When I told my purpose at the Hokage tower. I was kind of laughed at. I mean, it was a new guy at the desk, and I was a mere Genin.
"Listen, kid, if you keep this up, I'm gonna whoop your ass. And throw you out. The Hokage's busy."
I wanted to get this out of the way first. I didn't want him to find out from some other place. So instead, I tried to look around for something or someone. I saw a few people I knew, but none who could get me a line to the Hokage. That's when I noticed the Anbu. The guy who just entered was the one who usually summoned me. The bear.
I ran towards him. "Hey, Bear." He paused. "Can you tell the Hokage that I might have done something extremely ridiculous about the thing he asked me to do? And that I need to talk to him urgently. Like right now urgently." I kept it cryptic purposefully. The bear just nodded and left while I sat down in the reception area. The desk guy was looking at me with a look of confusion now. Trying to get past the desk was one thing; asking Anbu to deliver a message was another. Especially when the Anbu agreed to deliver it.
A few minutes later, the bear returned and motioned for me to follow. I made a face at the receptionist and watched him turn pale in fright. I wasn't a petty man and wasn't gonna complain or anything, but scaring a little works, right?
I entered the Hokage's office. "An interesting report you have brought us, Ren, especially considering I don't remember tasking you with anything." He smiled.But it had a sharpness. He didn't like the fact that I had lied.
"I apologize, Lord Third, but this couldn't wait. I opened my Palm and the Yamigami emerged on it as a small blob of darkness with too cute, big, round eyes. I signed a summoning contract with the Yami clan. Now all my clan members are also contracted to them. I just wanted you to hear it from me first."
For the first time ever since I had met the man, I saw his expression turn to shock. "What on earth is a Yami?"
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I sat while the elder council debated. Usually this would be my private afair. But I had just contracted 120 future genins to this. Which made me kind of accountable for the help the village had given me.
"Hiruzen, you will regret this." Why was I not surprised by this? Danzo was fuming with anger. "Give them all to me," he had said. "I'll take care of them."
Hiruzen was actually thinking. I decided to intervene before he actually gave in to the pressure. "With all due respect, Lord Third. I am now an official member of the clan council. And my clan, even if just on paper, is a real shinobi clan. Forcing us to join Root outside of wartime violates Konoha's laws." Yes, the renaming had occurred. Just a day ago, in fact.
Hiruzen nodded. I knew it was not the reason he needed, but the excuse. Nobody knew how much we could grow. But nobody wanted to give up a slice of the pie. 120 Fuinjutsu masters, even simple ones who only made paper bombs, were a strategic resource.
"Yes, that is correct. And besides, they are not a threat, Danzo. How strong could they become using these nameless summon clan."
"The Uzumaki also used Fuinjutsu."
"But they also had a bloodline with a ridiculous amount of Chakra! And really, you are comparing these kids to the centuries of buildup the Uzumaki had?" Koharu grumbles.
I also piped in, "Besides, the boost is one-time and is chiefly physical. You can judge our progress from that."
I was playing it off as a one-time permanent physical boost, along with Fuinjutsu side boost to mitigate our threat. But since I had mentioned that the boost only lasted till genin level and was one-time only, they had lost interest in that front. I put in a few more imaginary restrictions like only kids can form it.
Making all this sound as if we were at the level of just another medium clan with a tiny head start. After all, the boost ended at the genin level. Which was true, actually.
She had been the most logical of the bunch, as always. "If they now have summons to help Fūinjutsu and Chakra manipulation, isn't that good for the village. The prices of paper bombs and seals are skyrocketing anyway. A source of those will help the village economy."
"Yes, but the problem is that nobody had ever even heard of this Yami clan. Which kind of makes it a bit suspicious." Homura expressed his concern. But his was genuine instead of Danzo's Paranoia.
"We can't do anything about it now; they are already contracted anyway. And since they live at the edge of the slums anyway, they are isolated. We can keep an eye on them for a while." Koharu countered. "We should allow this, provided, of course, they provide a few tags to the village."
Ahh, so that's why she was showing favor. She wanted me to pay tribute to the logistics. Expected and accepted. I guess the ploy succeeded; we didn't register as a threat because the physical capability enhancement after the initial boost was only genin level, and they underestimated the Fuinjutsu bump.
"Of course, Elder Koharu. The village has done so much for us. A few hundred tags are nothing."
She smiled. Now she knew I wasn't averse to working a little for the good of the village. And her, of course. "Ara ara, I would think that with hundreds of members, you would pledge a little more than a few hundred tags, Ren-kun. After all, the village did provide you with great help in times of need."
She wasn't talking about the money. That pitiful amount was not worth much concern in such a huge discussion. What she was hinting at was the background of my members. They were refugees. But I had already expected this blow to come. Naming hundreds was just a negotiation tactic.
"I apologize, Elder, but we haven't actually seen the full effects of the boost. I am not sure how many of us will actually gain the talent for it. My assumptions are based on my own experience and Yami's claims. I didn't want to make a promise that I couldn't keep." That was bullshit. The boost had already settled. All 120 of them had at least basic Fuinjutsu talent now. Along with Genin-level chakra volume and control. However, they won't be chunin for at least a decade. We were now a formidable force.
The Hokage nodded. He could simply ask a share for Anbu operations. And he understood that now it was a simple negotiation. The clan had been the boy's find anyway. The boy's coming on his own to offer tribute was merely a way of showing loyalty. One which Hiruzen approved of.
Seeing the matter going towards a peaceful solution and profit for Koharu, Danzo huffed.
"You will all regret this. They are not even real Konoha shinobi!"
His voice cut through the room like a blade. The council chamber fell silent.
I frowned, but inside, I was smiling. Actually, I was jumping for joy.
He had made a grave mistake in spite.
If he had only implied that our origins were questionable, I would have been forced into a corner — obliged to yield, to agree to their conditions, to bow and thank them for their "kindness." But to say it outright?
That was no longer politics. That was an accusation of treason.
I let my expression twist in anger. "Hokage-sama," I said, voice sharp, trembling just enough to sound sincere, "is that really true? Is my clan not considered part of Konoha? When you granted us citizen status… was that all a lie?"
Every head in the room turned. And just like that, the tide shifted. This is why diplomacy is a battlefield. One mistake, and your victory turns into a catastrophe.