After exiting through Konoha's main gate, Jin, with the two little girls in tow, wasn't in a hurry to head southeast towards the reported location of the Eight-Tails' habitat.
Instead, he leisurely made his way to Tanzaku Town in the southwest of the Land of Fire.
This was the place where Jiraiya and Naruto found Tsunade in the original work.
"Jin-sama, aren't we going to capture the Eight-Tails? What are we doing here?"
Kurenai's face was full of question marks.
"Don't rush, don't rush. Let's get something to eat first."
After paying, Jin took two candied apples from the vendor and handed them to the two little girls.
He strolled around leisurely.
Although they didn't understand what Jin was thinking, the two nearly five-year-old girls didn't say anything.
They obediently followed behind, eating and playing.
It was nearly dusk when Jin finally led the two girls, who had been having fun all day, out of Tanzaku Town.
"Huh? This... this road leads back to Konoha, right? Jin-sama, we haven't captured the Eight-Tails yet."
Kurenai was again confused by Jin's actions.
'Didn't you say we were here to capture a Tailed Beast?'
'Why are we going back after a day of playing?'
Jin sighed inwardly, thinking this little girl talked a bit too much.
Jin bit his right thumb and quickly formed hand signs.
Boar - Dog - Bird - Monkey - Ram!
Jin slammed his right hand on the ground.
A sealing array covered in black patterns rapidly expanded, covering the entire forest.
Smoke suddenly rose.
"Eight-Tails, Gyuki-sama~ Makes a grand entrance!"
Accompanied by an off-key rap, a monster with the upper body of a bull and the lower body of an octopus burst forth.
"E-Eight-Tails!"
Rin exclaimed in surprise.
Kurenai's mouth fell open wide enough to fit an apple.
She was completely baffled.
'Wh-what's going on?'
'How could Jin-sama summon the Eight-Tails, the capture target?'
The Eight-Tails looked around, then curiously lowered its head to ask Jin:
"Huh? Jin, where's the enemy? I don't see anyone?"
Jin said calmly with a faint smile:
"I didn't call you today to fight. I'm just notifying you to move."
"From now on, you'll live in the mountains behind my house. It's a bit small, but it'll ensure your safety better."
The Eight-Tails said rather displeased:
"Your house? Konoha? Where the Nine-Tails is sealed? Come on, I don't want to be too close to that stinky fox. It always boasts about being the strongest of the Nine Tailed Beasts... none of us like it..."
"Uchiha Madara is still alive."
Jin's casually spoken words scared the Eight-Tails into swallowing the rest of its sentence.
"Wh-Wha…?!"
Jin said with a mischievous laugh:
"If you want to stay in the wilderness, waiting for Uchiha Madara to capture you, I have no objection."
"Even if Madara doesn't make a move himself, Ninja from other villages will come after you, trying to seal you back into a new Jinchuriki..."
The Eight-Tails was so scared its voice trembled, waving its hands repeatedly and shouting:
"Stop, stop talking! I'll go to Konoha, I'll go to Konoha, alright?!"
Having finally regained its freedom, the Eight-Tails didn't want to return to the narrow, small inner world of a Jinchuriki.
…
After summoning the Eight-Tails, Jin couldn't be bothered to walk.
He simply sat on the Eight-Tails' back and leisurely made his way back to Konoha.
However, this meant a journey that could have been completed in an afternoon would take at least two days.
...
The next day at dusk, as the sun was setting.
Jin, along with Rin and Kurenai, sat on the Eight-Tails' head, slowly advancing towards Konoha Village.
Watching the sunset, its lower half already below the horizon, Kurenai stretched vigorously, excitedly saying:
"Wow~ Watching the sunset from atop a Tailed Beast feels like a dream."
"Tailed Beasts are amazing. Until yesterday, I always thought they were terrifying monsters. I didn't expect them to be so easy to talk to."
Kurenai then turned to her best friend.
Rin said with a smile:
"Jin-sama is an amazing person too. He gets along so well even with Tailed Beasts."
The two girls chattered for a long time before noticing Jin hadn't spoken at all.
Rin couldn't help but ask:
"Jin-sama, what's wrong? You haven't said a word?"
"...Rin, do you want to become a Jinchuriki?"
Jin remained silent until he spoke, and then his words were startling.
The Eight-Tails came to an abrupt halt.
The two little girls, who hadn't yet mastered Chakra Adhesion, were almost thrown off.
Luckily, Jin reached out in time and caught them.
"Jin, what do you mean by that!?"
The Eight-Tails' tone was shocked, panicked, and carried a trace of hatred.
"Calm down, little Eight. I'm not talking about you. If I really wanted Rin to become a Jinchuriki, I'd capture a different one."
After putting the two girls down, Jin patted the Eight-Tails' head.
"And you don't need to get so worked up. Who said a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast being together is necessarily unfortunate?"
This statement stunned the Eight-Tails.
'Who said a Jinchuriki and a Tailed Beast being together is unfortunate?'
The two little girls were also quite frightened.
Rin asked incredulously:
"J-Jin-sama, wh-what did you say?"
"Given your physical condition, if you want to become stronger, probably the only way is to get you a physical 'cheat'. I thought about it, and becoming a Jinchuriki is the most suitable."
After these past few days of interaction, Jin was gradually understanding why Obito was so infatuated with this little girl, even though her looks weren't top-tier.
She came from a Civilian Ninja family.
Both her parents had died on the battlefield during the Second Great Ninja War.
But the environment of losing both parents didn't make her withdrawn.
Instead, her gentle nature infected everyone around her.
When her friends were with her, they all felt a healing, comforting warmth.
Even a hedonist like Jin, when thinking about how such a virtuous little girl would die in such a tragic way, couldn't help but feel a twinge of compassion.
But escaping the clutches of that old schemer Madara was no easy task.
Jin thought it over and felt the safest method was to make Rin stronger.
No matter how strong Madara was at his peak, right now he was just an old man barely clinging to life using the Gedo Statue's energy, only able to use White Zetsu as his hands and feet to handle matters.
If Rin has Kage-level strength-
Even the Konoha Dance King would find it difficult to scheme against her easily.
But in this world where bloodline determines the ceiling, for Rin, who has no special bloodline, to reach Kage-level, the possibility is truly too low.
Especially since Rin isn't a combat-type Ninja to begin with.
Don't think just anyone can be like Tsunade, able to be both a healer and a damage dealer.
Sakura only got that because Kishimoto did her a favor, dropping the Strength of a Hundred Seal on her during the final battle.
Otherwise, could she have sneak-attacked Kaguya with that punch?
Jin thought for a long time.
He felt that aside from becoming a Jinchuriki, there weren't really other cheat codes in the Naruto World.
After all, as long as one masters the Tailed Beast's power, they would at least has high Kage-level strength.