My curious adventures with the Nine-Tailed Fox

Kurama was once again dumbfounded by what he heard, his astonishment swiftly giving way to a rapidly fueling rage.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY! YOU LOWLY HUMAN!"

Without backing down in the slightest, Altay shouted back at the same high pitch.

"I SAID SHUT UP! I'M NOT IN THE MOOD TO LISTEN TO YOUR NAGGING!"

"HOW DARE YOU!"

"I DARE, SO WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO ABOUT IT? ARE YOU GOING TO STROKE ME WITH YOUR FURRY TAILS!?"

"YOU-"

"I SAID SHUT UP!"

"I WILL KILL YOU!"

"TRY IT THEN, FURBALL!"

"COME INSIDE THE CAGE IF YOU HAVE THE GUTS!"

"I'M NOT COMING IN! WHAT ARE YOU GONNA DO, SIT DOWN AND CRY!?"

The duo argued furiously in the water for two whole hours. In this long verbal duel spent shouting and screaming at each other, neither could truly establish dominance over the other. Kurama angrily tried to throw this insolent man out of the seal space but failed; because the man in front of him wasn't an ordinary spiritual or mental form, he was here in the flesh. He considered releasing his chakra and killing him in a single move, but the question of how the man knew his name gnawed at his mind. He thought to himself...

'What if he is someone sent by the old man?'

Because of this possibility, even though Kurama felt like he would go mad with anger, he chose to keep his massive chakra under control. Eventually, Altay began to calm down; from constant shouting, both of their throats had become irritated and their voices hoarse. The young man finally stopped being stubborn, sat down in the water where he was in exhaustion, and struck the cold floor with a hard punch in frustration.

"Damn it!"

The young man slumped his shoulders and took a deep breath. He began to think aloud to himself.

"So, am I reincarnated now? Or did I get isekai'd? But what happened last? We were about to go on an operation..."

The moment the word 'operation' spilled from his lips, some memories of the past flashed through his mind like lightning... Infiltrating the given coordinates with his team, that comprehensive and flawless operation they carried out on the enemy base, the targeted key figures being eliminated one by one... They had gone after the last remaining person, cornered him, and caught him. However, there was something entirely unaccounted for; the explosives the man had wrapped around himself. When the man blew himself up, Altay, as the first person to grab him, was caught right in the center of the explosion. Now he remembered everything entirely, in the most painful detail. Staring off into space, he muttered in bewilderment.

"But I fell as a martyr... I died... how did I end up in this world?"

Kurama had been carefully watching this annoying, noisy human from the very beginning. He was waiting for him to calm down and think logically, otherwise, he felt they would get into another absurd argument like just moments ago. However, upon hearing the man say, 'I died,' Kurama's feral face took on a strange expression he couldn't quite understand.

'This human is definitely crazy!'

After a long and patient silence lasting about ten minutes, the man finally snapped out of his inner world and gathered himself. He gently raised his head and looked at Kurama with calmed eyes.

"I apologize for my behavior earlier... I'm just in shock... I shouldn't have been here..."

Kurama was utterly bewildered by these words. A human was sincerely, genuinely apologizing to him. For the first time in centuries, perhaps even since he came into existence, he was encountering such a strange thing. However, he was the Kyuubi; he shouldn't lower his sails immediately, he had to continue wearing his customary mask of arrogance.

"Hmph! Whatever, I don't need your apology!"

Yet, despite the arrogant tone in his deep voice, the nine majestic tails swaying involuntarily behind his massive body gave him away. It had been so long since someone truly showed him respect and didn't view him as a tool that he actually enjoyed the feeling. When Altay saw him like this, only one word came to his mind, and he blurted it out without thinking.

"Tsundere."

Kurama froze for a moment, completely taken aback, then glared at the man before him with eyes burning with rage. Quickly realizing he had made a blunder, Altay cleared his throat and spoke.

"I'm sorry, let's take that from the top. My name is Altay, nice to meet you, Kurama."

Looking at the plain and sincere expression on the man's face, the anger inside Kurama slowly subsided. He hadn't sensed any malicious intent or greed from this strange man right from the beginning anyway. But this didn't mean he would suddenly trust humans, whose betrayals he had witnessed for thousands of years. Narrowing his eyes, he asked seriously.

"I ask again, how do you know my name."

Altay looked carefully at the legendary creature before him. Altay wasn't one of those manipulative, sneaky, or easily deceived weak characters found in fanfics. Therefore, he chose to speak honestly without making up any lies.

"Because where I come from, I read a story and watched a cartoon (anime) about you."

