Chapter 36: Promising Kurama a Pie in the Sky.
Kurama?
That's a familiar term!
How many years had it been since someone called it by that name? Probably close to a thousand.
The last person to call it that was probably its father, the Sage of Six Paths.
Its Tailed Beast siblings usually just called it Nine-Tails.
As for the humans outside, they called it the Demon Fox, a calamity, and later even demoted it to a beast.
"How do you know that name?!"
Kurama's tails began to wave, mirroring the way a cat's fur stands on end when it's caught stealing catnip, as if its secret had been exposed.
Kurama was the name given to it by the Sage of Six Paths, and for thousands of years, Kurama had never told a human.
"The Sage of Six Paths gave it to me in a dream."
Uchiha Nan casually made up an excuse, unable to tell Kurama that he knew from watching anime.
"You're talking nonsense!!"
Kurama immediately cursed. How could the Sage of Six Paths appear in Uchiha Nan's dream?
The Tailed Beasts had been trapped inside humans as war tools for so many years, and the Sage of Six Paths hadn't moved a muscle. He was probably long gone by now.
"Believe it or not. Otherwise, how do you think I'd know your name is Kurama? I also know that One-Tail is Shukaku, Two-Tails is Matatabi..."
Uchiha Nan rattled off the names of all nine Tailed Beasts, and his confident demeanor made Kurama doubt itself.
The old Sage wasn't dead, was he?
Then why hadn't he come to save it all these years?
It had always considered him its father!
Father, love me again!
Kurama prayed inwardly, hoping its Sage father would rescue it from its suffering, but no miracle occurred.
Kurama sighed slightly. It had prayed for the old Sage to save it many times over the years, but it had been useless.
However, Kurama somewhat believed Uchiha Nan's words. Tailed Beasts only told their names to those they acknowledged, and Uchiha Nan clearly couldn't have gained the acknowledgment of all the Tailed Beasts.
Only the Sage of Six Paths could have told Uchiha Nan the names of all the Tailed Beasts.
"What did the old Sage tell you?"
As everyone knew, foxes were extremely curious, and Kurama couldn't help but ask.
"The Sage of Six Paths said I'm the savior of the ninja world and will liberate all the Tailed Beasts in the future!"
Kurama suddenly leaned closer to Uchiha Nan, staring at the color of Uchiha Nan's pupils.
The color was wrong!
The Sage of Six Paths had also told the Tailed Beasts a prophecy of the future:
"A young man with blue pupils, he will cheerfully call out the names of the nine Tailed Beasts..."
Uchiha Nan's pupils were black, and now they had turned red, nowhere near blue.
"What are you doing?!"
Uchiha Nan was startled, taking a few steps back.
So Kurama told Uchiha Nan the prophecy the Sage had spoken in the past.
"Times are changing, and prophecies change too."
"If the Sage could accurately predict the future, his two sons wouldn't have fought each other."
Uchiha Nan said casually. It was quite pathetic that a sage would believe the prophecies of a few toads while distrusting his eldest son's abilities.
The Sage family, from Kaguya to the Sage of Six Paths, all failed in the test of educating their children.
"The old Sage even told you that?"
Kurama was somewhat surprised, believing Uchiha Nan's words about 70-80%. Such family scandals were only known to those of the same era, and it was hard to believe the old Sage would be willing to talk about them.
Sibling rivalry was something even Kurama, who considered itself the old Sage's adopted son, found too embarrassing to talk about with outsiders.
The nine adopted Tailed Beast sons were more sensible. Although they sometimes fought, they never intended to kill each other.
"Speak, what did you come to me for?"
Kurama lay down, crossing its paws and resting its head on them, finding a comfortable position, looking like it was about to fall asleep.
Uchiha Nan must have come to ask for something!
Human nature hadn't changed much over the years. They only came when they wanted something.
It had to put on an air!
"To give you, Kurama, your freedom, of course!"
Uchiha Nan skillfully drew a pie in the sky, triggering his past life's sales instincts!
Even when asking for help, he had to make it seem like he was helping them!
"Huh?"
Kurama immediately perked up, raising its head, its eyes filled with longing.
Who would want to be locked in a dark room if they had a choice? It wanted to roll around comfortably in the dense forest!
"You want to let me out?"
"Of course!"
"Tailed Beasts are free and shouldn't be enslaved and exploited by humans."
Uchiha Nan said to Kurama with a smile.
"But I can't do it now!"
"Because I'm not the Hokage!"
"Only the Hokage has the authority to deal with Tailed Beasts."
Uchiha Nan put on a troubled look. He really wanted to release Kurama, but circumstances didn't allow it.
Uchiha Nan's eyes drifted towards Kurama, seeing its strong desire for freedom.
"Are you serious?"
"Of course, I am!"
"I swear in the name of the Sage of Six Paths."
Uchiha Nan smiled, skillfully swearing an oath. Even if he couldn't release Kurama in the future, it would be the Sage of Six Paths who got a bad reputation.
"Then I'll help you become Hokage!"
Kurama decided to take a gamble. It desperately longed for freedom.
Being locked in this dark room, with nothing, was too unbearable. It didn't know how it had survived all these years.
"It's a deal!"
"Good!"
"Once I become Hokage, you'll be free when Mito Uzumaki dies!"
Kurama's eyes widened as it looked at Uchiha Nan. As expected of the inherently evil Uchiha, he was tricking it again. How could it have to wait for Mito Uzumaki to die?!
"You still want me to wait for Mito Uzumaki to die?"
"Of course. Mito Uzumaki is a veteran of Konoha. Even if I become Hokage, I can't just kill her and release you, can I?"
"I'm a kind person and can't stand seeing people die."
Uchiha Nan smiled, revealing his white teeth, looking compassionate. Seeing Kurama still hesitant, he continued:
"Look on the bright side. Mito Uzumaki is so old. How many years can she live?"
"It won't be long. Just endure it."
Kurama's fox eyes darted around, still hesitant, wondering whether to believe Uchiha Nan's nonsense.
Its fox instincts told it that Uchiha Nan was promising a pie in the sky.
"If you don't believe me, then let Mito Uzumaki defeat me and become Hokage."
"Konoha is probably already preparing to find a young Nine-Tails Jinchūriki in the Uzumaki clan."
"Mito Uzumaki can start implementing it as soon as she takes office."
Uchiha Nan sighed, pretending to leave.
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