Chapter 830: Naruto's Troubles?
"In his absence, only the two of you can handle such an important responsibility," Shikaku said to the elders.
Needless to say, if the number of children who applied for the Academy's Entrance Exam skyrocketed, the workload would skyrocket too. They would need to recruit more teachers, expand the infrastructure, and implement the new schemes that Fujin had proposed earlier.
None of the clan leaders were free to take such an undertaking. The only council members who had time to handle this were Fujin and the Elders. However, Shikaku knew very well that Fujin wouldn't volunteer for this. So, he could only dump it on the Elders.
Of course, the Elders also understood what Shikaku was thinking. Unfortunately, he had phrased the question in such a manner that refusing would look very bad. Koharu replied, "Of course. We will take care of it. However, it'll be a lot of work for our old bones. We'll need the clans' support."
Just like the elders, the clan leaders could only nod as well. As the representative of the civilian ninjas, this job should have fallen on Fujin's shoulders. Not to mention, he was the one who recommended the changes to the academy, increasing his responsibility further.
However, he was still very young and everyone on the council knew that Fujin prioritized his training over council duties. As such, they couldn't count on him in this matter. Of course, it wasn't completely a bad thing for most of the council members and many were actually relieved.
Ever since the Chunin Exams started, Fujin's reputation and prestige in Konoha had skyrocketed. Kakashi, who was extremely popular and looked at as the leader of the next generation, had been left far behind by Fujin in this short time. Fujin's popularity had even surpassed that of the Sannins and was only under Hiruzen's.
If he started taking more responsibility in the council and increased his influence further, he could very easily start eating into their spheres of influence and perhaps their benefits too. If it had been a few months ago, they wouldn't feel so threatened. However, with the fearsome prowess Fujin revealed, they now understood that they wouldn't have an easy time protecting their benefits if Fujin decided to make a move.
As such, they didn't want to see his prestige grow further by undertaking a task of such importance. This was the reason why Homura and Koharu agreed without much resistance despite seeing what Shikaku was trying to do. They intended to use this matter to improve their image further and rebuild their prestige, ensuring their positions wouldn't be threatened under Tsunade.