Belief is harder to shake than knowledge.
Love is harder to change than respect.
And hate lasts longer than dislike.
Kurama gave Sasuke a small smile, then slowly walked forward and stood between Madara and Hashirama.
The two who had always opposed each other were surprised to see someone step between them out of nowhere.
They both turned their attention to Kurama at the same time, looking a little shocked.
"The Nine Tails... no, Kurama?" Hashirama said in surprise.
"If it feels weird, just call me Nine Tails. Don't make it so awkward," Kurama rolled his eyes at him.
Hearing this guy call him by name just felt wrong no matter how he looked at it.
Madara didn't seem too surprised. Instead, he had a strange look on his face.
"So... what does a pet like you want?"
Kurama glanced at him. "Wow. I'm honestly surprised you're not calling me a 'beast' every other word. Now I'm really curious why."
"Hmph~" Madara gave a cold laugh. "Because at least you know your place."
"Well, thanks so much," Kurama shot back sarcastically.
Madara narrowed his eyes and said nothing.
Hashirama looked confused. "Kurama, what are you trying to say by coming out now?"
To be honest, even though his granddaughter had told him that Kurama had already made peace with Konohagakure's Jinchuriki, Hashirama still instinctively stayed cautious around the Nine-Tails. There was no specific reason—if he had to explain it...
Kurama, you're just too dangerous.jpg
"This has nothing to do with you." Kurama ignored Hashirama completely and looked straight at Madara. "Honestly, Madara, I actually agree with what you said. Hatred isn't something that just disappears easily. Even if generations pass, the hatred still remains."
"Oh?" Madara didn't respond directly.
Kurama didn't care and continued, "Take me for example. Even though I've accepted Naruto and feel like I belong in Konohagakure, that's only because of the influence of another memory. The real me—only recognizes Naruto and Sasuke. As for Konohagakure? I couldn't care less if it were destroyed."
"I might even clap and cheer." Kurama grinned. "That's what hatred is. I still hate you, Madara, for calling me a beast over and over, catching me, and controlling me with Genjutsu. And I also hate Hashirama for sealing me up just because I was 'too dangerous.'"
"Same goes for that woman Mito, Kushina, and even Minato. I was just a fox minding my own business in the forest—"
"—eating hotpot, singing songs, and out of nowhere, I got sealed away. They all kept saying I was dangerous, but none of them thought about who dragged me out in the first place. Anyone would hate that."
Kurama really was innocent. Like he said, he was just a fox living quietly in the forest, bothering no one. First, he got attacked by Kumogakure. Then Madara captured him. And in the end, not only did they refuse to let him go back, they sealed him away too.
They kept saying he was dangerous, but never thought about why he attacked Konohagakure. Wasn't it because he was being controlled? And even the sealing wasn't because he was dangerous—it was because they wanted to use his power.
What did he ever do to deserve all that?
"Kurama…" In their inner world, Naruto looked at him with a complicated expression.
"Don't think everyone's like you, Naruto. I'm famous for holding grudges." Kurama bared his teeth at Naruto.
Then he looked back at Madara. "That's why I agree with you. Because of my hatred, I wanted revenge on Konohagakure, and that's what caused the Nine-Tails' Rampage. And because of that, everyone in the village called me a monster—and hated me too."
"In the end, who's right or wrong doesn't matter anymore. What matters is… we both want to kill each other." Kurama's grin turned cold. "Right, Madara?"
Madara's expression finally turned serious. He sensed something was off.
Hashirama stood behind Naruto—or rather, behind Kurama—his mouth open as if wanting to say something, but unable to speak. Because everything Kurama said was true. Kurama had been dragged into the whole thing for no reason.
After a long silence, Madara finally spoke. "So what?"
"So? So what?" Kurama looked up and sneered, "So I'm just whining about how unfair it is? That I'm playing the victim? I'm not. Based on how well I know Hashirama, he's probably thinking right now about apologizing to me—but he won't say it out loud. Because I'm not a human. I'm a Tailed Beast."
"Right?" Kurama asked this directly to Hashirama.
Hashirama didn't answer—he just stayed silent.
Madara's expression finally darkened. His red Sharingan lit up. "Are you looking to die?"
"You can't kill me, Madara. Not with the strength I have now. Even if you were at your peak, you still wouldn't be able to kill me." Kurama looked calm. "But I've finally waited long enough to hear you say that, Madara!"
Sasuke blinked, feeling like things were getting interesting. He almost wanted popcorn.
Kurama lifted his head, pride on his face. "What hatred? What peace? Don't make me laugh. With your power, anything you say sounds reasonable. If someone doesn't agree, you just kill them. You've never cared what anyone else thinks—just like how you never cared what I thought back then."
"Madara, what you really believe in isn't your ideals—it's your power."
Kurama spread his arms like he was embracing the sky. "So what if you make it sound amazing? It doesn't mean anything. In this world, strength is the only thing that matters. The strong can ignore the weak. And absolute power can break the chains of hate."
"Back then, Hashirama brought peace to the ninja world all by himself. And you, you crushed everyone who dared to rebel all on your own. Where was the hate then?"
"It didn't disappear. People were just too scared to act on it, because they knew that aside from hate, they couldn't do a thing."
Madara's Sharingan slowly deepened in color. "Even the strongest will die someday. And when they're gone, the hate will return. Peace won't last."
"Who cares?" Kurama snorted. "True peace doesn't exist. Even so-called peace just hides the seeds of war. I'm not human, so that kind of talk doesn't work on me."
"The only thing I believe in is strength. It's the only real way to measure peace. If you don't even qualify to stand as an equal, what gives you the right to talk peace with me?"
"Dignity exists only at the tip of a sword, and truth only within the range of a cannon." Kurama kept his arms wide open, almost like a PVP gamer showing off. "That's how this world works." (Land route of the world~)
Hashirama, Naruto, and Sasuke were completely stunned, staring at Kurama like he was some kind of war criminal.
Madara, on the other hand, stopped spinning his Sharingan. Compared to the three of them, who looked totally lost, he actually seemed like he was thinking deeply.
Naruto was the first to react, shocked and yelling without hesitation at Kurama, "What the hell are you even saying?!"
"Did I say anything wrong? That's just how this world is." Kurama sat in Naruto's mindscape, looking completely cold. "This is a speech about love and peace, not some war speech."
"You—!" Naruto pointed at Kurama, but for a moment, he couldn't say a word back.
He, Uzumaki Naruto, the god of talk-no-jutsu… was actually left speechless.
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