"Specifics, huh?" Shikaku hummed before snorting, "The Hokage Advisors don't like that you are approaching the clans with your new invention instead of the village."
Ren nodded. That made sense. The advisors. That meant Homura and Koharu, as Danzo was kicked from that position after the Uchiha massacre, so he wasn't one of them anymore.
And honestly, that was fair. A loyal ninja should, at least according to the guidebook, give the benefits of his work to his village. Of course, not many did that because, duh.
Even an early age indoctrination can do only so much.
"There is no meeting recently where they don't whine about you and how self-serving your actions are." Shikaku gave Ren a lazy smirk, "It's getting really annoying."
Ren wryly realized that the two Advisors probably misunderstood something. But to be fair, it was completely understandable if some of the information was lost in transit. They can't have ANBU spying on clan business, so whatever snippets they have are probably more or less from rumors.
Ren gave his Secrebo to three clans already. And those clans definitely informed some members. It really only takes one of those to brag about it, and voila, the secret is out.
The second Ren gave out the boxes, he knew it was just a question of time.
The Advisors most likely thought his Secrebo could print any seal, instead of printing only the specific one it was built for. Ren wasn't even going to blame them for coveting his Secrebo if that was the case.
They were the Konoha Elders. It was their job to look out for Konoha's interests. And a box that could print any seal sounded mighty tempting.
Lucky for them, Ren already had a date for a meeting with the Hokage, where he would formally fill out his request for the founding of a new minor clan. And Konoha would get a 'gift' then.
Hopefully, that would get these two off his back.
"Anybody else?" Ren asked as he reached out for a potato chip, and Shikaku shrugged as he lit up a cigarette.
"The Hyugas."
Ren scrunched his nose at the man and used a small wind jutsu to ensure he wouldn't need to breathe the smoke. He would have reached out and snatched the cigarette out of his mouth if this were not the Ino-Shika-Cho clan meeting. Only that stayed Ren's hand.
He didn't care that Shikaku liked to smoke. As long as it wasn't done with him sitting so close, and literally opposite him.
As for the Hyugas, it was actually not Hiashi. That man was still busy, according to Hinata. He wasn't even in Konoha right now. He went back to the capital with the Daimyo for some business or something.
In his seat was one of the Elders. And let's just say, they were not happy when they heard about Ren's gifts to other clans. Maybe they even slightly regretted turning him down at the gate? Who knows?
But they were too prideful to invite him for a 'chat'. That was a pity. Not that Ren would give them anything at this point. But he would appreciate the opportunity to tell them to 'Fuck off' to their face.
"Then there are some minor clans, some civilian representatives, and some independent ninjas. All who filed a complaint or two about... well, who the hell even knows?" The man casually shrugged, clearly finding the situation amusing.
Yup. And that was probably Danzo.
There wasn't much the old cripple could really do and destroying Ren's credibility through this method was an inspired move. But joke's on him, Ren didn't care about his credibility. He was certain that people would come to him because his products were revolutionary and worked. Not because he had a nice reputation.
Danzo and Ren... they were playing a little different game, and Danzo didn't get the memo just yet.
"The only ones that make sense are the seal makers who are afraid that your invention will take away their ability to make money. So, tell me the truth. Will it?"
The question might have been casual, but Ren instantly recognized that Shikaku meant business. He was asking in his capacity as the Jonin commander.
Which was fair.
If every seal maker suddenly lost their job, it would put the village leadership into a big predicament. But fortunately for them, that's not how Secrebo worked.
"No." Ren shook his head with a chuckle. "Even with the boxes, I can't fill Konoha's entire demand for seals by myself. I doubt I'll cover even ten percent of it."
Mostly because he was lazy.
But still, it was insane how many seals Konoha actually needed every month. Just the exploding tags. Even with clones and working around the clock, there was just no way to produce in these quantities by his lone self.
Hence, he was willing to give the Secrebos away, so that others would do the work for him. Since Ren's end goal is to strengthen Konoha's ninjas, it didn't matter who produced the seals as long as the ninjas got to use them in the end.
