Ruohuo had been thinking about it the whole way back.
What would Konoha do with the Five-Tails?
There were only two possibilities.
They could seal it and make it Konoha's second Jinchuriki, boosting the village's overall strength.
The cost of that might be turning Konoha into the "public enemy" of the entire Ninja World.
Konoha was already powerful and had the Nine-Tails, the "strongest Tailed Beast." Wouldn't adding the Five-Tails upset the balance?
Of course, Konoha wouldn't be afraid.
For one thing, Konoha was at the height of its power. White Fang was still alive, Minato was coming into his own, and although only Orochimaru among the Sannin was "usable," the other villages didn't know that.
Besides, the Four Great Ninja Villages ganging up on Konoha was practically an unspoken rule of war...
So what if they fought? It wasn't as if Konoha would surrender.
The second possibility.
They could "return" the Five-Tails to Iwagakure in exchange for enormous compensation, draining Iwagakure's war reserves.
In Ruohuo's view, that was the likeliest outcome.
The current situation was far too different from the original timeline.
Kanabi Bridge had been destroyed, depriving Iwagakure of a major supply route.
For Iwagakure, whose strategy revolved around throwing wave after wave of troops at the enemy, that was a devastating blow.
In the original timeline, after Minato Team destroyed Kanabi Bridge, Iwagakure had quickly abandoned the Konoha front and turned around to beat up Cloud Village...
Now that Kanabi Bridge had been destroyed ahead of schedule, Iwagakure probably wouldn't want to lose the Five-Tails. If they agreed to Konoha's "ransom deal," it wouldn't just leave them "crippled"...
They'd lose a whole leg!
And that was the outcome Ruohuo wanted least...
Iwagakure had to stand its ground against Konoha.
The harder they fought, the better. Ideally, they'd