Chapter 034: The Bunny's Second Bite! (Asking for engagement data)
[Senju Tobirama]: @Kurama, Nine-Tails, explain yourself.
[Kurama]: ...
[Kurama]: ...
[Kurama]: What the hell am I fighting for?
[Senju Tobirama]: You bastard!
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Now, now… Tobirama, don't be angry. Kurama, then just tell me instead.
[Kurama]: ...
[Kurama]: Senju Hashirama?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Yep. It's me.
[Kurama]: ...
[Kurama]: ...
[Kurama]: ...
Time seemed to freeze for Kurama, but just as everyone began to find it strange, the Nine-Tails started moving again.
Turns out, it was trying to organize its words.
[Kurama]: I'm a thousand-year-old tailed beast. We've existed since the Sage of Six Paths era.
[Kurama]: So, by seniority, I'm the eldest.
[Kurama]: But… among us, I'm actually not the one with the highest rank.
[Kurama]: And… I can't say anything beyond that.
"…"
You just said almost everything, didn't you?
In other words, something is still preventing it from revealing more?
[Senju Tobirama]: …
[Senju Tobirama]: How boring.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Tobirama, is it just me, or are you really picking on the Nine-Tails?
[Senju Tobirama]: This is called "disciplining."
[Senju Tobirama]: This guy attacked Konoha multiple times. If it's not corrected, it'll keep making the same mistakes knowingly.
[Minato Namikaze]: Oh! So that's it—Lord Second is trying to prevent another Nine-Tails incident.
Minato clapped lightly. So that's the reason.
If that's the case, then he agreed with it.
It's simple: although Kurama's soul had joined the small group, its main body was still sealed within Naruto.
So...
If Kurama could be tamed, wouldn't Naruto be much safer?
That's why Minato agreed with Tobirama's methods.
[Kurama]: …
[Kurama]: That makes it sound like I'm the bad guy here.
[Kurama]: The two times I attacked Konoha—
The first time, I ran into Uchiha Madara. When the genjutsu wore off, I saw Senju Hashirama coming at me.
[Kurama]: And the second time, same thing. I was under genjutsu, and when it ended, Konoha shinobi were rushing in to kill me.
[Kurama]: It was self-defense, damn it!
[Kurama]: But Minato, you were the one who cut me in half and sealed me away again.
[Kurama]: I'm not forgetting that grudge.
[Minato Namikaze]: …
[Minato Namikaze]: …
[Senju Tobirama]: So tailed beasts have low resistance to Mangekyō Sharingan.
Tobirama began analyzing.
[Senju Tobirama]: If we consider Uchiha Madara controlling Kurama as a one-time thing, there's no way it could happen twice by coincidence.
[Senju Tobirama]: Kurama, during your attack on Konoha, was that masked man Uchiha Madara?
[Kurama]: …
[Kurama]: I don't know.
[Senju Tobirama]: …You're sure you don't know?
[Kurama]: Damn Uchiha and their Mangekyō eyes—I blacked out as soon as he showed up. How the hell should I know?
Kurama was visibly upset.
This was just too humiliating for a tailed beast.
At that moment, something new happened outside the group chat.
"If we gathered all the tailed beasts together, what do you think would happen?" Kitahara Kaede said, staring at his rabbit munching on a carrot slice with its front paws.
[Descendant Chat Group (^_-)]
[Minato Namikaze]: I feel like there's some hidden meaning behind Kaede's words.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: Yeah… gathering all the tailed beasts.
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: That's a first…
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: I've never even considered something like that before.
[Minato Namikaze]: Could it be…
[Minato Namikaze]: I think I understand now.
[Kakashi]: Hm? What is it, Master Minato?
[Minato Namikaze]: Oh, Kakashi, you're here.
[Minato Namikaze]: I think I get it now. Kaede suspects that his rabbit might be a tailed beast.
[Senju Tobirama]: A tailed beast, huh? That's quite a theory. It's possible, but it's not one of the nine we know.
[Izuna]: Then maybe it's mimicking? I do know tailed beasts can change their size at will.
[Senju Tobirama]: Mimicking…
[Senju Tobirama]: That makes sense. There's no way a rabbit should have a Byakugan. So it could be a tailed beast in disguise.
[Minato Namikaze]: Then we can at least rule out Kurama.
[Minato Namikaze]: After all, Kurama is right here.
[Kurama]: …
Kurama shut its eyes and said nothing.
But the moment it saw Kaede's little white rabbit, it felt fear—deep fear—and somewhat understood the true identity of that [tailed beast].
So in a sense, the humans' guess was both right and wrong.
But… why would that [tailed beast] appear here…?
Kurama couldn't make sense of it.
Also…
"Tsk—"
At that moment, Kaede let out a small noise—because the ninja rabbit bit him again.
[Minato Namikaze]: Bitten again?
[Kurama]: Bit him?
[Minato Namikaze]: Yes, the rabbit bit Kaede before—and that's how he awakened the Rinnegan.
[Kurama]: …
The Rinnegan.
That explains the feeling I got back then.
Kurama had high seniority—this wasn't just a made-up fact in the group.
After all, Kurama and the other eight tailed beasts existed long before the modern ninja world, having once all resided within the Sage of Six Paths.
And the Sage…
Had a unique bloodline—its most prominent trait being the Rinnegan.
The Rinnegan was a dojutsu far above the likes of Uchiha Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan.
That's why Kurama offered no resistance when Kaede used the Rinnegan.
But…
Kaede's Rinnegan wasn't inherited by blood… it came from the rabbit's bite.
If Kurama's guess about the rabbit's identity was correct… then it was that existence.
And now it's here, using this form—could it be trying to use Kaede to help break its own seal?
[Minato Namikaze]: Kurama, did you figure something out?
Minato noticed Kurama deep in thought.
[Kurama]: …
[Kurama]: I don't know. And even if I did, I wouldn't say.
[Minato Namikaze]: …
So he does know something.
[Senju Tobirama]: So last time, one bite from the rabbit gave Kaede the Rinnegan.
[Senju Tobirama]: What do you think he'll get this time?
[Big Dumb - Hashirama]: I don't know… but it better not be Wood Release.
Just as Hashirama said that, he noticed a green chakra aura radiating from Kaede's body.
"…"