Within minutes, Fujin, the Clan Elders, Homura and Koharu arrived in the Council room. Hiruzen was already present there. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he said, "Since everyone is here, I will start the meeting. Today's meeting has two agendas."
In an instant, everyone was surprised. Danzo had still not arrived and yet Hiruzen said that everyone was present. They understood that one of the agendas was related to that.
Fujin wondered, 'A meeting without Danzo? Interesting… Now, the question is whether Hiruzen really did something or is it just an act and he'll let Danzo continue as usual after staying in the dark for some time?'
Hiruzen said, "First, about the attack on the Root Headquarters. Despite searching for several hours, none of us have found anyone remotely suspicious. Considering how strict the security was, I doubt anyone could have escaped from the village the normal way. So, I suspect that the attacker escaped using Reverse Summoning jutsu.
We still haven't ascertained how the culprit entered the village. For the near future, we will be maintaining the highest level of vigilance. The walls will be properly manned and the number of patrol units will be increased. The Anbu can't handle these duties without any help. So, I'll need every clan to contribute 2 Jounins, 7 Special Jounins and 21 Chunins to help in this matter. Let me know if anyone has any objections."
Hiruzen scanned around the room. No one complained. Except for Fujin, everyone had participated in the search. They all knew that it was completely pointless. It was as if the attacker had disappeared in thin air. They had reached the same conclusion as Hiruzen as well.
Since no one opposed it, Hiruzen said, "Good. Of course, we can't give up on finding and apprehending the culprit. The internal searches will continue for a week. In addition, I will be activating our spies in enemy villages. They might be our best way to understand whether any enemy is making preparations to make a big move against us. If someone is, then it'll be safe to assume that these attacks were a distraction to keep us occupied internally while they make their real move."
Everyone nodded. It was the only way they had to keep investigating the matter. If there were no such movements, then it could only be assumed that someone was acting against Danzo or the Root to fulfill a personal vendetta!
Hiruzen continued, "Now, on to Elder Danzo's matter."
Hiruzen took a pause before continuing, "In light of recent events, Danzo's ability to lead Root has come under question. Despite repeated attacks on Root and even an attack on their headquarters, he didn't manage to find who the attacker was. Not to mention, our village lost 20 capable ninjas.
I investigated the matter between Fujin and Root ninjas as well."
He looked at Fujin and said, "Fujin, though the Root ninjas were at fault for attacking you, I hope that you understand that it only happened due to the extraordinary circumstances. Elder Danzo didn't order them to attack you. If not for the fact that the Root headquarters had been blown up, they wouldn't have acted in such a manner. I hope you can forgive them."
Hiruzen's words immediately made Fujin fall into a tough spot. Fujin knew that the matter was too small to force Hiruzen to punish them. However, he had finally caught Danzo in a tight spot taking advantage of the fact that the Clan Leaders had too many grievances towards him. He didn't want to stop applying pressure. If Hiruzen planned on going easy on Danzo, then Fujin wouldn't back down just because he and Hiruzen had a good relationship. However, directly declining Hiruzen in front of everyone wouldn't look good either.
After thinking for a bit, Fujin replied, "As long as everyone is judged fairly, I won't hold a grudge."
Fujin's answer intrigued everyone in the room. Tsume looked at him and thought, 'What a diplomatic answer… He agreed to forgive them but only under the circumstances that Hokage punished them appropriately. If he feels like they aren't punished enough, he can raise this matter once again! It ensures that we can continue supporting him in this matter.'
Even Hiruzen was surprised by Fujin's answer. He thought, 'Looks like this incident really offended him. Though he relented, that's on the condition that I don't betray his trust. Sigh, this boy is getting increasingly difficult to deal with. Had it been Kakashi, he would have directly agreed.'
Fortunately, Hiruzen had decided to take action. Otherwise, he would have to deal with headaches from Fujin as well.
Hiruzen nodded and said, "That's fair. Due to the recent events, I have decided to strip Root of its powers. From now onwards, Root won't have any authority to order or even spy on anyone. Most of the Root ninjas will be inducted into the Anbu.
Only 10 Root ninjas will remain under Danzo's command. They will be responsible for maintaining what's left of the Root headquarters. That will be the only place where Root will hold the highest authority and will be a forbidden place for the remaining ninjas.
In exchange for keeping this authority, Danzo will be giving up his vote in the Council. He will still be invited to the council while discussing important matters but he will no longer be able to cast his vote."
Everyone's eyes widened. Even Fujin didn't imagine that Danzo would have to give up this power. He thought, 'Looks like the bottom floors have the laboratories. That is why Danzo wants to keep it even at the cost of losing his vote.'
Koharu immediately said, "Hiruzen, Danzo has contributed a lot to the village. Stripping his vote wouldn't look good."
Hiruzen replied, "It was his choice. Besides, my decision is final. Fujin, are you satisfied with this?"
The results were already better than what Fujin was hoping for. Though Danzo still had a few subordinates, it was impractical to expect him to lose every subordinate. He nodded and said, "Yes. Thank you for being fair."
The clan leaders were happy as well. While Danzo's interference had stopped after the Uchiha Massacre, he had started getting more active in recent times. With this decision, he won't be able to interfere with their clans in any way. If he did, then they could raise the issue just like Fujin did. Since a precedent had been created, Hiruzen would have no choice but to act again. Hence, none of them pushed Fujin to keep pursuing the matter.
Though Koharu and Homura weren't happy, neither said anything as the two of them were outnumbered and wouldn't be able to change Hiruzen's mind.
Hiruzen continued, "Good. There is another matter. Around a year ago, a certain disaster had happened which was witnessed by some Anbu ninjas who were returning from a mission. They managed to rescue 134 Orphans from the disaster.
Since they weren't from Konoha, I handed them to Danzo so that they could be trained and inducted into the Root once they became qualified. However, with the current developments, I'll be taking over them as well. Instead of joining the Root, they will directly join the Anbu once they become qualified enough.
Unfortunately, my hands are full and I can't keep my attention on them until then. Since they are orphans and hence would fall under civilian ninjas, I have decided that they will be placed under Fujin's care."
Hiruzen's words once again surprised everyone. Apart from Hiruzen, not a single person in the room knew that 134 kids were being trained in secret to join the Root. Of course, no one believed Hiruzen's bullshit story. Just the fact that they had been recruited into the Root by Danzo implied that every one of them was talented.
Fujin immediately connected the dots and thought, 'Around a year ago? Don't tell me these maniacs continued Renjiro's mission and kidnapped more kids from the Land of Water! Hiruzen had no choice but to give them to Root. The real identities of those kids can never be exposed!
No wonder Danzo suddenly became more active around a year ago. Those 134 kids meant that Root now had a future. That is why Danzo suddenly began bothering me. If he didn't have these kids, he would have stayed silent and in the dark like in the original story.
That said… Why does Hiruzen want to put this burden on me? I already have so little time to train. Now I have to watch over kids who were trained by Danzo and might want me dead? Besides, the clan leaders might truly see me as a threat now as I might have to take a share of their resources. Sigh, why can't I catch a break?'