"Good." Shikaku sighed in relief and smiled a peaceful and satisfied smile of a man who had just realized that some sort of monumental task in his future was no more.
"What about joining the Hokage faction? That would solve a lot of the issues." He offhandedly asked Ren, who instantly looked as if he sucked on a lemon.
"Hard pass." Ren said in the driest voice he could muster, and Shikaku snorted.
"Heh. Worth a shot." He took an unbothered drag from his cigarette as Ren rolled his eyes at him.
The man meant well. His suggestion was sincere. And he was smart. But he was not a seer. There was no reason to attach himself to the Hokage's political hip for Ren. Not when the man would be out of the office in a few months, which would completely reshuffle the political deck and make the current Hokage faction obsolete.
After all, a new Hokage would have a 'new' Hokage faction.
Honestly, getting attached to Hiruzen Sarutobi in the political sphere in the village was not such a bad thing. Just look at Koharu, Homura, or Danzo. They were all in their positions because Hiruzen Sarutobi chose them as his advisors.
Without him, they would have been nothing. Just another ordinary jonin without much influence. All their clans are minor ones and amount to barely anything.
These three were the living testament of how good riding the Third Hokage's coattails was. Funny that all three pretty much work against his wishes nowadays. Their loyalty and gratitude are admirably nonexistent.
Unfortunately, Ren got ready to join the politics of Konoha a little bit too late to milk Sarutobi for easy political exp as if he were some sort of rare mob in an RPG game.
"But still. You shoul-" Shikaku started, but he was interrupted when a blond-haired boy approached Ren from the right side, stopping just a few steps away from him before speaking.
"You are Ren?"
Startled, Ren's head turned toward the voice, and his eyebrow raised in curiosity. He didn't know any other Yamanaka than Ino and her family. He had no idea who the boy was. But deciding not to be rude, Ren replied, "Yes?"
"I challenge you to a duel for Ino's hand in marriage, you dastardly fiend!" The boy pointed his finger at Ren's face and exclaimed loudly enough that people from other tables were starting to turn toward them.
Ren inwardly groaned while outwardly he opened his mouth... but he was honestly too speechless as he stared at the boy with a deadpan look. He didn't expect this.
Not again.
Before he could gather his wits enough to give a proper reply, however, Ino suddenly appeared out of nowhere behind the boy with a massive, embarrassed glare and whammed him on the head with an empty silver tray, causing him to crouch down as his hands sprang up to hold his throbbing head.
"Wh-grhk." Remarkably, the boy recovered within two seconds and was about to turn around to look who assaulted him, but Ino was a few steps ahead of him.
Just as his head was turning, she clasped his ear in a vice-grip and pulled it up enough to make the boy get into a half-crouch with a massive wince. "Yamanaka Inoki! What in the hell do you think you are doing, huuuh!?"
"But Ino-chan! I love you." The boy pitifully whined, clearly under the influence of alcohol a bit as he clawed at Ino's hand and tried to get her to release his poor, abused ear.
But Ino only gave him an unimpressed, no-nonsense, "Nu-uh." and twisted the ear between her fingers, making the boy shout in pain.
"Au, au, au, don't pull! Don't pull! Please!"
Ino didn't listen to his pleas as she haphazardly moved her hand around... and the boy's ear with it, forcing him to move his head according to her movements. Ino used this to make the boy stand up and force him into an easy submission before she shot a look at Ren.
"And you! Go and dance with Hinata already, for sage's sake! When I am done with my kitchen duty, I want to have you mostly for myself!" She huffed before marching toward a nearby house, dragging the protesting and whimpering Yamanaka boy with her like a mother dragon whose child had just done something monumentally stupid.
The entire gathering was silent after that spectacle, and Ren looked at Shikaku before he let out a small chuckle.
"You heard the girl. Enough talking about boring politics at a party. It seems I gotta go find my Hyuga princess."