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Make the Nine-Tails obediently listen to commands?
Onoki would sooner believe the Leaf Village was releasing a smokescreen. And if it was just a smokescreen, why bother fretting over it? Wasn't it better to steadfastly monitor the peace negotiations between the Mist and Sand Villages? This concerned the critical juncture at which the Stone Village could finally cease hostilities.
As for all other extraneous, chaotic matters, Onoki had no desire to waste his energy on them. In any case, that fellow Kazuki was already plenty powerful enough. What difference would it make if he became a little stronger? You can be as strong as you want, so long as it doesn't affect the Stone Village, that's the end of it.
Compared to Onoki, when the newly inaugurated Fifth Mizukage of the Mist Village, Mei Terumi, and Rasa of the Sand Village learned of this news, they were momentarily startled. Surprise was present, to be sure, but the shock value wasn't overwhelming. This was because the Leaf Village already had one Nine-Tails Jinchuriki – and merely an ordinary Jinchuriki at that, not a perfect one.
"A Nine-Tails Jinchuriki? Didn't the Leaf Village already have one?" Mei Terumi felt this intelligence was suspect. From what she knew of Kazuki, he didn't seem the type to enjoy taking risks. After all, the drawbacks of becoming a Jinchuriki were numerous. The most troublesome among them was the fact that if the Tailed Beast was extracted, the Jinchuriki would die.
Mei Terumi trusted that Kazuki wasn't someone who would gamble with his own life. Since he wouldn't joke about his life, yet had still chosen to seal half of the Nine-Tails within his body, making himself a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki – wasn't that telling enough? There was something fishy about this. Unfortunately, the Mist Village also lacked the luxury of excessive attention to spare on this. Mei Terumi quickly set the matter aside. The Mist Village's delegation had already arrived at the Sand Village. The two villages were initiating contact, and barring unforeseen circumstances, both sides would soon sit down together for peace talks. Compared to the Leaf Village's intelligence, Mei Terumi was far more preoccupied with how to handle the Kazekage, Rasa, and bring this utterly meaningless war to a definitive conclusion.
Mei Terumi was thus occupied, and so was Rasa. However, Rasa's level of concern regarding Leaf Village intelligence far surpassed that of the Mist Village or the Stone Village. After all, they were neighbors. They had fought several wars, each time being thoroughly crushed by the Leaf. The geographical circumstances dictated that the Leaf Village and the Sand Village were naturally at odds. Unless one village was willing to bow its head and act as the junior subordinate, the friction would simply persist indefinitely.
When the intelligence regarding the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki arrived, Rasa opened it and scanned through it, his eyelids twitching involuntarily. Due to the Leaf Village's open disclosure and transparency, everyone among the Five Great Shinobi Villages knew that although Naruto was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, the Nine-Tails within him was only half of the beast.
The remaining half had been sealed away by Minato using the Dead Demon Consuming Seal on the night of the attack. Now, the emergence of the other half signified that the Leaf Village had undone the Dead Demon Consuming Seal and used some special methods to extract the Yin Nine-Tails. Only then could Kazuki seal the Yin Nine-Tails within himself. Just what was Kazuki scheming? At a time like this, shouldn't his priority be considering the issue of the Sixth Hokage? Why was he instead messing around with Tailed Beasts?
After pondering for a moment, his mind slightly muddled, Rasa gave the scroll to Chiyo beside him. "Chiyo, do you believe this intelligence to be genuine?" Chiyo caught the scroll, glanced over it, and replied,
"It should be authentic. The Leaf Village has already issued an official announcement. That man, Kazuki, though exceedingly cunning, wouldn't deceive people about something like this – especially not his own people. It seems the Leaf Village has found a way to retrieve the other half of the sealed Nine-Tails. Kazuki even personally stepped in, sealing it within himself. For us, this could also be considered... good news."
"Why?" Rasa paused, momentarily confused. Kazuki becoming a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki would undoubtedly enhance his strength. The stronger Kazuki became, the more disadvantageous the Sand Village's position would be. After all, this man was black-hearted, ill-tempered, and harbored a deep vengefulness. A powerful Kazuki would keep the Sand Village crushed under his heel, unable to lift its head.
"Because Kazuki is already sufficiently powerful. What difference does it make if he becomes a little stronger?" Chiyo smiled and offered Rasa a reminder. "Lord Kazekage, what we need to consider is not how strong Kazuki becomes, but rather, what position our village should adopt in its relationship with the Leaf Village."
In the past, the Sand Village had held some hope of overturning the Leaf. Now, that was impossible. They could only remain trampled under the Leaf's foot. Opposing the Leaf was unrealistic; therefore, they could only resort to cunning, or become a subordinate – form an alliance.
Rasa's expression immediately soured. The Five Great Shinobi Villages were supposed to stand on equal footing. Even if the strength of one or two villages was comparatively greater, their statuses remained equivalent. Yet now, the Sand Village was being told it needed to bow to the Leaf Village, to act as its junior – nominally an ally, but in reality a subordinate.
This would cause the Sand Village to be inherently a head shorter than the Leaf. Rasa clearly did not wish to accept this outcome. Unfortunately, he had no choice. Not only did the Sand Village owe the Leaf a mountain of debt, but its recovery – without the Leaf's assistance – would take an exceedingly, agonizingly long time. Furthermore, forming an alliance with the Leaf would be advantageous for the upcoming negotiations.
"Lord Kazekage, we can no longer afford to hesitate. Our relationship with the Leaf Village must be solidified before the peace talks begin. Otherwise, the Leaf will not speak on our village's behalf." Becoming the Leaf's ally meant that during negotiations, the Leaf could offer the Sand Village a little assistance, a slight bias. Without this relationship, the Leaf would certainly not favor anyone. Since they were acting as intermediaries, they would simply remain neutral intermediaries. As long as you don't start fighting during the negotiations, I don't care about anything else.
"I will consider this matter carefully. Additionally, the fact that Kazuki has become a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki means he will inevitably become a priority target for the Akatsuki. For us, this is good news wrapped in a layer of less than ideal." The Akatsuki's objective was clear to everyone. To turn oneself into a Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, knowing full well the Akatsuki would be targeting the Tailed Beasts – this was hardly a rational decision. But that was the Leaf Village's own affair.
It required no worry from the Sand Village. Besides, the Sand Village already had more than enough concerns on its plate. Next, they would have to go to the Leaf Village to curry favor, and they would still have to endure watching others' expressions. An alliance wasn't something you could simply form just because you wanted to. Even a fool could see the reason the Sand Village was running to the Leaf at this moment, head bowed, seeking an alliance. Wasn't it simply to ensure the Leaf would lean slightly in their favor during the upcoming peace talks, allowing the Sand Village to extract a few more benefits to aid in the village's reconstruction?
Your Sand Village, shamelessly begging at their doorstep, wanting to cling to their thigh – that still depended on the Leaf Village's mood. If they were in a good mood, they might accept you as a junior. If not, you could get lost immediately, go back to wherever you came from. The Leaf wouldn't get involved in such matters; the Leaf didn't need juniors.
Everything that needed to be said had been said. As for how to decide, that still depended on Rasa. Chiyo was merely an elder advisor to the village, not the Kazekage. The final decision rested in Rasa's hands. She only had the right to advise, not the authority to decide. Time was also running short for the Sand Village, for the Mist Village's envoy had already arrived.