Sensing a bunch of chakra signatures coming towards his house, Fujin muttered, 'I guess Hiruzen is finally here.'
Fujin flickered outside his house. The construction around his house was completed. The 4 plots adjacent to his land, each 2500 sq. meters in size, had been incorporated to create a compound and a wall had been constructed around the entire property. Fujin's house was at the centermost plot, near the front.
The vacant area behind his house now had two buildings. One of them was the training facility. It was as good as the Anbu training facilities, though they were a bit smaller and lacked elemental training rooms. The other building was for any Anbu stationed in his compounds.
The plots just to the right and left of Fujin's house had several small buildings. They were for the Kiri orphans to live in. The last two plots, which were farthest from Fujin's house, were left for future expansion. In order to not leave them empty, parks and playgrounds were constructed there.
Fujin thought, 'Hmm, not bad. Though it is rather simple, it seems like Hiruzen asked the constructors to maintain consistency with my house. Instead of overshadowing my house or looking pale in comparison, they are in sync with my house, making it quite a good sight. Though, it makes my house stand out a bit. Oh well, it's not like anyone would dare intrude on my house for that reason...'
A few seconds later, Hiruzen appeared in front of Fujin. Behind him were a few Anbu ninjas and the 134 orphans from the Land of Water. Hiruzen looked at Fujin and nodded, indicating that it was time. Fujin looked at the kids. As he had expected, almost all of them had emotional expressions. Only a few looked around curiously. Hiruzen had already explained to them that they would be living in Fujin's compounds.
Hiruzen introduced Fujin to them before the Anbu began assigning them the rooms to live in. While they were busy, Fujin asked, "Are all of them from the Land of Water? Also, how many have awakened Kekkei Genkai and how many have bloodlines?"
Hiruzen looked at Fujin and thought, 'So he has already connected the dots between these kids and the ones Renjiro brought back.'
Hiruzen wasn't surprised. It was rather easy to connect. He nodded and said, "Yes. 5 of them have unlocked Kekkei Genkai. We have confirmed that another 14 have bloodlines. As for the rest, it is difficult to say. As you know, the Mizukage faction has been hunting everyone with Kekkei Genkai. So, several people changed their surnames while going into hiding.
It is difficult to say if some of these kids are among them. Regardless, their talent is still very high. So it isn't an issue."
Fujin agreed and asked softly, "Are you planning on creating more clans in the village?"
While getting slightly more than a hundred talented kids who might become Jounins in the future was something no village would say no to, it wasn't something that the major villages would fight for. After all, the villages received talented kids every year. However, most of them would die even before they became Jounins. Some would lose their drive and would never reach that level. So, it wasn't a big deal.
However, it was a whole different thing when Kekkei Genkai and bloodlines were involved! It presented villages with an opportunity to raise an entirely new force. In addition, it was much easier to become Elite Jounins if you have Kekkei Genkai. It even made becoming rank S slightly easier.
Hiruzen glared at Fujin and said, "Some things are better left unsaid. Don't talk openly about such things. But yes. Over the next half-century, we can create several new clans. It'll increase the special units that our village will have considerably."
Hiruzen chuckled and added, "I'll probably be long dead by then. It'll be something you guys would need to handle. Since you are the one overseeing them, you will have a major role to play."
Fujin looked at Hiruzen and wondered, 'Why does it feel like he wants me to take over the Hokage seat?'
Fujin looked back at the kids and replied casually, "Don't worry, Grandpa. I'm sure you'll still be the Hokage 50 years later. The people of Konoha would love to see their 'beloved' and 'benevolent' Lord Hokage complete a century!"
That immediately earned him a glare from Hiruzen. Fujin felt it but he didn't look at him and instead just kept watching the orphans casually. He knew exactly what Hiruzen's thoughts would be.
Hiruzen cursed in his mind, 'What the hell is the issue with this village? Why does everyone want me to continue as the Hokage? Can't I retire? He wants me to continue being Hokage until I become a hundred and twenty years old? Is there a reason why only troublemakers want to become the Hokage?'
