, they ignored him as well and just began helping Fujin. Seeing him standing without being paid any attention alleviated some of the complaints they had about him.
A frown appeared on Katsuhiro's face. Fujin didn't give him any chance to speak. In fact, he completely ignored him. So did his subordinates. However, Fujin's words left him with little option to respond. Suddenly, he realized something that made his anger go through the roof! Fortunately, he was able to restrain himself thanks to his long experience.
After four minutes, they were finally done with the case they were looking at. The clone closed the file and looked at Katsuhiro. With a smile on his face, he said, "I heard that you have been rather impatient to meet me, Katsuhiro-san. I wonder what the matter is."
Katsuhiro snorted in annoyance and said, "First you make me wait for weeks just to meet you. When you finally come to the office, you still make me wait. And, instead of coming here yourself, you sent a Shadow Clone?"
As he spoke, the anger in his voice continuously rose. Not only did Fujin not come, but the Shadow Clone he sent also had very little chakra. It was a massive disrespect to someone experienced and respected like Katsuhiro.
Meanwhile, Yasushi and Haruma were stunned. They glanced at each other in disbelief. Yasushi looked at Fujin once again and thought, 'He is a Shadow Clone? He sent a clone to meet up with Katsuhiro? I have never even seen Lord Hokage being this disrespectful!'
At the same time, Haruma wondered, 'Did he ever come to the office in person? Or did he always send a clone?'
Fujin's clone ignored his anger and asked with a puzzled expression on his face, "Are you on a secret or a rank S mission?"
Katsuhiro thought, 'What the hell? What does that have to do with anything?'
He answered, "Not right now."
The clone asked, "Why are you getting so worked up for a few minutes then? Seeing your state, one would assume that we are at a war or something. You should relax, Katsuhiro-san. Otherwise, others would misunderstand. Now, why did you want to meet me?"
Haruma just kept watching Fujin with a dumbfounded expression. He thought, 'Not only did he ignore the fact that he didn't meet him for weeks, but also ignored the fact that he only sent a clone. Instead, he admonished Katsuhiro for being worked up. Yasushi, are you sure that we will be fine?'
Despite his experience, Yasushi was getting increasingly worried as well. He had seen Inoichi being strict and disrespectful, but he had never seen him be that way to an Elite Jounin.
Meanwhile, Katsuhiro was stuck in a dilemma. Fujin's shamelessness had completely caught him off-guard. He couldn't decide whether he should blow up the matter or relent because Fujin wasn't confronting him openly. The disrespect, though obvious, wasn't something he could complain about as Fujin could easily claim ignorance and give excuses.
He thought, 'Damn you Danzo! You didn't say that dealing with him will be this difficult. I need to calm down. Since he doesn't want to openly offend me, I'll continue with the plan.'
Katsuhiro said, "I had a proposal for you, a plan that would be extremely helpful to the civilian ninjas and would make us much stronger. I want you to put it forth to the council and get it passed."
Fujin's clone was intrigued. Not long ago, Fujin had given one such proposal to the council which was still not implemented. He asked, "Oh, what is the proposal?"
At the same time, he thought, 'He controlled his anger too easily. Old ninjas are particularly sensitive about the respect they get from youngsters. As I guessed, he is scheming something.'
