Despite joking around, the two of them informed Fujin about Katsuhiro handing in the proposal in the evening along with some other reports. Fujin was slightly surprised. Over the last month, he was so engrossed in training that he nearly forgot about Katsuhiro. He said, "I'll look into it when I visit the office this Saturday. If he tries to pressure you two again, let me know."
Yasushi said, "We will."
He and Haruma quickly left. Fujin wondered, 'Why did he take so long to come up with a proposal?'
After thinking for a bit, Fujin concluded, 'I guess he was assigned to several missions during the chaos that followed after my attack on Root, preventing him from working on it. Oh well, whatever. I'll look into it later.'
Fujin put the matter out of his head and continued his training routine. With Danzo no longer in the council, Fujin didn't see Katsuhiro as much of a threat. Besides, the clan leaders owed Fujin a great favor for giving them an opportunity to deal with Danzo. Fujin doubted any of them would go against him due to such a matter. At most, they would reject the proposal. As long as he didn't push it too hard, no one would care much.
Regardless, he didn't intend to let Katsuhiro have an easy time. Katsuhiro would get a taste of bureaucracy that was from a whole different world!
On the next Saturday, Fujin sent a Shadow Clone to check out the proposal while handling other matters as well. Needless to say, he decided to handle Katsuhiro's proposal only after he was done with every other matter that had reached his office over the last couple of weeks.
Katsuhiro, who was waiting patiently at his house, frowned. He thought, 'Today is a Saturday. He didn't show up on the previous Saturday. So Fujin should have gone to the office today. But why hasn't he called me yet? Don't tell me he will make me wait for another month again!'
Anger flashed on Katsuhiro's face due to being repeatedly disrespected. It was soon followed by a helpless expression. With Fujin's recent fame and with Danzo no longer backing him, Katsuhiro was left without any options. In fact, he had begun questioning whether such a proposal would help him take Fujin's spot at all. Unfortunately, he had no option but to wait.
Fujin's clone only reached Katsuhiro's proposal very late in the evening. Yasushi and Haruma exchanged several glances as they understood that Fujin was purposefully doing so.
While reading the proposal, a surprised look appeared on the clone's face. He wondered, 'That's weird… Though the proposal is good, it has a few major flaws. Hmm, I can understand some of these flaws as this would put me against the clan leaders in a very aggressive manner.
If Danzo is still supporting Katsuhiro, I can understand why he would want to do this. But, if Danzo was the one to make this proposal, there is no way he would leave such a big flaw… This proposal will be thrown out in a heartbeat.'
Fujin's clone continued reading as he said, "Send someone to call Katsuhiro here."
Yasushi immediately dispatched a messenger. Minutes later, Katsuhiro appeared in Fujin's office. He had nearly given up hoping that Fujin would call him that day. When he finally received the message, he hurried, afraid that Fujin might run away and leave him hanging if he delayed.
Of course, he didn't show those emotions on his face and maintained a stoic expression. He asked, "Did you go through the proposal?"
Fujin's clone nodded and replied, "I'm disappointed. I had better expectations from you."
His words surprised everyone in the room. Katsuhiro frowned and asked, "What do you mean?"
Fujin's clone replied, "If I present this proposal to the Council, they will throw it into the dustbin without even giving it a second thought. Why exactly were you so restless earlier if this was all you could come up with?"
Katsuhiro's frown deepened. He didn't expect a dressing down when he hurried to Fujin's office. Despite being busy with the missions, he had worked hard on that proposal. Of course, the most insulting thing was that the one dressing down him was only a 15-year-old boy!
He immediately retorted, "Fujin, don't forget that I am still your senior and not your subordinate. Don't think that you can send a clone to humiliate me."
Fujin's clone snorted and replied, "Humiliate you? What would I get by doing that? The next Council Meeting is in a week's time. If I present such a flawed proposal, then not only will it get thrown out, but it will also be much harder to pass it in the future. Were you genuine when you said that you wanted to help civilian ninjas or were you just looking for an opportunity to create trouble?"
The room became tense. No one expected Fujin to be so harsh. Katsuhiro wondered, 'What the hell? What is he talking about? The proposal was perfect. But why is he so confident that I messed up?'
He controlled himself and asked, "What exactly is the issue?"
Fujin's clone answered, "There are several issues. However, the biggest one is the location of the Guidance hall."
Katsuhiro immediately replied, "The location of the hall is right next to other important buildings in the village, like the Academy, the Hospital and the Hokage Building. That's the perfect location for the hall."
Fujin's clone shook his head and said, "In order to construct the hall where you want, you will need to buy several dozen shops that are already in that area. What are your plans for those shop owners? Will they give up this lucrative position and move just because you want to construct a hall there?
Even if you force them to move, how much will the village need to spend to buy those properties? The council will just throw out this proposal considering how expensive it will be and how much unrest forcing them off their property would cause."
Katsuhiro immediately said, "Considering the benefits of the Guidance Hall, it's a sacrifice they need to be willing to make for the village."
Fujin's clone immediately refuted him, "The Guidance Hall can be made anywhere in the village. Why would they make the sacrifice just because you want the Guidance hall there?"
Fujin's clone placed the files on his desk and said, "Make changes to the proposal and choose a new place for the hall that won't impact the lives of other people. There are a few more issues in the proposal as well. I'll leave it to you to find out what they are and correct them."
Katsuhiro's expression became very ugly. He clenched his fists but unfortunately, he had very little power in this situation. With Danzo no longer backing him and Fujin's reputation already exceeding his, he could only control his anger. He took back the proposal and left.
Fujin's clone looked at Yasushi and Haruma and said, "Let me know when he brings in an updated proposal."
The clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. Yasushi and Haruma exchanged glances once again. After a few seconds of silence, Haruma said, "That was so cool! I am still feeling goosebumps due to what he did!"
Yasushi nodded and said, "Yeah, this was very exciting. Inoichi-sama was way too polite when compared to Fujin. Hehehe, his face was worth watching!"
Haruma laughed along with Yasushi and said, "That's what he deserves for putting us under so much pressure back then!"
While Haruma and Yasushi enjoyed the interaction, the same couldn't be said of Katsuhiro. He could barely contain his anger at being humiliated in such a manner by someone so junior to him! Unknown to Fujin, the way he dealt with Katsuhiro resulted in him getting a couple of fans!
Katsuhiro returned home and opened his proposal. The more he looked at it, the more he was reminded of Fujin's words. In anger, he punched the desk, breaking it into two and cursed, "Suzuki Fujin! I'll show you! Your seat will be mine soon! I'll create a proposal that the village would be forced to accept and then I'll take that seat on the council!"
Spirited, Katsuhiro spent all night thinking about how he could improve the proposal further. Unfortunately, he was assigned a rank S mission by Hiruzen that would keep him out of the village for a couple of months the very next morning!
Fujin didn't bother thinking about Katsuhiro and continued his training. A few days later, a wide grin could be seen on Fujin's face! He broke out into a burst of laughter. He had finally completed an extremely difficult task! A task that only two other ninjas were known to have achieved in the history of the ninja world!
After some time, Fujin stopped laughing and his expression became serious. At that very moment, he suddenly disappeared and appeared next to a pillar, with his hand on the Flying Thunder God mark on that pillar. He immediately disappeared and flashed next to three other pillars before disappearing again and again before finally stopping.
With joy on his face, Fujin muttered, "I have mastered the fucking Flying Thunder God jutsu! And just in time as well!"
While Fujin was joyful in his basement, another important event was happening in the village. Iruka looked at Naruto and said, "Naruto, perform the Clone jutsu!"
