Jiraiya followed Naruto with a grim face. That damn Nine-Tails stopped talking halfway through. Who did he learn that from? This way of speaking really makes people want to beat him up.
...If he could beat him, Jiraiya really wanted to do that.
Naruto walked ahead with a puffed-up face. When he heard Jiraiya catching up, he didn't say anything, just looked at Jiraiya with an angry expression. Unfortunately, Jiraiya's mind was completely elsewhere, his head down, lost in thought.
Naruto got even angrier.
"Kurama, what did you guys talk about? Why won't you tell me?"
In his inner world, Kurama chuckled.
"You know, my favorite thing to see is that look on your face when you want to know something but can't. It's so delightful."
"Damn it!"
Naruto was furious.
"Riddler, get out of Gotham!"
Kurama's laughter stopped, and then he shouted with a dark face,
"Don't mimic me!"
Naruto was getting more and more mischievous. He kept saying strange things all day, making Kurama want to beat him up from time to time. Who taught him this? Oh, it was me. Never mind then.
Naruto didn't care about Kurama. Every time he talked to Kurama, it felt like this. He had wanted to beat Kurama up more than once.
Jiraiya was deep in thought and didn't have time to pay attention to Naruto. Naruto, walking alone, felt a bit bored.
"Hey, Kurama, can you teach me some ninjutsu that doesn't need chakra?"
Kurama rolled his eyes.
"Even taijutsu needs chakra. What are you thinking?"
In this world, ninjas need chakra for everything. Taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu all require chakra. Since Naruto can't use chakra now, he can't learn any techniques.
"But I'm so bored,"
Naruto sighed.
Usually, he spent his time training or eating at Ichiraku Ramen. Now, without chakra, he couldn't train, and outside the village, he couldn't eat Ichiraku Ramen. Naruto felt like life had lost its meaning.
"You can ask Jiraiya to teach you the Rasengan,"
Kurama said.
"Although you can't practice now, you can come to the sealed space in your sleep. Your consciousness won't be affected by your body, and you can use my chakra to train."
"Wait a minute,"
Kurama suddenly stood up with a strange smile.
"I just remembered, there is a ninjutsu that doesn't need chakra. If you train well, your body will recover faster too."
Naruto's eyes lit up, and he got excited.
"What is it? Tell me, Kurama!"
Training without hurting his body and speeding up recovery? Naruto couldn't wait to learn such a technique.
"Hmph,"
Kurama raised his chin proudly.
"Say 'My dad is a jerk,' and I'll tell you."
"Okay!"
Naruto agreed without hesitation, which surprised Kurama. Before Kurama could react, Naruto shouted,
"Kurama's dad is a jerk!"
The volume was so loud that Kurama was stunned. But something seemed off.
Kurama's face darkened.
"You'll never know what that technique is from me."
Although Kurama didn't have a dad, emotionally, the Ten-Tails and the Sage of Six Paths were like his parents. One gave birth to him, and the other raised him. So, the Ten-Tails was like his mom, and the Sage of Six Paths was like his dad.
Naruto's words insulted the Sage of Six Paths, whom Kurama respected the most.
Kurama turned to the wall and wrote with his big paw.
"Year 63 of Konohagakure, Uzumaki Naruto insulted my dad (crossed out), Uzumaki Naruto insulted the Sage of Six Paths. I'll remember this grudge."
He wrote it in Chinese, so no one else could understand.
Naruto realized what he had done and scratched his head with an awkward smile.
"But Kurama, you told me to insult your dad first."
Kurama sneered.
"Your dad sealed your mom's chakra in this seal with his life so she could see you grow up. He could have stayed with you, but he left you for a short meeting."
"Isn't that a jerk of a dad?"
Minato was indeed a jerk, at least in Kurama's eyes.
Minato was a good village leader, teacher, ninja, and husband, but he wasn't a good father.
There are rumors online that Minato died because he sealed the Nine-Tails, but that's not true. With Kushina's life force at that time, she had enough power to perform a Eight Trigrams Seal.
After all, she could still use the Adamantine Sealing Chains to tie up Kurama like a dumpling.
But Minato didn't let Kushina do that, because if she did, her chakra would be used up. Without Kurama, Kushina would die immediately after performing the Eight Trigrams Seal due to the massive loss of life force.
At that time, Kushina said her dream was to see Naruto grown up, so Minato stopped her. He used the Reaper Death Seal on himself, knowing he would die, and Kushina couldn't stop him.
That was Minato's thought at the time.
Kushina had no choice but to watch Minato use his life to seal her remaining chakra and half of the Nine-Tails into Naruto.
Just because Kushina said she wanted to see Naruto grown up, Minato gave his life to fulfill her wish. It was touching, but he didn't have to die. He could have stayed with Naruto as he grew up.
For Kushina... for the one he loved... Minato chose the option that was most unfair to Naruto.
So he's a jerk!
(ps: The above plot is from the anime, from Kushina's mouth, not made up. I haven't finished the manga, so I don't know if there will be any backstabbing.)
Naruto heard the disdain in Kurama's tone and touched the back of his head:
"But I think my father is great. He did abandon me, and I suffered a lot growing up, but because of that, I met you all and formed my bonds."
"And he protected the village. Isn't that great?"
Naruto's sunny smile made Kurama think of some unpleasant things.
"Tch."
Kurama clicked his tongue in annoyance,
"Think what you want, I just don't like him. Kushina is better than that guy."
Even though Kushina tied me to the sealing stone, didn't let me see the outside world, extracted my chakra without my consent to study sealing techniques, and used the Adamantine Sealing Chains to tie me up, saying I was too strong and needed to be suppressed...
Kurama:
"..."
Damn! Both of them are jerks!
---
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