After a long session of Kushina's sweet-talking, Kurama finally gave up on his idea of "deleting the account and starting over."
What really got to him was that one line — "Use him to see for yourself whether humans are truly as ugly as you think."
For the longest time, the Nine Tails had believed that all humans — other than the Sage of Six Paths — were disgusting, greedy creatures.
Even the most "noble" of them, like Hashirama Senju, had once tried to control him for his own purposes.
To Kurama, humans were a collection of malice even uglier than tailed beasts themselves.
That belief had festered over centuries of battle, turning his hatred for humanity into something deeper and darker, until "Nine Tails" became synonymous with destruction and cruelty.
But now, after meeting Hoshiyomi and Kushina — two humans who didn't try to dominate him but instead treated him as an equal — Kurama's thoughts began to shift.
For the first time, he wanted to look at humanity from another angle.
Maybe… not all humans were as vile as he once thought.
Since the little Nine Tails had already been successfully created, Kurama couldn't keep occupying Kushina's body any longer.
He cast one last glance at the small fox, snorted coldly, and withdrew his chakra back into the Eight Trigrams Seal inside Kushina.
After a short pause, Kushina slowly opened her eyes.
Her first reaction wasn't to throw herself into the arms of the anxious Minato beside her—
—she immediately grabbed the little Nine Tails and started rubbing her face all over it!
Hearts practically shone in her eyes as she hugged the fluffy creature tight, utterly refusing to let go.
Watching this, Minato felt an unexpected pang of jealousy.
I am inferior to a fox.
At first, the little Nine Tails bristled from being snuggled so hard, but then he sensed his original's familiar chakra within Kushina.
Realizing she was "safe," he stopped resisting and started rubbing back, matching her movements contentedly.
Seeing that satisfied, blissful look on his tiny clone's face, the real Kurama inside Kushina's mind could only slap a paw to his forehead.
Great. Hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.
He had originally been excited to observe human society through the little Nine Tails' perspective.
Although he'd used a method similar to a shadow clone to create it, Kurama's body was fundamentally different from a human's—
he was pure chakra.
Splitting off a small portion of that chakra and reshaping it into a smaller form didn't carry the same time limits or fragility as a normal clone.
Because of that, Kurama could simultaneously see and hear everything from the little Nine Tails' point of view.
Every action the small fox took felt like something he himself was doing.
He could even directly control it if he wanted.
But watching this scene unfold…
he suddenly thought maybe it was better to just turn off the feed and stay quietly in his spiritual world.
The mighty Nine Tails had no desire to personally experience what it felt like to be treated like someone's pet.
Kushina, of course, didn't care about Kurama's protests.
Right now she was happily examining the tiny fox from every angle, practically glowing with joy.
After another round of affectionate "torture," she finally looked up and said:
"Hoshiyomi-sensei, theoretically speaking, the little Nine Tails is an independent being now, right?"
Hoshiyomi nodded almost automatically — he already had a feeling about where this was going.
Sure enough, the very next thing she said was:
"In that case, there shouldn't be any problem if I make him my summoning beast, right?"
As she spoke, Kushina had already bitten her finger and started inscribing the summoning seal onto the little Nine Tails.
Kurama didn't bother to resist.
His true body was sealed inside Kushina anyway, so what harm could a summoning contract do?
And if he did ever want to break it, it would only take a flick of his claw.
A seal of that level couldn't possibly restrict the great Kurama.
At that moment, Hoshiyomi gestured for Lobo to bring over a scroll.
"This is the Summoning Scroll of White Wolf Ridge. Let the little Nine Tails sign his name on it.
Once he's on this scroll, he can stay in White Wolf Ridge whenever it's inconvenient for him to appear here in Konoha."
The wolves living in White Wolf Ridge were all Lobo's descendants, so there was no need to worry about any conflict with the little Nine Tails.
Besides, it was the perfect place for the little fox to enjoy the kind of freedom Kurama had always dreamed of.
Hearing this, Kurama's ears twitched inside the spiritual space.
He quietly signaled the little Nine Tails to press his pawprint onto the White Wolf Ridge summoning scroll — this was, after all, a matter concerning his freedom. There was no room for carelessness.
As for Hoshiyomi's little scheme behind the offer, Kurama had seen right through it.
But he didn't expose it — as long as those wolves treated the great Nine Tails with proper respect, sparing them a ten-thousandth of his chakra was no big deal.
And besides, wolves and foxes were at least distant relatives — far better company than slimy toads or creepy snakes.
Once the contract was done, Kushina cuddled the small fox in her arms, looking him over from head to tail while musing aloud:
"If we're going to live with this little guy in Konoha, we definitely can't keep calling him 'Little Nine Tails.' Wouldn't that give everything away?
And we obviously can't call him Kurama either — people would start asking questions.
Hmm… I guess we'll have to come up with a new name for you."
Hearing that, the little Nine Tails yipped twice in excitement — those soft, puppy-like cries made Kushina's heart melt instantly.
She hugged him tighter and took another deep sniff of his fur.
"Aww, what should we call you, huh? Honey, what do you think would be a good name?"
At that, Minato fell deep into thought, rubbing his chin seriously.
After a long moment, his eyes suddenly lit up as he proudly announced:
"How about… Golden Nine-Turn Jade-Faced Demon Fox Beast!
No, wait— even better — Nine-Spirit Thunderstrike Heaven-Sundering Maha Beast! Doesn't that sound cooler?"
Hoshiyomi, who had just taken a sip of water brought by Garuru, couldn't hold it in.
The moment he heard Minato's "brilliant" suggestions, he spewed the entire mouthful all over the place.
Well… what could he say?
Classic Minato.
"Cough, cough, cough…"
Hearing Hoshiyomi's coughing fit, Minato turned around excitedly:
"Sensei! You think so too, right?
'Nine-Spirit Thunderstrike Heaven-Sundering Maha Beast' — isn't that just the perfect name?!"
Hoshiyomi wanted to say, "Yes, Minato, absolutely."
But his conscience simply wouldn't allow it.
Before he could figure out how to respond, Kushina stepped in and firmly rejected the idea:
"No way, honey. Those names are way too over-the-top — they don't suit the little Nine Tails at all.
For such a cute little guy, a simple name would be much better."
Hoshiyomi silently nodded beside her and took another sip of water.
She's right, he thought. Absolutely right.
"So let's just call him… Little Red!"
"Pffft!"
Hoshiyomi nearly sprayed his drink again as Kushina happily repeated, "Little Red! Little Red!" while snuggling the fox.
He sighed inwardly.
Honestly, Naruto — you should really thank Jiraiya someday for giving you a normal name.
...
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