Chapter 487: Wait and See

Senju Hashirama's original intention was to distribute the tailed beasts among the villages, but Senju Tobirama was not on board with this idea.

Deliver them?

Impossible. Even if they were to be sold, the strength of each village had to be measured to ensure fairness. There was no way he would allow the strongest tailed beasts to be concentrated in a single village.

This was precisely why the Seven-Tails ended up being sold to Takigakure.

The First Raikage had initially aimed to acquire both the Eight-Tails and the Seven-Tails instead of the Two-Tails. However, Senju Tobirama firmly opposed the idea.

With no other choice, the First Raikage settled for the Two-Tails instead.

When this news reached Ōnoki, he was so furious that he smashed several tables. His rage silenced everyone around him, including Kitsuchi, his typically rebellious son who often argued with him. For once, even Kitsuchi refrained from addressing him as "Father" and instead called him "Tsuchikage-sama."

This illustrated just how livid Ōnoki had been when Roshi was captured by the Third Raikage.

Back in Konoha, Shinki and Tsunade were surprised upon hearing the news.

Good move!

They had assumed that the Third Raikage would continue to use Konoha as a means to intimidate Iwagakure. Instead, he had made a secret move, infiltrating the Land of Earth without any warning and capturing Roshi when his whereabouts were exposed.

The intelligence network of the Cloud Village truly deserved praise.

"Do you think Ōnoki will comply?" Tsunade asked, sensing the intent behind the Third Raikage's maneuver.

The Third Raikage's deliberate release of the news was clearly a power play meant to force Ōnoki into a corner: admit defeat in the war, or risk losing the Four-Tails permanently to the Cloud Village. Either way, the Cloud Village had the upper hand.

"Hard to say," Shinki replied, uncertain of Ōnoki's response.

"Roshi's temperament is extreme, but this shows that Ōnoki is a man of tolerance. At least he's willing to put up with Roshi, a Jinchūriki with a bad temper who openly defies him."

"If this were any other village, Roshi would likely be imprisoned or even executed."

Tsunade snorted and raised her head, directing her gaze at Shinki.

"???"

Her gesture baffled him. Was she comparing herself to Ōnoki?

"Stop that," Shinki muttered with a sigh. "If you were in Ōnoki's position, you'd probably beat Roshi half to death."

"Ridiculous! Am I that vulgar?" Tsunade shot back, clearly offended. She stood up abruptly, her voice brimming with indignation. "Kushina has her moments of defiance. Do you see me treating her like that?"

Alas...

Shinki sighed and rubbed his temples. "Don't compare yourself to Ōnoki. Your relationship with Kushina is more like sisters. Ōnoki and Roshi, on the other hand, are superior and subordinate. Moreover, Kushina might quarrel with you, but she'd never cross the line. Roshi, however, goes above and beyond to provoke Ōnoki."

"Honestly, if you were in Ōnoki's shoes, you'd be dead from the stress."

This wasn't an exaggeration. Roshi's defiance wasn't limited to occasional disagreements—he often went out of his way to publicly challenge Ōnoki's authority and then walked away without a care for the repercussions.

It was a testament to Ōnoki's patience that Roshi had neither been exiled nor executed.

"Ahem."

Tsunade coughed lightly, choosing to end the argument. Deep down, she knew that if she were in Ōnoki's position, Roshi wouldn't last long.

Shinki added thoughtfully, "With the Four-Tails in their possession, the Cloud Village doesn't even need to win the war. Even if they offer reparations to Iwagakure, the Third Raikage will still look like a hero to his people."

"The value of a tailed beast can't be quantified by money," Tsunade remarked. "And the Third Raikage has the skill to seal the Four-Tails if it goes berserk."

Indeed, incidents involving rampaging tailed beasts had proven disastrous in some villages. But for the Cloud Village, as long as it wasn't the Eight-Tails rampaging, the Third Raikage could handle it with ease.

"Should we intervene?"

Tsunade was apprehensive about the idea of another tailed beast in the Cloud Village. Killer Bee was already a perfect Jinchūriki, and with his experience, the Cloud Village could potentially create another one. This would disrupt the balance of power in the ninja world—a scenario Konoha didn't want.

"No need," Shinki replied calmly. "It's not that simple to create a perfect Jinchūriki."

Besides, with Uchiha Madara's plans now exposed, too many Jinchūriki or tailed beasts in one village might invite unnecessary trouble.

"Even if the Four-Tails doesn't stay in the Cloud Village, it's not up to us to take action. Sand Village and Mist Village will step in first."

This was not just Konoha's concern. Sand Village and Mist Village shared the same unease. While Konoha had an alliance with the Cloud Village, the other two villages had no such ties and were more likely to act.

As Shinki predicted, upon learning the news, both the Third Kazekage and Yagura contacted Ōnoki. Their motive wasn't to help Iwagakure but to ensure that the Four-Tails didn't fall into the hands of the Cloud Village.

Among the five great ninja villages, only Sand Village and Konoha lacked two tailed beasts. If the Cloud Village suddenly gained an additional one, the balance among the villages would be disrupted.

When reaching out to Ōnoki, neither the Third Kazekage nor Yagura involved Konoha, knowing that Konoha wouldn't risk backstabbing its ally.

Instead, this delicate matter was left to Sand Village and Mist Village to address.