With this unexpected answer, Kurama was dumbfounded again; he couldn't remember ever being this baffled in his entire long life. The most frustrating part of it all for him was that he couldn't detect even the slightest vibration of a lie from the man; the man was telling the absolute truth. Unconsciously, he whispered in a tone only he could hear.

"Impossible!"

Altay shrugged his shoulders in a very relaxed manner.

"You asked and I answered. I can prove it if you want."

Kurama locked his eyes on Altay. After thinking for a brief moment in the face of this assertive attitude, he spoke challengingly.

"Prove it."

Altay shrugged again. As an experienced soldier of the Special Forces, he had undergone heavy training to adapt to all kinds of situations and harsh environments... Even though the current situation was a bit too "abnormal", he seemed to have accepted it. Assuming a comfortable sitting position in the water, he began to speak.

"Now, where should I start... oh well, let's take it from the very beginning, I'll explain it in a short summary without dragging it out. Originally, there was no such thing as chakra in this world, but there was the Divine Tree. Humanity worshipped it for centuries. However, in later years, your step-grandmother Otsutsuki Kaguya came from the sky, ate the forbidden fruit of the Divine Tree, and became the first person to possess chakra in this world. Look, I'm underlining this: she became the first chakra wielder in this world. People began to worship her, calling her the 'Rabbit Goddess'. Later, Kaguya gave birth to two children; one of them is your step-father Hagoromo, and the other is your step-uncle Hamura.

At first, they were a very disciplined family with rules. But as the two children grew up, they began to feel that something was wrong with their mother's actions, yet they didn't dwell on it too much initially. Kaguya was secretly sacrificing some humans to the Divine Tree, and the two brothers were unaware of this fact... That is, until the woman Hagoromo loved was sent to be sacrificed to the Divine Tree. That's when the two brothers fully learned of the situation, and with the instigation of a toad who was a total bastard, they waged war against their mother.

At the end of a devastating war that lasted for months, they managed to seal her. Kaguya currently lies sealed away in the sky of the present ninja world, in the depths of the Moon. Later on, the Divine Tree, which in reality is the Ten-Tails, was split into exactly 9 separate pieces. Meaning, the combined form of today's nine tailed beasts is the Ten-Tails itself.

If I were to list these 9 pieces in order: the One-Tailed Shukaku of the Sand who clashes and competes with you the most, the Two-Tailed Blue Fire Cat Matatabi, the Three-Tailed Armored Turtle Isobu, the Four-Tailed Furious Fire Monkey Son Goku, the Five-Tailed White Horse Kokuo, the Six-Tailed Giant Slug Saiken, the Seven-Tailed Flying Bug Chomei, the Eight-Tailed Octopus-Ox Gyuki, and... the strongest among them, you, the Nine-Tailed Fox Kurama."

Altay took a short break after his long speech to rest his throat. He also wanted to use this silence as an opportunity to enjoy watching the comical fox behind the bars in front of him, whose face was changing expressions moment by moment. On Kurama's massive face, there appeared sequentially: deep astonishment, disbelief at what he heard, denial of the truth, a slight embarrassment, and finally, a state of heavy contemplation. However, Altay didn't want to leave his story half-finished; he continued with determination.

"Hagoromo, who later came to be known in history as the 'Sage of Six Paths', scattered all of you to the four corners of the world in such a way that you would stay as far away from each other as possible as he grew weak in his final moments and bid you farewell. Why? Because he was terrified of the Ten-Tails being resurrected. And he was completely right to be afraid; the Ten-Tails is truly a terrifying thing; even the pure destructive power of its Tailed Beast Bomb is at absurd levels. Anyway, let's not get off topic. Also, Hagoromo founded Ninshu to spread his own ideals. However, later on, due entirely to his own stupidity and ineptitude, his two sons fell out with each other, and a bloody war spanning generations that would last 1000 years bega-"

Before Altay could finish his sentence, a terrifying roar erupted in the seal space, making the waters surge. Kurama was furious. His massive voice echoed violently through all the corridors and over the waters. Altay felt the intense chakra pressure to his very bones, causing cold sweat to pour from his forehead, but still, he didn't step back; he wasn't afraid. Kurama, spewing flames from his eyes, spoke with rage.

"Do not ever insult the old man!"

In defiance of the pressure hitting his face, Altay looked directly into Kurama's giant eyes without bowing his head. There wasn't a single sign of fear in the soldier's eyes.

"I understand you; calling the father who gave you life a fool naturally angered you. Kurama, I apologize for offending you... but he really was a fool."

