You couldn't say it was totally wrong—just incredibly messed up.
Kurama rolled his eyes. "All I did was make a small plan to help you break my seal earlier. Everything else was just a surprise."
"And don't blame me for not contacting the other tailed beasts—I couldn't reach them!" Kurama pouted. "Those idiots were all sealed up too. As long as the seals are in place, there's no way to get in touch. Gyuki was the only exception, but I was sealed at that time too. How was I supposed to contact him?"
"Quantum waves? You wanna show me how?"
Kurama was clearly annoyed. Because the timeline had been messed up, all the tailed beasts he was supposed to meet never showed up. In the end, he only ran into Shukaku and Gyuki.
They kind of got what Kurama was trying to do—that's probably why Shukaku managed to hold out until now.
As for Gyuki, no idea. He couldn't be contacted at all. Either he got captured, or he's stuck in some sealed space.
Kurama thought it was more likely the second. Even though Gyuki didn't have as much chakra as Kurama's original body, in terms of fighting power, he wasn't far behind. Catching him wouldn't be easy. But looking at Akatsuki's situation, none of them seemed injured or missing.
So Kurama really doubted whether Gyuki had been caught at all.
Naruto gave an awkward smile and dropped the shocked expression. "So basically, everything that's happened so far has nothing to do with you?"
"Well, not exactly." Kurama thought for a moment and explained, "Things changed because of me. That's why what you saw earlier in the 'story' is different. So yeah, in the end, it's kind of my fault things turned out this way."
It was kind of like the butterfly effect, but not quite.
Here's a gross example: imagine the original story is like you getting diarrhea, and the whole thing goes smoothly—nothing blocks the way, everything flows out nicely. But Kurama's change is like something blocking your butt while you're having diarrhea.
Now that it's blocked, it hurts like hell. What should've been an easy process becomes a struggle, and you're forced to find another way out… why does this example sound so disgusting?
Whatever. Point is, Kurama is the one who blocked the original way and redirected everything inside your belly to another place.
So it's not really the butterfly effect.
The result might look the same, but the path and how you feel afterward are totally different.
That's the change Kurama brought to the story.
Naruto more or less got it. He looked forward again and asked, "Kurama, how do you even have memories of the 'future'?"
Kurama crouched beside him. "You know about shadow clones, right?"
Naruto nodded.
"It's just like that. My 'shadow clone' disappeared, and I got its memories. That's all."
Of course, it wasn't actually that simple. Even Kurama couldn't explain it properly. Not even the Sage of Six Paths knew why.
Still, Naruto didn't really care. Honestly, with that kind of explanation, it actually made more sense to him.
As he thought about it, Naruto turned to Kurama again. "So what should we do now? Are we really going to start the Fourth Great Ninja War, lure Black Zetsu into reviving Kaguya, and then seal her again?"
"That's the safest plan," Kurama said. "But to do that, we'll have to hand over Shukaku and Gaara."
Without Shukaku, the Ten-Tails can't be revived.
Naruto rejected the idea immediately. "Is there another way?"
"There is." Kurama nodded. "You and Sasuke both have the power of the Sage of Six Paths. If you use 'Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei' to seal Black Zetsu, then without him, Kaguya can't be brought back. That would settle everything."
Basically, the only way to bring Kaguya back is through Black Zetsu and the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki. As long as even one of those is out of the picture, she can't return.
The real problem, though, is that Black Zetsu is a wild card. Even if he fails now, he'll keep hiding in the shadows, waiting hundreds or thousands of years for the ninja world to fall into chaos again—then he'll sneak in another chance to bring Kaguya back.
Naruto's eyes turned serious. He clenched his fists. "Then let's go with that plan. I'll talk to Sasuke."
"Good." Kurama smiled and nodded. "But Black Zetsu won't be easy to find. He's way better at hiding than White Zetsu. Even the Sage of Six Paths can only sense him within a certain range, so... good luck."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "You really sound like you're still thinking about selling Shukaku."
"No way!" Kurama said seriously, "Do I…
look like that kind of fox to you?"
"You do," Naruto answered without even thinking.
This guy had no bottom line. Selling out Shukaku? Whatever—he'd just rescue him later. With how messed up Kurama's moral compass was, he wouldn't feel a thing doing something like that. He might even laugh while doing it.
"You're just making stuff up to smear me!" Kurama pointed at Naruto in disbelief, looking genuinely hurt. "If I really wanted to do that, I wouldn't have bothered to save Shukaku. Wouldn't it have been better to just let him get caught?"
"Uh…" Naruto scratched his head. "That… kinda makes sense. Sorry?"
"Not sincere enough," Kurama said, arms crossed like a sulky kid.
Naruto: "…"
This fox was really getting dramatic.
…
When he opened his eyes, Naruto saw the three people standing in front of him. Looking at the puzzled expressions on their faces, he suddenly felt a strange sense of distance, like too much time had passed.
Hashirama tilted his head curiously and asked, "What's wrong? You suddenly stopped mid-sentence. Were you… talking to the Nine-Tails—Kurama?"
He still wasn't used to calling Kurama by name.
"Sigh." Naruto let out a long breath like an old man. "I've seen too much of the world… the good, the bad, the messy… and right now, everything just feels kinda unreal, you know?"
Resting his chin in his hand made it feel more dramatic.
Hashirama froze, confused. Even the usually cool and calm Madara twitched at the corner of his mouth.
That familiar helpless feeling came rushing back—Naruto hadn't changed at all. Was this guy gonna be Hashirama 2.0?
Sasuke, on the other hand, looked completely unfazed. He even nodded at Naruto's nonsense and added, "So, what weird stuff did Kurama say to you this time?"
Only Sasuke really got Naruto.
Still looking gloomy, Naruto stared at the sky at a 45-degree angle. "Kurama once told me: The truth of the world is always held by a few, but in the end, those few still get overruled by the many…"
"Alright, enough. If you keep this up, I might actually go tell Aunt Kushina on you." Sasuke waved his hand like he was cutting off Naruto's spellcasting. "And knowing you, I'm pretty sure that quote has nothing to do with what you're about to say next."
Naruto: "…"
Seriously, only Sasuke really understood him.
Even Hinata didn't know his habits this well. And in its own way…
---
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