A Willful Demand

Fu is the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki of Takigakure.

Upon seeing her, Sakura Haruno had this thought in her mind.

Flying is a major challenge for ninjas. The number of ninjas in the Five Great Shinobi Villages who can fly freely can be counted on one hand. Gaara standing on the sand can only be considered to float, and his movement speed is not fast. Ninjas like Deidara who use clay to create objects can barely be considered to fly. However, only ninjas who have mastered the Earth Release Nature Transformation to a very high level can truly fly at high speed without external aids, such as the Tsuchikage.

Seeing a ninja capable of agile and high-speed flight in such a remote mountain village was truly unexpected for Sakura. This ninja village had powerful flying ninjas and the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki —where did so many talented people come from in such a remote place?

Therefore, she boldly guessed that the flying girl was the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki. If the Seven-Tails itself could fly, then what she just did was simply a partial Tailed Beast Transformation!

She then probed him slightly with her words, and he immediately gave himself away.

The girl let something slip, and although Shibuki stopped her, it was too late.

Having been friends with the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki for so many years, Sakura Haruno knew very well what characteristics Jinchūriki possessed. Based on Fu's reactions and the sense of Chakra she could sense, she was absolutely certain that Fu was the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

The Waterfall Ninja protected her too much, to the point that Fu was a little too genuine and naive.

Both Mist Ninja and Takigakure are secluded villages, isolated from the outside world, so strange things and oddities abound. Kirigakure is known for its many perverts and serial killers, while Takigakure's ninjas don't seem like ninjas at all, but rather like ordinary people from a bygone era. Of course, by bygone standards, the people of Takigakure are probably closer to normal.

In short, she didn't bring it up, exchanged a smile with Sasuke, and watched as Shibuki clumsily tried to cover it up.

Then another Suien Waterfall Ninja named Suien ran over, grabbed her hand, and pulled Fu back to Takigakure.

"Uh... Fu is a bit mischievous," Shibuki racked his brains for an excuse, "But she's just an ordinary girl."

Hmm... just an ordinary girl.

If the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki is considered ordinary, then no ninja in this world would dare to call themselves special.

Sakura suppressed a smile and asked, feigning interest, "She can fly so fast, that's amazing. Do all the ninjas in your Takigakure know how to fly?"

"That... of course not!" Shibuki hurriedly waved his hand, "Only she knows this kind of Ninjutsu, it's not Secret Technique passed down through generations!"

Shibuki didn't want Konoha to misunderstand that Takigakure possessed such a powerful inherited Secret Technique. After all, in the history of ninjas, it was not uncommon for clans, villages, or even countries to be wiped out for the sake of a Ninjutsu!

Clearly, Secret Technique that allows people to fly has strategic value; it's the kind of Ninjutsu that would be coveted and used to wipe out a village.

"Oh~"

Sakura playfully drawled out the last syllable, making it impossible to tell whether she genuinely believed her or was merely feigning ignorance, "So, Fu created this Ninjutsu herself? Your village's people are truly remarkable..."

Shibuki scratched his head, chuckled twice, and remained silent.

He couldn't bring himself to admit that Fu was talented; Shibuki wasn't about to be so blatantly flustered.

Fu... if she weren't Jinchūriki, she'd probably just be an ordinary female ninja, right? Neither her effort, her personality, nor her character show any signs of strength. She only became Jinchūriki because her physique could contain the Seven-Tails' power.

Therefore, Shibuki simply couldn't lie against his conscience.

"Fu looks about our age, but I've never seen her participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams. Is she still Genin?" Sakura asked knowingly, her tone mischievous.

"Uh, well... she's no longer Genin, hahaha," Shibuki wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and stammered, "Anyway, Fu hasn't participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams other villages."

"What a pity, such a strong ninja never participated in the Chunin Ninja Exams and proved himself in front of everyone."

"Yes, yes," Shibuki nodded repeatedly in response, "It's getting late, shall we head back?"

He was already starting to struggle.

Instead of staying in the village as Takikage had asked, Fu wandered around outside the village and was caught by Konoha's messenger, which threw him into a panic. In particular, Sakura Haruno asked him a lot of questions about Fu. To avoid arousing suspicion in Konoha, Shibuki had no choice but to answer, but it was difficult to make the lie airtight. As Takikage's younger brother, this was the first time he had encountered such a difficult task.

He was unaware that the many lies he had painstakingly woven to cover up Fu's abnormality were actually already suspected by Sakura Haruno and Sasuke to be Fu's Seven-Tails Jinchuriki.

Sakura just had a slightly mischievous sense of humor and wanted to see him sweating profusely and racking his brains to come up with a lie.

The girl looked up and saw that the sun was still far from setting in the west; it was clearly still early.

That's a pretty lame excuse.

"Okay, let's go back then!" Sakura Haruno didn't continue to make things difficult for him and nodded in agreement.

Sakura Haruno's first impression of Fu was that she was a lively, cheerful, and adorable girl who would sometimes whimper.

--Don't get me wrong, she's not the burly man who used to spam "aww" in the chat during live streams in her past life, but a real soft girl.

Of course, this doesn't include when she uses the power of the Tailed Beast in battle.

The expectations placed on women in the Shinobi World are actually quite traditional. Many women, who are not particularly strong, are the delicate type before marriage, and after marriage, they give up their ninja careers to focus on being wives and mothers. Even seemingly strong female ninjas like Kurenai Yuhi have similar thoughts. Everyone in Konoha's Jonin circle knows that she is dating Jonin Asuma and that she plans to become a housewife after having a child.

