Chapter 167: Hashirama Was Dumb, Hiashi Is Mad, Ren Is Petty. A Konoha Story

Chapter 167 - Hashirama Was Dumb, Hiashi Is Mad, Ren Is Petty. A Konoha Story Many who didn't know the full story were genuinely shocked at Fugaku's blatant support of Ren. But most of the room was smart enough to understand that this was really a feud between the noble clans, Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga, and that it wouldn't touch them directly. So they stayed quiet, letting the tension simmer. Hiashi didn't miss a beat as he snapped back at Fugaku, "If you've conveniently forgotten, let me remind you: it was the previous Uchiha Clan Leader who pushed for the Senju vote to be put on hold in the first place, not anyone else. The council only accepted it after your clan rallied behind it and now you're the one pushing for that vote to be reinstated? The Uchiha really are playing a clever game." His eyes narrowed as he pressed further, voice cold. "How can the village be certain the Uchiha aren't controlling the Senju heir? That's your specialty, isn't it? I don't think I need to remind anyone here what your Genjutsu can do. Or do we all conveniently forget the night a few years ago?" Fugaku's Sharingan spun lazily, but his voice was ice. "It seems the Hyuga Clan Leader has let the birth of his second daughter muddle his mind if he's dredging up an unproven rumor in front of this entire council." Hiashi looked ready to erupt, but Ren cut in smoothly, "Now, now. Calm down. This is the council hall, try to act your age, not my age, alright?" A few muffled snickers broke the tension, and both Fugaku and Hiashi's faces went red, whether from anger or embarrassment was anyone's guess. Ren leaned back, still smiling. "And if anyone's worried about me being controlled by a Genjutsu, don't be. I'm not some big dumb fox you can puppeteer with a pretty illusion. But hey, if you don't believe me, we can test it. Elder Danzo, why don't you do the honors?" He shot Danzo a grin. The old war hawk didn't so much as twitch, but Hiashi pounced immediately. "The Senju heir may have some capabilities, but claiming complete immunity to Genjutsu is pure delusion. And that delusion only proves my point, he's too young and naive to wield the Senju vote responsibly." A few nods of agreement rippled through the room. After all, no one here had ever heard of someone being truly immune to Genjutsu. Even the Byakugan couldn't claim that. Ren shot Hiashi a pitying look. "You must've never had a Senju friend growing up, huh? Then again, with your personality, you probably didn't have many friends at all." Before Hiashi could snap back, Ren smoothly turned to Hiruzen. "Anyway. Gramps can back me up on this, can't you?" Hiruzen met Ren's gaze. For a moment, he seemed to weigh something. Then he nodded. "Both the First and the Second Hokage and Tsunade as well were functionally impervious to Genjutsu. I can't say much about Hashirama-Sama, but by the end of his life, Tobirama Sensei was effectively immune to every Genjutsu we knew of." The room fell silent at that. Senju blood granted that? Whispers stirred. Even some veteran clan heads looked rattled by the implication. But Hiashi didn't back down. He leaned forward slightly, pressing the point. "While the three individuals you mention may have had such resistance, isn't it possible, likely even that they developed it over years as their strength grew? Even you, Lord Hokage, how many Genjutsu are there now that could truly affect you?" Hiruzen gave a small nod. He didn't speak, but the meaning was clear. It could indeed be an acquired trait. Ren shrugged at the comment. "Alright, then let's talk strength. If you say the resistance comes with strength, then don't you think it's reasonable to believe I've already reached that level?" Hiashi's lips curved into an uncharacteristic smile, one that made Ren's stomach drop a little as he realized what happened. The Hyuga clan head turned back to the room. "And there it is. The Senju heir doesn't even know whether his own abilities are inherent or acquired. He can't distinguish his bloodline from his training. How can someone so unaware be trusted to cast the Senju vote responsibly?" Hiashi's tone was calm and measured, but each word struck with pinpoint precision. "Once again, I submit that the Senju vote must remain on hold until the heir has matured, four years at minimum." For a moment, the chamber fell into silence again, but this time the murmur of agreement was louder, and closer. Ren could see it clearly, some heads were nodding, even among the neutral clan leaders. Before Hiashi could press further, Ren's voice cut clean through the tension,"Well, I'll give you that round, but doesn't that mean you accept that I might not be affected by Genjutsu because of my strength?" He leaned forward, eyes glinting. "And it seems the Hyuga leader thinks I alone need to be smart enough to make decisions for the Senju clan. But this isn't the Hyuga clan." He looked straight at Hiashi's proudly exposed forehead, his tone turning sharper," Unlike the Hyuga, the Senju always built their strength around community. That means there are always many voices, not one tyrant. I read some files Big Sister Tsunade gave me about the Senju's glory days. Did you know it's said that Granduncle Hashirama was kind of dumb? He always needed Grandfather Tobirama to help him reach decisions even as Hokage and clan head before that." The silence that followed was heavy, but Ren pressed on, "The Senju didn't build this village by silencing people. They built it by listening to everyone which is why all of you are even here today, representing your clans, growing together. So don't stand there and pretend we'd make a mistake that would hurt this village. That's never been