How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

Princess Sara of Roran, who had been watching the whole scene with wide eyes, was at a loss for words. 

Minato didn't stay long. After briefly expressing how much he missed Kushina, he was casually dismissed by her, as she told him not to disturb her bonding time with Naruto. 

In the end, the only person who comforted him was Sasuke. 

But the real highlight wasn't happening there—it was inside the sealed space.

Now that the seal was gone, Kurama could move freely in Naruto's inner world. With the Eight-Tails teaching him how to split his chakra, he didn't have to worry about Naruto dying. And with the Six Paths power, he could even enter Kushina's inner world and take a look at his past self. 

That was the main reason he was here. 

Kurama crouched down, staring at his former self, who was pinned to a giant rock by the sealing jutsu. He couldn't help but click his tongue. 

"How pathetic." Kurama shook his head. 

He had been tormented by Kushina just like this in the past. Thinking back, he almost felt nostalgic—wait, hell no! No way! 

The sealed Nine-Tails bared his fangs at Kurama, his red eyes burning with rage. "Have you become a lapdog for humans? Where's your pride as a Tailed Beast, you traitor?" 

He was furious. The idea that his future self had made peace with humans was something he simply couldn't accept. 

He struggled against the seal, wanting nothing more than to fire a Tailed Beast Bomb at Kurama. But the damn seal was too strong—he couldn't even move, let alone attack. 

Kurama, meanwhile, watched his past self's furious struggle with amusement. "Come on, you call this Tailed Beast pride? Let's be real—do you actually think a dog locked in a cage is a proud dog?" 

"Oh no, don't tell me there's actually a Tailed Beast dumb enough to think being locked up equals pride?" 

"Don't make me laugh." Kurama stood up and looked down at his past self. "I can move in and out of the seal freely now. I may only have half my chakra, but I could still beat you to a pulp. You're just a rabid dog, barking from inside a cage." 

The sealed Nine-Tails gritted his teeth, his killing intent flooding the space. "A dog that's been tamed is still just a dog. Even if I'm locked up, at least I have my dignity. But you—you bow your head to mere insects. You wag your tail for your masters. What does that make you?" 

Kurama let out a cold laugh. "Dignity? Insects? Now that's funny." 

"What's so funny?!" the sealed Nine-Tails roared. "Humans are nothing but ants! And you—you threw away your Tailed Beast pride just to entertain them like some kind of clown!" 

"Ridiculous! Future me, you're a joke!" 

As he spoke, chakra began to surge from his body. Seeing his future self like this filled him with such rage that it actually gave him the strength to break through Kushina's seal— 

Or at least, that's what he thought. 

Kurama watched with an icy gaze. To be honest, the sealed Nine-Tails had hit a nerve—but not because he was right. 

It was the exact opposite.

Seeing the Nine-Tails sealed and suppressed again, Kurama spoke up. 

"What's wrong? Didn't you say humans were like ants? Crushing an ant shouldn't take much effort, right? Why didn't you break the seal and kill Kushina? Where's your pride? Where's your confidence?" 

The Nine-Tails gritted its teeth and glared at Kurama. 

Kurama just laughed, looking down at the Nine-Tails with a proud expression. 

"You believe it or not, but this seal on you—it's not easy, but I could definitely break it within a year. And if I wanted to, Kushina would already be dead. The only thing Minato has that can threaten me is Flying Thunder God; everything else is worthless against me." 

"The Senju Hashirama who once crushed me? I won't say I can defeat him, but he definitely wouldn't be able to capture and suppress me like before." 

"The Uchiha Madara who treated me like a mere beast? I won't say I can kill him, but his Mangekyou Sharingan is useless against me now. I can go head-to-head with him." 

"The Uzumaki Mito who sealed me so easily? I won't say I can break her seal—after all, her sealing techniques were the strongest in the ninja world—but she definitely wouldn't be able to seal me again. Even if she could, I'd drag her down with me." 

Kurama's gaze grew colder. 

"Kurama, pride is only real when backed by power. It's not something you just claim to have—it's something others acknowledge through strength. And you? What can you do besides bark?" 

"Ants? Sure, to tailed beasts, humans seem as small as ants. But those 'ants' have locked us up like pets in cages." 

"If you want pride, then break out of the cage with your own strength. If you want pride, then shatter that cage. If you can't even do that, what pride are you talking about? You're just a mad dog locked up for the 'ants' to watch." 

"The louder you bark, the harder they laugh. Your so-called pride… means nothing to them." 

Kurama had already seen the truth about humans. Except for a few rare cases, most humans saw tailed beasts as nothing but monsters. The weak feared them, and the strong looked down on them. 

Having a tailed beast's body and massive chakra, yet still losing to humans with less than one percent of that chakra—where's the pride in that? 

It was ridiculous. Looking back, Kurama found it laughable that he ever thought that way. 

How ridiculous? 

To put it simply, Kurama now was like the rabbit who finally stood up and fought for its dignity and future. 

But the old Kurama? He was like that guy next door—bullying the weak, fearing the strong. If he could win, he was your master; if he lost, you were his master. He wouldn't say it out loud, but deep down, he'd be thinking, "Master, does this feel good? Should I adjust my flattery?" 

It was embarrassing to think about his past self. 

The Nine-Tails gritted its teeth and glared at Kurama, its crimson eyes filled with killing intent. 

"One day… I'll get out of this damn place. And then—" 

"And then you'll get caught and sealed again, right?" Kurama sneered. 

"I already know what's going to happen to you. As long as you don't recognize your own weakness, you're just a dog that barks for nothing." 

"You call me a dog? Then what does that make you?" The Nine-Tails' killing intent surged. 

"A barking dog's bite doesn't hurt," Kurama said coldly. "The ones who truly hurt are the ones who bite from the shadows." 

Suddenly, Kurama stood up straight, and in the next moment, a terrifying power erupted from within him. 

His killing intent completely overwhelmed the Nine-Tails, shaking the entire sealed space. 

Golden light flickered in his red eyes, and black markings spread across his body. Massive tomoe patterns formed on his nine tails, nine black spheres floated behind him, and nine black tomoe appeared on his chest. 

Kurama stared at the Nine-Tails, his killing intent crushing the beast's aura completely. 

"I'm a dog? Then what does that make you?"

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