Kurama replied with a dark and hopeless expression, looking as if he was completely sick of life.
"...I just wanted to sleep peacefully in the forest and stay away from humans... but Madara came and controlled me, Hashirama said 'You are too powerful!' and sealed me inside his wife's belly, and Mito would constantly lecture me and claim she knew things!"
As Kurama spoke, the anger inside him flared up even more.
"When I was sealed into Kushina, my life became even more unbearable; she nailed me to a wall! Whenever she got angry, she would whip me with that damn Uzumaki bloodline! I don't have an ounce of regret for killing her! I was imprisoned for exactly sixty years, Altay. SIXTY DAMN YEARS!"
Kurama roared with hatred as he finished his words. Altay, on the other hand, listened to him silently. Of course, he couldn't fully know what Kurama had suffered up until today; even if he could imagine it, he hadn't experienced it personally. Most people treated Kurama merely as a monster, some saw him as a power source or a giant chakra battery, and some wanted to turn him into an obedient dog of war. The number of people who saw Kurama as a free individual with feelings and thoughts was almost nonexistent. Altay was among this tiny minority. While reading the stories, he had always liked the character Kurama, felt sorry for his situation, and dreamed of becoming friends with him if it were possible... of course, he was much younger then. Altay waited for Kurama to pour his heart out without intervening. Sometimes, the only thing that brings two different beings closer is the uncalculated honesty and sincerity between them. Altay had been honest from the very beginning; he had completely opened his memories and mind to Kurama, even at the cost of enduring pain indistinguishable from torture. It was precisely for this reason that the giant beast's respect for him had begun to sprout. Kurama angrily continued his words.
"I thought I would be free one day! I thought I would take revenge on the humans who put me through this torture and run freely in the vast forests again! But now I learn that I am in danger of being completely wiped out! BOTH BECAUSE OF THAT DESPICABLE MADARA AND ZETSU, AND BECAUSE OF THAT DAMN OTSUTSUKI CLAN!"
Kurama slammed his massive claw hard into the ground; the entire seal space shook with the force of the blow. The giant fox was taking deep, ragged breaths, his chest heaving rapidly, and the nine tails behind him were thrashing about uncontrollably.
"ALL I WANTED WAS PEACE AND FREEDOM! AS LONG AS THEY DIDN'T TOUCH ME, I NEVER ATTACKED ANYONE! BUT JUST BECAUSE I HAVE POWER, THEY TURNED ME INTO A WEAPON! AND BY THE GRANDSONS OF THE MAN I CALLED FATHER! BY HIS OWN SONS!"
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Kurama's deafening roar, harboring anger and profound sorrow, echoed throughout the seal space. Although from the outside he still looked like a terrifying monster, his heart was actually shattered. For centuries, he had suffered injustice after injustice, and his freedom had been taken from him by force. And now, he had learned that his future was dragging completely towards a disaster. How would you react if it were you? Have you ever tried to empathize with Kurama?
Meanwhile, Altay, who had already surpassed his mental and physical limits, could no longer withstand this intense chakra pressure radiating from Kurama; he lost consciousness and collapsed to the ground.
'It seems this is the end... I can die in peace now... I have finally reached the rank of martyrdom...'
As Altay's eyes slowly closed, the faces of his comrades-in-arms whom he had lost in combat appeared in his mind; it was as if they were all smiling at him and saying, 'Come to us, brother!'
Stopping his earth-shattering roar, Kurama felt somewhat relieved. Just then, he noticed Altay falling to the ground. With an agile movement, he caught Altay in mid-air with his paw before he hit the ground and carefully lifted him up.
"You couldn't handle it in the end, huh!"
Kurama looked carefully at the man in the palm of his hand. After a brief moment of hesitation, he gently placed Altay on top of one of his massive tails. He himself laid down on the ground, resting his giant head on his front paws. Then, he began to continuously channel pure, healing chakra into Altay's battered body, slowly repairing his internal injuries.
"I am not ungrateful. You gave me very valuable information that will be useful to me; I should at least provide you with some relief."
Kurama began to ponder that dark future he had seen.
"...I realize now that I absolutely must not leave here. This brat... Naruto, is the only safe haven that can keep me alive... What a strange thing fate is."