This is influenced by traditional thinking.

Sakura Haruno found these ideas strange, but not incomprehensible. The difference between this tradition, which was passed down from the Warring States period and her previous life, was that it had a very practical consideration: the male mortality rate was too high during the Warring States period. If wives also went to war, it would often result in orphans who lost both parents. In such a chaotic era, orphans almost never survived, and the family line would be broken.

However, there are also those who do not follow tradition.

For example, Uzuki Yugao —or Yugao Uzuki —who recently gave birth and is currently undergoing rehabilitation training while caring for her child, is in a situation where Tsunade hopes she can continue her ninja career because her strength far surpasses Hayate's. Therefore, Yugao cannot be a full-time housewife, and Hayate must also take on the role of a stay-at-home dad.

And women Tsunade and Hinata who are confident, strong, and independent.

The most unique one is Sakura Haruno herself. As a transmigrator, she did a good job of integrating into the new world. However, many of her ideas from her previous life as a boy were deeply ingrained and would not change easily. Moreover, even if a girl transmigrated here, she probably would not be able to understand the so-called traditional ideas. Women also have their own careers and social lives. There is no reason why women must make sacrifices and return to the position of housewife after marriage and childbirth.

Generally speaking, the stronger a woman is, the less she wants to give up the opportunity to work as a ninja after marriage, and the weaker the influence of traditional thinking is on her.

However, Fu, a girl who can consistently unleash Kage Level combat power, has a personality completely different from what Sakura imagined. Perhaps it's because her power came too easily; she acquired such strength without any effort in training, and her mentality doesn't match her strength.

Those who truly reach the Kage Level through cultivation are all individuals of unwavering and resolute character.

She was dragged back to the village by Suien, and then in Takikage's office, she was scolded by Takikage Shibuchi by the ear, but she kept her head down and didn't dare to breathe.

"Look what you've done, huh?" She Shibuchi her head with his index finger, making her forehead red, and said through gritted teeth, "I told you not to go out these past few days, to stay in the village and behave yourself, why didn't you listen? You only feel happy when the police catch you?"

With his hands behind his back, Takikage paced back and forth in the office, looking troubled.

Fu pouted, glanced cautiously at Takikage, and said aggrievedly, "Didn't you say that everything you knew before was made up by Konoha to deceive us? Besides, I'm Jinchūriki, how could I be so easily captured by some underground organization that popped up from some remote mountain place!"

"That was before, things are different now!"

Takikage, of course, would not admit that he had misjudged the situation. The envoy from Konoha told him that Konoha, Sand Ninja, and Mist Ninja had joined forces against Akatsuki. After sending Sakura and Sasuke away, he realized in retrospect that the problems with Akatsuki might really be very serious.

Otherwise, why would it be necessary for three major ninja villages to form an alliance to deal with it?

After today's meeting, the Waterfall Ninja all reached a consensus: the matter behind this Chunin Ninja Exams is extraordinary, and the Takikage really needs to go and see for himself! At the very least, he needs to verify whether the Akatsuki is as powerful as Konoha claims, and whether they really want to collect the Tailed Beast!

When the most important asset of Waterfall Ninja, namely the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, was threatened, these bureaucratic ninjas displayed extremely high efficiency. Meetings that used to take a week were now completed in just one hour, yielding a clear result.

"Hmph~" Fu said indignantly, puffing out her cheeks, "Changes of policy every day!"

"You still think you're right?! This time you even ran into Konoha's envoy! If Shibuki hadn't covered for you, you would have let it slip!" Takikage Shibuchi's face contorted with anger as he scolded, "Anyway, this time you're confined to the village for two months and are not allowed to leave!"

"What?!" The girl's eyebrows shot up, and she screamed, "No! I want to participate in the Chunin Ninja Exams Konoha! I want to leave the village!"

"What a joke!" Shibuchi shouted, his beard bristling and eyes wide. "Don't you think you're attention-grabbing enough already?"

"Can't I just not use the Seven-Tails' power?" Fu retorted sharply. "As long as I don't use the Seven-Tails 'Chakra, I'm no different from an ordinary ninja, and no one will be able to tell the difference!"

Despite much persuasion, Shibuchi still couldn't dissuade the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki from his demands.

Sighing at Fu's stubbornness, Shibuchi said helplessly, "What's wrong with you? Did someone provoke you? Why do you insist on participating in the Chunin Ninja Exams?"

"Because staying in the village all the time is so boring! There's nothing to do, and I can't make any new friends," Fu said, fidgeting. "Isn't that Konoha envoy here to discuss the Chunin Ninja Exams? I want to go to Konoha and see for myself!"

Her eyes darted around, and a new idea popped into her head. "And, wouldn't it be perfect to go to Konoha and avoid the Akatsuki's limelight?"

Shibuchi had initially intended to refute her naive idea, but upon hearing the latter sentence, he suddenly felt it made some sense.

If I can't protect the Seven-Tails Jinchuriki, then I'll send Fu to Konoha. Anyway, Konoha doesn't know Fu's identity yet, so Akatsuki definitely won't dare to attack Konoha.

"I'll think about it..." Takikage stroked his chin and said slowly.

(This is the first guaranteed update. If I can't finish the second update, I'll post it tomorrow morning... I still can't stay up too late lately.)