Hiruzen almost wanted to lash out in frustration. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Not to mention, Fujin didn't even look in his direction and instead pretended to be curious about the kids. Hiruzen could only bitterly bottle up his thoughts.
He sighed internally while thinking, 'I failed to convince Jiraiya to take the seat. Tsunade won't accept either. Minato's batch unfortunately didn't have any other candidate. However, I am not missing my chance this time.'
He looked at Fujin and thought, 'Both Fujin and Kakashi are excellent candidates. Considering how easily Fujin dealt with Sasori, he isn't too far away from my level. Though he won't be able to win against me at least for a few more years, he might be able to hold back and retreat successfully from Ay and Onoki.
Kakashi, unfortunately, has been lagging behind. Still, even he can be considered as a rank S ninja. At the very least, he should be able to fight against Rasa. Considering how troublesome his students are and what troubles they will attract, they might just inspire him to train a bit more seriously.
I'll wait for 3 more years and retire irrespective of whether someone wants to become the Hokage or not. That should be sufficient time for Kakashi's strength to become more formidable and for Fujin to gain some fame that he can actually speak about. If they are reluctant, I'll use Danzo to push either of them on the seat!'
A slight surprise appeared on Hiruzen's face as he realized, 'Now that I think about it, he has done a great job at hiding his biggest achievements. No one except Akatsuki knows that he was the one to kill Juzo. Similarly, no one except me knows that he was the one to steal Sasori's puppets. Even his fights against Iwa are only known to them. As for Suna, once again only me and Shikaku know...'
Fujin felt that the way Hiruzen was staring at him had changed. He looked at him and saw a peculiar expression on Hiruzen's face. He asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Hiruzen shook his head and said, "Nothing important."
Fujin looked at him with a doubtful expression. Seeing that Hiruzen didn't intend to speak about it, Fujin began asking Hiruzen on how to handle the kids. While he guided a few earlier and had made arrangements for kids in Phantom Haven Society, he truly didn't have much experience in this aspect.
Thankfully, Hiruzen already had a basic plan prepared. He explained it to Fujin. After explaining everything, Hiruzen concluded, "In short, you don't need to do much. The Anbu I deploy will take care of their training. For other basic needs, civilians will be employed. Since you don't have any way to earn funds, the village will be handling the expenses.
You only need to watch over the kids. If they have an issue that they or their teachers can't resolve, then they will be approaching you. In addition, if someone catches your eye, feel free to guide them. If you want to, you can even create and lead a squad. The only important thing is to ensure that no one knows about Kekkei Genkai users among the kids.
Even the clan leaders and other elders are oblivious to this fact. While I don't need to hide this from them, seeing how long they take to realize this will give us an idea of how long other villages will take to suspect us of having pulled something like this off."
Fujin nodded. He didn't doubt the fact that other villages would be pissed on seeing Konoha gaining so many new Kekkei Genkais. There was little doubt that there would be several assassination attempts on them. What Hiruzen's words implied was that Fujin would have to be the one to deter the other villages from doing something like that.
However, Fujin wasn't very worried. After all, Konoha would be at its strongest by then. Even if things didn't happen as he remembered, Konoha would still be at the top in regards to rank S battle power. With the two Sannins, Fujin, Kakashi, Guy and Naruto, that'd be 6 rank S ninjas even without considering Danzo. That wasn't something other villages could match.
Of course, Fujin couldn't say those things out loud. He nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll handle it. Besides, it has been some time since I butted my head against the other great villages. Anyway, show me the ones with Kekkei Genkai and bloodline. I'd keep a closer eye on them."
Hiruzen chuckled thinking about what had happened when Fujin previously butt his head against other villages and informed him about the kids who had the Kekkei Genkai and the bloodlines. The information that Hiruzen gave him caused Fujin to be surprised!