Kurama let out a deep sigh; for the first time in his long life, he felt so exhausted. He slowly closed his giant eyes to get some sleep and rest. At the same time, he completely withdrew his own chakra that had been leaking out into Naruto's chakra system.
However, in contrast to this silence inside the seal space, utter chaos reigned in the outside world.
While three-year-old Naruto was sitting alone at home, a massive wave of chakra had been unleashed due to the intense emotional outburst Kurama experienced. The overflowing chakra was so dense that all the elite Jounin and sensor-type ninjas in the village instantly felt the pressure. The ANBU squad assigned to secretly monitor Naruto quickly surrounded the little boy. All of them were looking at Naruto cautiously; in the eyes behind their masks, there was both deep fear and uncontainable hatred.
Naruto, on the other hand, couldn't understand what was happening around him and looked at these masked men surrounding him, trembling. His body had gone stiff from tension.
'Why are they looking at me like that? Why doesn't anyone love me? What did I do?'
Naruto had been kicked out of the orphanage just three days ago. Since he was two years old, everyone in the village had started calling him the 'Demon Fox,' keeping away from him as if he were a contagious plague. He was subjected to violence and constant psychological abuse. Unable to grasp what was happening and terrified, Naruto had collapsed in a deserted street corner and cried for hours... until the Hokage found him and took him in.
The Hokage had brought him to this small apartment, telling him he could live here as long as he wanted. That day, for the first time in his life, Naruto had felt warmth from someone. The Hokage had spoken with him at length, told him about the Will of Fire, and fed him. However, stating that he was very busy as a Hokage, he had left, and since that day, he had only started visiting Naruto at specific hours.
Right now, Naruto was sitting tensely on the bed in his home. He was only three years old, surrounded by dangerous ANBU members who looked ready to attack him at any moment. He swallowed hard and called out to them in a trembling voice.
"Excuse me... who are you? What are you doing in my home?"
The ANBU ninjas continued to watch Naruto, remaining on high alert, but none of them said a word. They truly didn't know what to say. The person before them might be a mere three-year-old child, but he was also the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, and just a few minutes ago, an extremely dense and terrifying wave of chakra had emanated from this body. Having personally experienced the Nine-Tails' rampage years ago, these ninjas were fully aware of how critical the situation was. One wrong word could cause the already unstable power to spiral out of control. The only thing they could do was silently wait for the Hokage's arrival.
Before long, the Hokage arrived at the scene. The acting Hokage of the era, the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen, appeared in Naruto's small apartment.
Seeing him, Naruto jumped up in excitement with immense relief.
"Grandpa Third!"
Hiruzen looked at the boy, plastering a warm smile on his face, but inside, he carried an indescribable sense of guilt. He affectionately stroked Naruto's hair.
"Naruto, are you alright?"
Naruto nodded with great happiness.
"I'm fine, Grandpa Third! But why are these ninjas here?"
Hiruzen replied, softening his voice.
"There's nothing to worry about. They are my guards; I sent them ahead while I was coming to see you."
Naruto's eyes sparkled with admiration.
"AWESOME! Can I have guards too?"
Hiruzen chuckled softly.
"You can, but for that, you have to become Hokage first."
Naruto was slightly disappointed by this answer. Hiruzen was about to turn around and leave when his one-eyed, sullen-faced old friend came to mind. He stopped his steps.
"Naruto, even if they are my guards, never follow them unless I am by your side. After all, they could be bad guys in disguise trying to trick and kidnap you."
Hearing this possibility, Naruto suddenly shivered.
"I understand!"
After soothing the child, Hiruzen pulled the captain of the ANBU squad assigned to protect Naruto aside and asked in a voice low enough that the boy couldn't hear.
"What is the situation? What happened? Did someone do something to Naruto?"
The ANBU captain reported respectfully.
"We do not know, Hokage-sama. With no apparent cause, the Nine-Tails' chakra began leaking heavily from the seal."
Hiruzen fell into deep thought upon hearing this.
Last year, Danzo had started spreading rumors in the village that Naruto was actually the 'Demon Fox.' At that time, Hiruzen had gone to the capital to meet with the Daimyo and stayed there for almost a week. When he returned to the village, he saw that the public had adopted a completely hostile attitude towards little Naruto, and he experienced a massive outburst of anger. He had severely reprimanded Danzo in his office, reduced the Root organization's personnel by half, and drastically cut their funding.
