Danzo stared at Hiruzen. After half a minute, he said, "Hiruzen, the role of negotiator is for senior members in the village. Experience is important. What do you mean by sending someone who hasn't even entered his teens to represent Konoha during negotiations?"
Hiruzen chuckled and replied, "Our current negotiators are either too soft or too strict. While we do find a middle ground, we usually get the short end of the stick."
Danzo scoffed and accused, "It's your fault for being so soft. Don't accuse the rest of us."
Hiruzen shook his head and replied, "And your methods are way too harsh. We would be at war all the time if your ideas are followed. And of course, I won't send someone inexperienced to do the final negotiations for us.
He will be among the 1st round of negotiators. And his task will be to annoy them just enough that the negotiations still stay on the table and we will have an advantage when we negotiate later."
Danzo was surprised by Hiruzen's words and confidence. He wondered, 'What exactly did Hiruzen see in that boy?'
Hiruzen looked at Danzo and thought, 'On second thought, the prospect of sending Fujin to the Root would be hilarious. Danzo tends to make promises while recruiting. If Fujin does enter the Root, I wonder how often he will ask Danzo for a new jutsu.'
Danzo was about to say something, when Hiruzen interrupted, "Leave it. He is off the table. His talent would be wasted in the Root."
Seeing Hiruzen being stubborn, Danzo nodded and left. If Fujin was to learn about this conversation, he would sigh in relief and comment, 'Phew! Barely dodged the bullet!'
That said, even without Hiruzen denying it, Fujin wouldn't have entered the Root. While Danzo led the Root and was very influential, he couldn't force anyone to join. He resorted to patriotism, offering rewards, blackmailing with closed ones, or lying in order to recruit existing ninjas to the Root. However, neither of these 4 tactics would have worked on Fujin.
While leaving, Danzo thought, 'That didn't go as expected. I didn't expect Hiruzen to be so stubborn about an orphan. Doesn't matter. I was only slightly interested in him due to his potential in Wind nature manipulation. There's no point in wasting more effort on him.'
Danzo left and didn't think about Fujin again. Years later, he would hear about Fujin's exploits in the battlefields. In one such battle, Fujin's fame would explode throughout the ninja world. That battle would make Danzo regret not trying hard enough to recruit him. And the biggest regret would be when he dies by the hands of the orphan he attached no importance to!
Team Renjiro ran at full speed for around 7 hours. The borders of the Land of Hot Water were close to where the hideout was. While the Hot Spring Hidden Village was quite far away, the town that they were headed to was in the southern part of the Land of Hot Water. Hence, it was much closer to them.
After 7 hours, they entered Niigata town. On entering, Fujin commented, "We entered into another country and then into their 2nd biggest town and still haven't encountered even 1 ninja! Do they not have ninjas? Or are they too lazy to patrol?"
Renjiro chuckled and answered, "Only the 5 big hidden villages maintain frequent patrols. Even among the 5 big villages, Kiri and Suna don't do regular patrols due to the harsh terrain. In smaller villages, only the VIPs have good protection. If common people are in danger, then they issue missions to villages like ours."
Fujin thought for a bit. He put up a sad face and said, "I see. But in that case, the lives of the common people here are very vulnerable. They have no protection. Any rogue ninja can kill them and run away. If he hides well, then they won't even get justice."
Renjiro looked at Fujin for a few seconds. He sighed and replied, "Unfortunately, that is the world we live in. There is nothing we can do."
Fujin showed a sad face and didn't reply. Renjiro thought, 'Though he is greedy, Fujin has a good heart.'
At the same time, Fujin thought, 'I don't think I can get any more jutsus from Renjiro. But improving my image even more would be beneficial. It might be of help if I need something from Tsunade in the future. She is of the same clan after all.'
Mieko and Hoka watched Fujin and Renjiro. They began thinking about the sad state of affairs in the smaller villages as well.
They began walking towards the center of the town. Renjiro said, "Well, no need to be entirely down. Though there isn't much protection, the major towns have a garrison. Perhaps, every town might have a garrison in the future. That would provide a good degree of protection to them."
Fujin nodded and said, "Yeah, that could be a good start."
They reached the center of the town. A mansion stood there. On seeing them, a watchman immediately invited them in while his partner ran inside to inform someone.
The Watchman said, "Welcome. Tokuhei-sama has been expecting you."
Renjiro nodded and followed him inside the mansion.
On entering, a large man appeared in front of them! He was 7 feet 5 inches in height and was very fat. Seeing him, the same thought ran through the minds of Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka, 'Did an Akimichi migrate here? He is huge even by their standards!'
Behind him, four more people were standing.
Takeshita Tokuhei smiled and said, "Senju Renjiro, I have heard a lot about you."
Renjiro smiled and replied, "Takeshita Tokuhei, I have heard about you too."
Tokuhei said, "We were expecting you to arrive a bit sooner."
Renjiro replied, "We had some troubles too. So we were delayed."
Tokuhei nodded and looked at the kids behind Renjiro. He frowned and thought, 'The mission didn't mention any strict timelines. So I can't bug him more about it. But the mission focused more on the strength of the ninjas. Renjiro is strong, but why did they send kids?'
Renjiro looked at him and understood what he was thinking. But he didn't comment. Explaining the strength of the ninjas who undertook the mission wasn't a requirement. Completing the mission was all that mattered.
Tokuhei knew that Renjiro understood his frown. But since he didn't provide any explanation, he decided to drop it while thinking, 'My own squad should be enough to kill those rogue ninjas. Unfortunately, the Daimyo was worried about any losses we might suffer and hence issued a mission to Konoha. If they are weak, they will die.'
Renjiro asked, "What are the details of those rogue ninjas? Also, where are they currently at?"
Tokuhei looked at a subordinate. Takeshita Shunso stepped forward. He said, "Until now, we have detected 13 rogue ninjas. We have calculated that there are 2 more. All of them are ninjas from the land of water. Among the 13 ninjas, there are 3 Jounins and 10 Chunins.
Their leader is Kubota Mitsuzuka. He is a veteran Jounin. The others under his command are experienced too. Some of them are ninjas who were assigned under him in the Third Great Ninja War.
We haven't found their base. But looking at their movements, we have calculated their base to be near the coastline towards the South-East direction."
Renjiro analyzed the information and said, "Good work. We won't have to waste time to find them."
Tokuhei said, "Renjiro, while we do know their approximate location, we don't know their exact location."
Renjiro replied, "Don't worry. Leave that to us. We will take a break today. Tomorrow, at 4 AM, we will leave. Have your team be prepared."
Tokuhei wanted to leave immediately. But he understood that they had traveled a long distance. He nodded and said, "Alright. Shunso, arrange for their resting area."
Shunso led them to the arranged rooms. After he left, Fujin, Mieko, and Hoka stared at Renjiro. They wanted answers.