Although the Nine-Tails outwardly scoffed at Naruto's talk of protection, the weight this matter carried in his heart far exceeded Naruto's imagination.
Although he was sealed inside Naruto's body, that did not mean he was completely unaware of the outside world. He could also sense what Naruto heard and saw.
Previously, the Nine-Tails hadn't cared much about this. Occasionally watching the villagers ostracize Naruto could even slightly satisfy his vengeful heart.
However, that changed not long ago. That water-playing kid with talent seemingly even greater than the Fourth Hokage kept spreading Akatsuki threat theories in front of Naruto every day.
He kept talking about how the Akatsuki wanted to collect all the tailed beasts to create a world-destroying superweapon, telling him to be careful. On top of that, there were mentions of the Akatsuki leader possessing the legendary Rinnegan—something Naruto knew nothing about.
All these things made Naruto want to vomit, and even after all that, it didn't stop. No one knew who exactly he was saying it to.
As the saying goes, the speaker has no intention, but the listener takes it to heart. Naruto didn't know what the so-called superweapon made from collecting tailed beasts was, but the Nine-Tails knew all too well what that thing was.
Combined with Furina occasionally mentioning the Rinnegan and the name of the Ten-Tails, which had almost never left the Nine-Tails' mind during this period, it made him unable to rest properly.
Moreover, the Nine-Tails deeply suspected that the other party definitely knew something but just wouldn't say it outright, instead hinting at it every day in front of them. This was pure fox-scaring.
Therefore, although somewhat dissatisfied, with the threat right in front of him, the Nine-Tails still reluctantly controlled his chakra so it no longer interfered with Naruto's daily training.
After all, in the worst case he would just remain sealed—he still had his own consciousness. But if he returned to the Ten-Tails' body... tsk tsk tsk, that would be the absolute worst outcome. He didn't even want to think about it.
"Furina said I absolutely can't open your seal unless we become companions who can fight side by side in the future and only consider it then. So Fox, you should give up on that idea."
"How come you listen to everything that water-playing kid says? Don't you have any thoughts of your own? Someone as lacking in self as you—I could never become companions with in this lifetime. Hmph."
Hearing the Nine-Tails' mockery, Naruto wasn't annoyed at all. His face still wore the same usual smile, as if he intended to reform the other party.
"I listened to what Furina said. She believes we can definitely become companions in the future, so I'll work hard to make you acknowledge me—just like making the others in the village acknowledge me too."
Nine-Tails: …..
Seeing that Naruto didn't seem to have listened to a single word he said, the Nine-Tails lost any desire to continue the conversation and directly kicked Naruto out of the space.
Although he was kicked out by the other party, Naruto didn't mind. At least compared to before, the Nine-Tails was now willing to exchange a few words with him. This was a huge step forward from 0 to 1.
He believed that one day he could achieve what Furina said—make the Nine-Tails acknowledge him as a companion too. When that time came, with the Nine-Tails' help, he should also be able to become as strong as her.
Harboring beautiful fantasies about the future, Naruto felt that the fatigue from his recent training wasn't so noticeable anymore. He wished he could go find Jiraiya right now to learn that Sage Mode.
"By the way, where is Teacher Jiraiya right now?"
"That perverted old man—where else but the women's bathhouse? Where else could he be?"
"Oh right, thanks, Kurama! Once I finish learning Sage Mode, I'll definitely protect you so those Akatsuki guys can't capture you."
"Hmph...."
...
"I'm here, Sensei. Have they all arrived?"
"Not yet, but it's almost time. They should be arriving soon."
While the two were chatting idly, some familiar figures began to arrive one after another.
From Kumogakure came the Raikage A, along with his brother Killer B. From Iwagakure came the Tsuchikage Ōnoki, accompanied by Kurotsuchi.
From Kirigakure came the newly appointed Mizukage Mei Terumī, who had just ended the era of the Bloody Mist, along with Ao and Chōjūrō.
And from Sunagakure came the representative Chiyo. Since the Fourth Kazekage's death, the village lacked a suitable successor. Gaara, whom Chiyo favored, was still too young. In the end, the nearly retired Chiyo had to come out of retirement to temporarily serve as Kazekage until someone qualified to take over appeared.
Accompanying her were her brother Ebizō and Gaara, whom she intended to groom as the next Kazekage.
In addition to the five great ninja villages, there was also the samurai leader from the Land of Iron, Mifune, who would preside over the Five Kage Summit. The other Kage were willing to accept him in this role.
Originally, as a neutral country, the Land of Iron would not get involved in such disputes. However, after capturing the tailed beasts, the Akatsuki would surely not stop there—it was highly likely their target was the entire world.
Moreover, there had previously been an "Akatsuki member" who assassinated the daimyo of the Land of Iron. For both reason and emotion, Mifune could not ignore it. Therefore, after receiving the invitation to preside over the Five Kage Summit, he agreed without much hesitation.
And accompanying him, Furina noticed, was a familiar face—her good friend from the Land of Iron, Chiyo. At this time, she was dressed in samurai attire like Mifune. It seemed that after the tragedy of her clan's massacre, Mifune had taken her in.
In addition to the Kage from each village coming to Konoha, there were also elite ninja from their respective villages, prepared to jointly hunt down those infamous rogue ninja of the ninja world.
And it was precisely for this reason that the location of the Five Kage Summit was ultimately chosen to be Konoha. So many elite ninja coming to their territory—this was a threat to any village, after all. Before this, they had all been deadly enemies fighting to the death.
Moreover, to protect the safety of the jinchūriki, the plan was to concentrate all the jinchūriki in one village. That village would obviously become the Akatsuki's number-one target, drawing all their firepower.
No village wanted to accept such a hot potato, but with a great enemy at hand, in the end someone had to step forward.
The reason it ended up being Konoha was, first, that as the victor in several past ninja wars, it was stronger in every aspect.
However, Tsunade didn't care about those past glories. As Hokage, she would not let the village suffer losses for some insignificant reputation.
What truly made her willing to agree was Furina and the Fū she had brought back.
After all, the other ninja villages either had no tailed beasts left or only one remaining. Only Konoha now had two tailed beasts—naturally, it had to bear more risk.