At these words, Kurama roared again and violently struck the gate of the cage with his massive claws. Altay was still very calm, but his voice was as sharp as ice this time; he looked at Kurama with cold eyes completely devoid of emotion.

"Kurama! Your anger will get you nowhere! Because of the absurd and idiotic decision made by the Sage of Six Paths, the ninja world he valued so much has been shedding blood and fighting for exactly 1000 years!"

Due to what he heard, Kurama stopped hitting the cage gate. He looked at Altay, panting, half-thoughtful but still half-furious. Taking advantage of the moment, Altay continued.

"He gave Indra too much hope at the beginning; the moment Indra awakened the Sharingan, things changed. Hagoromo was afraid of his power; he was terrified to death that he would be the next Kaguya, and he ostracized his own son Indra, who was talented in every way and the most fit to be a leader! Yet, if he had given him proper training, tried to understand him, sat across from him as a father and talked to him decently, everything would have been very, very different! But what did he do? He just stepped aside and watched Indra stray from the path and fall into darkness! As if this wasn't enough, he supported his other son, Asura, who was incompetent in every way, who, despite having a pure heart, absolutely did not want to be the leader and stated so openly. He forced him to become the leader and incited him against his older brother! The person who pushed Indra into the abyss with his own hands was his own father!"

As he said the last part, Altay's voice had risen significantly, the pent-up anger inside him reflecting in his words. Altay hated injustice; he especially hated people who didn't understand the first thing about fatherhood and blatantly treated their own children unfairly. As Altay spoke, Kurama became increasingly pensive. Altay continued, maintaining the harsh tone in his voice.

"Moreover, that naive foolish old man always trusted humans too much, but humans cannot be trusted! Humans are greedy, two-faced, and ungrateful! If you try to rule humans softly, based solely on bonds, understanding, and love, you will mess it up just like this, and the system will blow up in your face! Haven't you and your siblings suffered enough from that darkness in humans' hearts? Open your eyes already! For years, they kept you captive like slaves, like weapons, and locked you up in these cramped, dark cages! Especially you, one of the most powerful beings in the world, they used you twice like a mere puppet! Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, who sealed you the last time, literally split you in half! They sealed half of you into the belly of the Death God, the Shinigami! Haven't you suffered enough, Kurama?"

As Altay said his final sentence, his tone softened. He actually liked the Bijuu from the stories he read; especially the fox Kurama and the cat Matatabi. If he truly had the chance or enough means, he would free them from their seals one by one and take them to an isolated island out of humanity's reach, allowing them to live in peace. Listening to Altay, Kurama was in shock; he couldn't find a single word to say. For the first time, truly the first time, a human saw them not just as weapons whose power was to be exploited, but as one of their own, as individuals with feelings who deserved to be free. Kurama didn't know what to think in the face of this compassion he was hearing. Altay broke the silence and continued.

"Of course, I'm not saying all humans are absolutely evil; there are also those among them who are very compassionate, virtuous, and hardworking. There are those who know how to be content with what they have and respect nature. But the majority of people do not deserve too much freedom; strict rules were needed to keep people in line and draw their boundaries. Indra saw this before anyone else and rightfully began to put it into practice, but his own father and brother never understood him. They said his ideas were too extreme, too harsh, and ordered him to bend the rules or abolish them completely. Hagoromo, in particular, was fiercely opposed to this. Indra never received the proper love and validation he expected from his father, and this alienation drove him mad..."

There really was no need to go and dig deep to find out who Fugaku and Hiashi took after in their terrible fathering skills. One took directly after his ancestor, and the other after his great-uncle. If Altay were physically present in the Naruto world and strong enough, he would mercilessly beat them both to a pulp until he slapped some sense into them! Snapping out of his thoughts, he continued speaking in a much calmer manner.

"If Hagoromo had observed Indra properly and impartially from the very beginning, he would have immediately seen that there was something wrong with him, that there was an external influence..."

Kurama flinched at the meaning behind this last sentence. Altay had said this in a very suggestive manner, and with a deep curiosity awakening inside him, Kurama brought his head closer to the bars and asked.

"What was wrong with Indra?"

Altay answered plainly and calmly.

"Indra was manipulated."

At these words, Kurama was stunned and instantly rejected the possibility, denying it.

"That's impossible! Who would dare to manipulate the Old Man's own son right before his eyes!"

Altay, on the other hand, spoke calmly again.

"Hagoromo's youngest brother, whom he never knew about... a dark shadow Kaguya left behind at the last moment to break her own seal... his name is Black Zetsu."

Kurama was dumbfounded once more. Because of the sheer amount of information he had learned in this short time, his massive brain was about to short-circuit.