Hearing how perfunctory the Nine-Tails' explanation was—reducing everything to "Uchiha Madara is far stronger than you imagine"—Kushina was just about to press further with more questions.
At that moment, Arata stepped forward. He gently patted Kushina on the head and said with a smile,
"Well? Now you know I wasn't lying to you, right?"
Arata knew the Nine-Tails had very little patience. The fact that it hadn't lashed out and had instead endured talking to this little girl for so long was almost certainly because he was standing there. Otherwise, it probably would have swallowed Kushina whole long ago.
Don't be fooled by how aloof and prideful the Nine-Tails looked now. Once it regained its freedom, its true nature was one of deep hostility toward humans. The number of people it had killed over the years was no less than Madara's.
After all, it had ravaged the Land of Fire for centuries. Over that span of time, the Nine-Tails had killed at least hundreds of thousands of people—and that was a conservative estimate.
With its sheer size and destructive power, even a casual attack could wipe out an entire town. Death tolls in the tens or even hundreds of thousands were entirely possible.
That was during an era when population density in the shinobi world was relatively low. If it had been today, the casualties would have been even greater.
Even later, when it was summoned to Konoha by Obito, aside from the initial phase when Obito controlled it with the Sharingan, the rest of the destruction was carried out entirely by the Nine-Tails' own will.
And yet it had still casually fired Tailed Beast Bombs straight into Konoha. That alone showed how little human life meant to it.
Iruka losing his parents—that tragedy, too, had been caused by the Nine-Tails.
So it was no wonder the people of Konoha despised it. The Nine-Tails truly was cruel, especially toward humans.
At this point, although Kushina still hadn't learned the most crucial detail—how Madara was still alive—she had at least confirmed one thing: Arata hadn't lied.
The ones who killed her grandmother and Mito were truly the legendary Asura of the shinobi world—
Uchiha Madara.
"I'm sorry, Arata-niisan! I shouldn't have doubted you just now!"
As Arata rested his hand on her head, Kushina didn't resist at all. Instead, she bowed deeply and apologized in earnest.
It was clear that she now held Arata in great respect. Her manners were almost too polite—nothing like the bold, big-sister figure she usually was among the Uzumaki clan.
Arata glanced at the half-squinting Nine-Tails beside them, shook his head, and said,
"It's fine. I was shocked too when I first saw him. I never imagined Madara was still alive in this world."
The Nine-Tails acted as if it didn't care, but its narrowed eyes were fixed on Arata, watching closely to see what kind of trick this brat was playing.
After all, when Arata had first encountered it, he hadn't shown the slightest mercy—calling down lightning strikes at the drop of a hat. So why was he now bringing a little girl here to ask about Madara?
When it heard Arata claim he'd been "shocked" the first time he saw Madara, the Nine-Tails snorted disdainfully.
It wasn't blind.
When Arata had arrived at the battlefield and looked at Madara, his face had shown anger, killing intent, and even a trace of anticipation—but not the slightest hint of surprise.
The Nine-Tails was absolutely certain: this brat was lying. Arata had almost certainly known all along that Madara was still alive. What he hadn't expected was probably that Madara would suddenly kill Mito and the other Uzumaki.
As for being "shocked," the Nine-Tails hadn't seen that at all.
Arata's senses were razor-sharp. The moment the Nine-Tails snorted, he noticed. He was in the middle of comforting the little girl—this was not the time for the fox to butt in.
Instantly, faint arcs of lightning appeared along Arata's back. The moment they flickered into existence, the surrounding temperature rose sharply.
When the Nine-Tails saw this, it shuddered reflexively.
"Damned brat…" it muttered under its breath.
Then it turned its head away, pretending to no longer pay attention.
Of course, with its prideful nature, there was no way it truly stopped listening. It perked up its ears, intent on hearing whatever nonsense Arata might say next.
Kushina, meanwhile, nodded vigorously at Arata's words. She could understand that feeling perfectly—she herself had been utterly stunned when she first heard the truth.
She didn't notice the Nine-Tails' subtle snort at all. All she saw was the massive fox behind Arata turning its head away with what looked like a rather aggrieved expression.
That unexpectedly stirred her curiosity.
The legendary, terrifying demon fox… somehow didn't seem all that scary right now. It even looked a bit like a sulking pet.
With that thought, Kushina asked curiously,
"Then what about the Nine-Tails? With Mito-hime gone, it can't just stay locked up here forever, can it?"
Although Kushina had been selected as a potential jinchūriki, such things were usually kept secret before the sealing actually happened.
After all, while jinchūriki possessed tremendous power, they were often ostracized by their nations and villages.
Tailed beasts had slaughtered countless people; their hands were stained with blood. That hatred naturally extended to the beasts themselves—and by extension, to their hosts.
Thus, jinchūriki often became targets of resentment as well.
In most countries, unless the jinchūriki candidate had a close relationship with the Kage, their opinion was rarely considered. More often than not, the beast was sealed without their knowledge or consent.
The Land of Lightning was an exception—it typically selected candidates in advance and only performed the sealing after gaining their consent.
Konoha, however, had only ever had Uzumaki Mito, so there was no real precedent.
Arata's plan, though, was closer to the Land of Lightning's approach. He intended to let Kushina choose for herself.
If she was willing to become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki, Arata had no objection to sealing it within her.
But if she refused, he could always find someone else.
After all, becoming a jinchūriki almost guaranteed a difficult, unhappy childhood. Having already begun to treat Kushina as family, Arata couldn't accept forcing that fate on her.
Though Kushina hadn't been part of his household for long, her bravery and the care she showed toward Shizune had already earned his acceptance.
Not to mention—this was a well-known figure from the original story. Being able to take her in now genuinely made Arata happy.
So when faced with her question, Arata replied solemnly,
"Mito-hime originally intended for you to become the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki. What do you think? Do you want to become one?"
Rather than asking her to decide outright, Arata wanted to hear her thoughts—to understand how this young girl perceived the role and meaning of being a jinchūriki.
At that very moment, the Nine-Tails—who had been secretly listening with its ears perked—completely bristled.
It shot to its feet and roared,
"What?! You want this little brat to become my jinchūriki?!"