Danzo, on the other hand, had argued that he did all this for the security of the village, claiming that the people wandering around the Jinchuriki posed a great danger, and that the child needed to be isolated to prevent him from being misled. After listening to Danzo's arguments, Hiruzen had realized there were some logical points. He couldn't adopt Naruto into the Sarutobi clan; this would bring his clan to the forefront more than necessary and cause a serious power rift between them and other clans, especially the Uchiha Clan. But he couldn't leave Naruto completely unattended either; children easily attached themselves to people who treated them well, and this weakness could be exploited. Hiruzen sighed with a deep sense of guilt inside.
Seizing this silent acceptance from Hiruzen as an opportunity, Danzo had proposed that he leave Naruto entirely under his protection and that he would train him into a flawless weapon within Root. However, this offer reignited the anger of Hiruzen, who had just somewhat calmed down.
"SHUT UP, DANZO! EVEN IF I FOUND WHAT YOU DID LOGICAL, I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU! THE PUNISHMENTS I GAVE ARE VALID! ROOT'S PERSONNEL NUMBER WILL BE HALVED, AND THE FUNDING SUPPORT ROOT RECEIVES FROM KONOHA WILL BE CUT BY FORTY PERCENT!"
Danzo was astounded in the face of this heavy sanction, angrily slamming his cane against the floor.
"YOU CANNOT DO THIS, HIRUZEN! ROOT IS INVALUABLE TO KONOHA. THERE ARE MANY ONGOING CRITICAL PROJECTS, TRAININGS, AND SECRET MISSIONS! WITH THIS DECISION, YOU WILL CAUSE KONOHA TO SUFFER GREAT LOSSES!"
Hiruzen, however, stood his ground, confronting Danzo strictly and uncompromisingly.
"I am the Hokage! My decision is final. Konoha is not a place that stands solely on your Root organization! Do you think we established the ANBU for decoration? Root is nothing but a subsidiary of the ANBU!"
Danzo's face had turned crimson with anger.
"Hiruzen-"
But Hiruzen cut off his words like a knife.
"Enough! If you say one more word, I will completely disband Root, absorb its personnel into the ANBU, and force you into retirement! Do you think I don't know your perverse thoughts regarding Naruto? Since you lack the power to take revenge on Minato, you are now tormenting his defenseless son."
Although Danzo opened his mouth to defend himself, Hiruzen didn't allow it. He took a step forward and looked straight into the eye of his old friend with extremely sharp eyes. As Hiruzen's chakra began to spread through the room, fine cracks formed on the floor they stood on.
"Danzo, you will not interfere in the Naruto matter again, and you will never approach that boy! Otherwise, I will deal with you personally! This is the last concession I am giving you on this matter!"
Danzo's face darkened further as he sank into silence. He had realized just how serious Hiruzen was about this. Still, he didn't want to leave the room completely empty-handed.
"Then at least give Uchiha Shisui to Root!"
But this time, Hiruzen was not going to make any compromises. The village had been weakened unprecedentedly since the Nine-Tails attack. Shisui, the grandson of his old comrade-in-arms Kagami, had already reached the peak of elite Jounin level despite being only thirteen years old. He carried the potential to reach the level of a Kage, perhaps even higher, in the future. He had no intention of turning such a brilliant youth into an emotionless weapon in the darkness of Root. Furthermore, he knew very well that the Uchiha clan would never allow their number one genius to join Root. Even if they did, it would only serve as a cover to assassinate Danzo from the inside.
"No!"
"You-"
"ENOUGH! I have work to do, the door is over there."
Remembering this tense confrontation that took place in his office a year ago, Hiruzen sighed in exhaustion. Because he didn't have a suitable successor to hand his seat over to, he had to endure this exhausting job and stress. But deep down, he also knew he was terrified of letting go of power completely. Power corrupts a person and ultimately makes them addicted to it. Contrary to what most people thought or hatefully expressed, Hiruzen was not fundamentally a bad-hearted person; he was just one of those pragmatist politicians we all know very well. He was a gray character standing right in the middle of pure good and evil, making decisions in the shadows of Konoha.