who we are." His words landed as he made some continuous strikes. First, he made a mistake, which he accepted; then he reiterated his strength, which he had just shown to them; third, he accentuated Senju beliefs, which everyone knew; then he described his relation with some big names, little cousin of Tsunade Senju, grandnephew of Hashirama Senju, and grandson of Tobirama Senju. However, that wasn't enough, as he even focused on the fact that Senju indeed accepted everyone's words, which is why the village even formed. All these factors collectively validated Ren's argument for obtaining the Senju vote. Hiruzen closed his eyes for a moment, thoughts turning inward, 'Tsuna knows.' Meanwhile, Danzo's lone visible eye narrowed, suspicion coiling behind it, 'All Senju records should be in the village's vaults. Does Tsunade still has files or is this brat bluffing, if there are indeed some, then what else is hidden?' If Ren knew Danzo's thoughts, he would have definitely laughed at the man's paranoia. There were, of course, no documents or files, but the others didn't know that, and since ninjas are inherently paranoid, they would keep thinking about it, even more so if they were guilty of something. Fugaku crossed his arms and felt a flicker of reluctant approval, 'We can work together, it seems. But how I wish I could strangle him sometimes.' Hiashi drew in a breath, ready to argue, but Hiruzen's voice cut through the room before his. "Enough. If we keep arguing, no decision will be made. We'll settle this properly by a show of hands." One by one, hands began to rise. Shikaku raised his first, and as if on cue, Inoichi and Choza followed. Fugaku's hand lifted next, despite Ren's mocking grin then Utakata's, then three of the five civilian councilors aligned with him. Shibi Aburame glanced at Ren for a moment before raising his hand as well. From the minor clans, nearly seventy percent voted in favor. The few who didn't were the ones who stood to lose if the Senju regained their voice. Hiruzen let the room settle before he, too, raised his hand sealing the outcome. Hiashi's face turned an ugly shade as he saw the final tally, but he could do nothing when Hiruzen stood, his voice steady as he made the decision. "The council has spoken. The Senju vote is hereby reinstated. In addition, all Senju businesses that have been managed by the village will return to clan's hands. The Senju ancestral home will also be open to the clan leader, heir, and representative, and anyone they deem worthy of welcoming." Hiruzen's eyes drifted across the room to Yoru, to Shikaku and Danzo, before he finished, "This meeting is concluded. The official duties of Jonin Ren shall be determined and announced at a later date. Dismissed." He turned and left with Danzo and the other elders close behind, their robes spreading across the stone floor. The chamber slowly emptied, but Fugaku, Hiashi, Utakata, and Yoru remained while Ren still sat cross-legged on the table, as if the whole affair were a picnic. Ren tilted his head, looked at Hiashi, then deliberately raised his voice,"Hey, boss-man, I fought so hard for this vote, but what's it even good for?" Hiashi's eye twitched. For a second, it looked like he'd fly at Ren then and there but he forced himself calm, his lips formed a thin line, and turned to leave. He'd nearly reached the door when Ren's voice rang out again, sweetly mocking as he spoke to Yoru. "Hey! Let's give up the vote again sometime, yeah? I didn't realize fighting with words was this fun. We should do it again." The door handle groaned under Hiashi's grip, but he still managed to hold his temper barely and slammed the door so hard the echo rattled the ceiling. Ren gave a soft sigh, swinging his legs as he looked at Fugaku. "He's so boring," he pouted. "I thought he'd be more fun to mess with but he's not even as good as Itachi's dad." Fugaku's eye twitched. "I am Itachi's dad." Ren just grinned. "Hey, Leader of the Angry Birds, how's Itachi? It's been ages since I bulli- I mean saw him." Fugaku's Sharingan flickered alive, then immediately died down. He realized if he lost his temper now, Ren would be proven right. He settled for a dangerous glare instead. Before it could escalate, Yoru's voice cut through like cold steel,"Stop wasting time. Meet me in the office in a minute." Ren let out an exaggerated sigh as he stood on the table, walking over to Utakata's side. The older shinobi lifted him by the waist and set him down on the floor without a second thought only for Ren to giggle and lean up and speak,"Hehe. That was fun. Let's do it again sometime, sensei. Byeee!" He skipped out the door but not before poking his head back in, grinning wide at Fugaku, "Oh, hey, Mister Always Frowning. You shouldn't frown so much. I heard people who frown too much end up being hated by their sons." Before Fugaku could even sputter a retort, Ren was gone in a flicker. Fugaku just stood there for a moment, jaw tight then slowly, almost awkwardly, he raised his hand to his forehead and tried to ease the frown from his brow. A moment later, his eyes hardened. He vanished without another word. Utakata, left alone in the room, just shook his head then flickered away too, already preparing to brief Juichi on everything that had just happened. ~~~~~ {Writing dialogues is so much harder than writing fight sequences; how I wish I could make all Chapters just fighting and skip all the other jargon.} {Also, I didn't want Ren to be the only smart one in the room so I made Hiashi reasonably good too, after all that man has been in the council for so long, he can't be dumb.} {If you want, you can support me on pat-reon} { h t t p s : / / w w w . p a t r e o n . c o m / Z e e n o n } {You know what else} {280 Stones = Extra Chapter} {STONES!!!!}