This level of strength naturally made her far more suitable than their Hidden Waterfall Village to protect Fū. Moreover, as the Hokage's disciple backed by Konoha, even the Akatsuki organization would likely be wary of her status to some degree.
However, one thing exceeded the Hidden Waterfall Village leader's expectations: faced with the Seven-Tails being practically handed to her on a silver platter, Furina seemed not particularly interested.
By common sense, tailed beasts were vitally important to every village.
Back when the First Hokage, Senju Hashirama, distributed the tailed beasts, their Hidden Waterfall Village had paid an enormous price to obtain one from the Five Great Ninja Villages.
And thanks to the Seven-Tails' relatively mild personality, there had been no major incidents up to Fū's generation. Relying on this one tailed beast, the Hidden Waterfall Village had become one of the top forces below the Five Great Ninja Villages.
Yet now, when they wanted to give away the tailed beast, this Konoha ninja acted as if she did not care much at all.
He had no time to sigh over how times had changed. Even if the other might have already guessed his intentions, at this point he could not stop.
"Fū might seem unserious on the surface, but precisely because of that, she gets along very well with the tailed beast inside her. During battle, the Seven-Tails is willing to help her.
So she's actually very capable. As long as you don't bully her, if anything happens in the future, she will definitely be able to help you all."
"If she were truly that strong, you wouldn't be making this request. Saying all this is nothing more than because you know deep down that once she follows me back to Konoha, she probably won't ever be able to return."
"As expected." Seeing his thoughts seen through completely, the Hidden Waterfall Village leader could not help sighing. But he did not feel discouraged by it, because he had already sensed the turnaround in Furina's next words.
"But well, now that the Akatsuki organization's threat is plainly visible, our village also has a tailed beast. Naturally I need to consider the future as well.
Rather than leaving the Seven-Tails here like a fish on the chopping block waiting for the Akatsuki to make their move, it's better for her to come back to Konoha with me. That way we gain an extra bit of strength.
And without a tailed beast, the Akatsuki probably won't bother targeting your village anymore. It's a win-win situation. I'm saying all this because I hope we can be frank with each other. After all, I'm really not good at reading between the lines."
Although it was vocabulary he had never heard before, through the literal meaning and Furina's earlier words, the Hidden Waterfall Village leader could roughly infer what she meant. He then let out a deep breath of relief.
"Haa, I understand. Although we only just met, Miss Furina gives me a feeling that I can trust you. Perhaps this is just a desperate measure when there's no other way out.
But please take care of Fū. As thanks, in the future if there's anything you need help with, while I can't speak for the whole village, personally I will do my utmost to assist."
These words expressed the Hidden Waterfall Village leader's attitude. He was not entrusting Fū to Konoha, but to Furina personally.
After all, although Furina gave him a very good impression, as the one in charge of the village, he knew all too well the darkness that existed within any village—especially a large one like Konoha.
Some things Furina would not do, but others in the village might not be the same.
"Haha, of course. Although that guy just unilaterally declared herself our friend earlier, I don't mind it at all. And since she's a friend, naturally I won't sit idly by if she runs into trouble."
Furina could roughly guess the Hidden Waterfall Village leader's concerns and did not need much mental preparation. After all, Konoha openly had that pot king Danzō around. She had already thought through the related matters back when it involved Shion and Uchiha Hikari.
It was nothing more than one extra jinchūriki. With Hikari and Shion already there, it was just a drop in the bucket.
"It's really great that you can think that way."
...
"Shibuki-sama, is it really okay to just let Fū go to Konoha with that Hokage's disciple?"
After Furina and the others had gone far away, the Hidden Waterfall Village jōnin who had come to support and had been standing nearby finally could not hold back and asked.
"I can't guarantee this is the best choice, but I believe in her. This isn't just because she saved Fū earlier. Before that, I had also heard rumors about her from other Konoha ninja."
Hearing Shibuki mention past events, the jōnin who had spoken earlier immediately showed an understanding expression. Memories buried deep in his heart surfaced once more.
Not long ago, the Hidden Waterfall Village had an experienced jōnin defect and collude with Amegakure in an attempt to seize the village's secret treasure—the Hero's Water.
In the end, that conspiracy naturally failed. This was not only because they fought back with all their strength, but also because the help of one ninja from Konoha had been indispensable.
That ninja was none other than the renowned Sharingan Kakashi of the ninja world. He had come to the Hidden Waterfall Village after accepting an escort mission from Shibuki. Logically, his task should have ended there.
But after learning the full details of the incident, Kakashi did not choose to leave. Instead, he stood on the side of the Hidden Waterfall Village.
With his assistance, the conspiracy was smoothly dismantled. Even the defected Hidden Waterfall Village jōnin, Yūen, died under his Lightning Cutter. He could truly be called the MVP of that battle.