Kurama.
What a familiar word.
It had been so many years since anyone had called him by that name. Probably over a thousand.
The last person to call him that way was most likely Sage Father himself.
His fellow tailed beasts usually just called him Nine-Tails.
As for the humans outside, they mostly called him Demon Fox, Calamity, and later he had been downgraded all the way to beast.
"How do you know that name?!"
Kurama's tails began lashing around, exactly like Manji puffing up after getting caught stealing catnip, looking just like someone whose secret had been exposed.
The name Kurama had been given to him by the Sage of Six Paths.
In all these thousand years, Kurama had never told a single human that name.
"The old Sage of Six Paths came to me in a dream."
Haru made something up on the spot.
There was no way he could tell Kurama he knew it from anime.
"That's bullshit!!"
Kurama cursed immediately.
The Sage of Six Paths came to Haru in a dream?
The tailed beasts had been trapped inside humans and used as tools of war for so many years, and the Sage of Six Paths had never moved a finger. He was probably long dead already.
"Believe it or not. Otherwise, how do you think I know your name is Kurama? I also know the One-Tail is called Shukaku, the Two-Tails is Matatabi..."
Haru rattled off the names of all nine tailed beasts in one breath. The confidence in his tone actually made Kurama start doubting himself.
The old Sage was not dead?
Then why had he never come to save him after all these years?
I always treated him like a father!
Father, please love me one more time!
Kurama prayed inwardly, hoping the old Sage would descend and rescue him from this sea of suffering.
But no miracle appeared.
Kurama let out a faint sigh. It was not like he had never prayed for the old Sage to save him before. It had never done any good.
Still, Kurama had started believing Haru's words seven or eight parts out of ten.
Tailed beasts only told their names to people they acknowledged.
Obviously, Haru could not possibly have earned the acknowledgment of all nine tailed beasts.
In the entire world, only the Sage of Six Paths could have told Haru all of their names.
"So what did the old Sage tell you?"
As everyone knew, a fox's curiosity was the strongest of all.
Kurama could not help asking.
"The Sage of Six Paths said I'm the savior of the ninja world and that in the future I'll free all the tailed beasts!"
Kurama suddenly leaned in close to Haru and stared at the color of his pupils.
That color was wrong.
The Sage of Six Paths had once told the tailed beasts a prophecy:
"A blue-eyed youth will one day laugh and call out the names of all nine tailed beasts..."
Haru's pupils were black, and now they had even turned red.
That had nothing to do with blue.
"What are you doing?!"
Haru jumped back in alarm.
Kurama then told him about the prophecy the Sage of Six Paths had once spoken.
"The times advance, and prophecies can change too."
"If the Sage of Six Paths really could predict the future that accurately, then his two sons would never have ended up fighting each other."
Haru spoke casually.
For someone called a Sage, it was pretty pathetic that he trusted the future prophecy of a few toads more than the abilities of his own eldest son.
From Kaguya down to the Sage of Six Paths, the whole family would have failed the test on raising children.
"The old Sage even told you that?"
Kurama was a little shocked.
Now he believed Haru's words even more.
Only someone from that same era could know that kind of ugly family history, and it was honestly surprising the old Sage had even been willing to talk about it.
Something like brothers killing each other was already so shameful that even Kurama, who considered himself the Sage's adopted son, thought it was too humiliating to tell outsiders.
At least the nine tailed beasts, his fellow adopted sons, knew how to behave.
They might fight sometimes when they disagreed, but they had never wanted to kill each other.
"Enough. What do you want from me?"
Kurama lowered himself, crossing his two paws and resting his fox head on top of them in a lazy pose, looking like he was ready to go to sleep.
Haru had clearly come because he wanted something.
Humans had not changed much all these years. The rule was simple. If they came, they wanted something.
So Kurama had to keep his posture high.
"Of course I came to give you freedom, Kurama."
Haru skillfully drew a cake in the air.
His old sales instincts from his previous life had kicked in.
Even when asking someone for help, you first had to make it look like you were the one helping them.
"Hm?"
The moment Kurama heard that, he was no longer sleepy. He lifted his fox head at once, his eyes filling with longing.
If there were a choice, who would want to stay locked in a dark little room?
He wanted to roll around comfortably in a dense forest too.
"You're going to let me out?"
"Of course."
"Tailed beasts are free beings. They shouldn't be enslaved and exploited by humans."
Haru wore a smile as he spoke to Kurama.
"But right now I can't do it."
"Because I'm not Hokage."
"Only the Hokage has the right to decide what happens to a tailed beast."
Haru put on a troubled expression.
He truly wanted to release Kurama, but the circumstances just did not allow it.
His eyes flicked toward Kurama, and it was obvious Kurama longed for freedom more than anything.
"You mean that?"
"Naturally."
"I swear it in the name of the Sage of Six Paths."
Haru smiled and made the promise with practiced ease.
Even if he could not free Kurama in the future, then the one whose reputation would suffer was the Sage of Six Paths anyway.
"Then I'll help you become Hokage."
Kurama decided to gamble.
He wanted freedom too badly.
Being locked inside this dark little room with absolutely nothing was unbearable.
He did not even know how he had made it through all these years.
"It's a deal."
"Good."
"Once I become Hokage, the moment Mito dies, you'll be free."
Kurama's eyes widened as he stared at Haru.
As expected of an innately evil Uchiha.
He was tricking him again.
Why did he still have to wait until Mito died?
"You still want me to wait until Mito dies?"
"Of course. Mito is one of Konoha's elders. Even if I become Hokage, I can't just kill Mito and release you on the spot, can I?"
"I'm a kind person. I hate seeing people die."
Haru bared a bright white smile, looking like a saint concerned for the suffering of the world.
When he saw Kurama still hesitating, he continued,
"Look on the bright side. Mito is already that old. How many years can she really keep living?"
"It won't be long. Endure it a little, and it'll pass."
Kurama's fox eyes rolled in thought.
He was still very hesitant, weighing whether or not to believe Haru's nonsense.
His fox instincts told him Haru was painting a cake.
"If you don't believe me, forget it. Then just let Mito defeat me and become Hokage."
"By now, Konoha is probably already planning to find another young Nine-Tails jinchuriki from the Uzumaki Clan."
"The moment Mito takes office, she can start putting that plan into action."
Haru let out a sigh and made it look like he was about to leave.
(End of Chapter)
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