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{{Looking for|the character|disambig=Kurama (disambiguation)}}
{{Directory|Characters|Tailed beasts}}
 
{{Looking for|the character|the chapter named after this character|Kurama!! (chapter)|Kurama!!|disambig=Kurama (disambiguation)}}
 
 
{{Infobox}}
 
{{Infobox}}
<section begin=summary/>{{translation|'''Nine-Tailed Fox'''|九喇嘛|Nine-Tailed Fox}}, more commonly known as the {{translation|'''Nine-Tailed Fox'''|九尾|Kyūbi}}, is a [[tailed beast]] currently [[Eight Trigrams Sealing Style|sealed]] within [[Naruto Uzumaki]] of [[Konohagakure]]. The fox was first sealed into [[Mito Uzumaki]] after the battle at the [[Valley of the End]], then into [[Kushina Uzumaki]] after Mito's death.<section end=summary/>
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{{translation|'''Kurama'''|九喇嘛|Kurama}}, more commonly known as the {{translation|'''Nine-Tails'''|九尾|Kyūbi}}, was one of the nine [[tailed beasts]]. Centuries of being regarded as a mindless monster and sought after as a tool for war caused Kurama to hate humans. After being sealed into [[Naruto Uzumaki]], Kurama attempts to maintain its cynical perspective about the world, but with Naruto's insistence on treating it with respect, the fox overturns its hatred and willingly strives to use its power for the world's salvation.
   
 
== Background ==
 
== Background ==
[[File:Kid-bijuus.png|thumb|left|The young tailed beasts with the Sage of the Six Paths.]]
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[[File:Young Bijuu and Hagoromo.png|thumb|left|Kurama and the other young tailed beasts with Hagoromo.]]
Nine-Tailed Fox first came into being in the waning days of the [[Sage of the Six Paths]], who used his [[Creation of All Things]] ability to separate the [[Ten-Tails]]' chakra from its body and divide it into nine separate constructs in order to ensure that it would never resurface after his death.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 467, pages 15-16</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 510, pages 11-12</ref> Some time after being created, the Sage sat down with all the young [[tailed beasts]] and told them that they would always be together even when separated, and that one day they would become one entity again with different names as well as forms than they did then when the time came for them to understand what true power is.<ref name="ch572">''Naruto'' chapter 572, pages 10-11</ref> Over the centuries, Kurama has gained a reputation as an age-old natural disaster, appearing suddenly out of nowhere to attack areas that have breeding grounds for the darkest aspects of human nature.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 149, page 9</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 370, page 14</ref>
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Kurama and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of [[Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki]], who used his [[Creation of All Things Technique]] to divide the [[Ten-Tails]]' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving them each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 467, pages 15-16</ref><ref name="ch572">''Naruto'' chapter 572</ref> In the anime, before his death, Hagoromo sent Kurama to live in a temple built for the purpose of protecting it in a forest region with mountains that would later become part of the [[Land of Fire]].<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 464</ref> Over time, Kurama gained a fearsome reputation as a natural disaster that can desolate areas where the darkest aspects of human nature collect and fester.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 149, page 9</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 370, page 14</ref>
   
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During the time of the founding of the shinobi villages, the [[Gold and Silver Brothers]] of [[Kumogakure]] were assigned to capture Kurama, but were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers survived and gained some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, forcing Kurama to regurgitate them.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 527, page 5</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 529, pages 3-4</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, page 6</ref>
[[File:Kurama Swallows Kinkaku and Ginkaku.png|thumb|Nine-Tailed Fox vs. Ginkaku and Kinkaku.]]
 
At one point during the time of the formation of the shinobi villages, the [[Gold and Silver Brothers]] of [[Kumogakure]] were assigned to capture Nine-Tailed Fox, but they were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers managed to survive and gain some of its [[Kinkaku's Jinchūriki Forms|power]] by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, which caused Kurama to regurgitate them.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 527, page 5</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 529, pages 3-4</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, page 6</ref>
 
   
[[File:Hashirama Senju VS Madara Uchiha.png|thumb|left|The battle between Madara and Hashirama, with Kurama under Madara's control.]]
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[[File:Hashirama vs Madara.png|thumb|Kurama and Madara vs. Hashirama.]]
After that event, when [[Madara Uchiha]] defected from Konoha, he used his [[Sharingan]] to control and use Kurama to help him fight against [[Hashirama Senju]], the First [[Hokage]], to exact his revenge. The battle was so great, it created a vast crater that later became known as the [[Valley of the End]]. Despite being in control of Kurama, Madara was defeated and was believed to have died.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 399, pages 8-12</ref> At some point during the fight, Hashirama was able to [[Wood Dragon|restrain]] Kurama, which allowed his wife, [[Mito Uzumaki]], to seal the fox within herself, becoming its first [[jinchūriki]].<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 500, page 5</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 607, page 14</ref>
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After [[Madara Uchiha]]'s defection from [[Konohagakure]], he found Kurama and used his [[Sharingan]] to control it, forcing the fox to help him fight against [[Hashirama Senju]], the First [[Hokage]]. The epic battle left a colossal scar in the earth that would come to be called the [[Valley of the End]].<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 399, pages 11-13</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapters 620, 621, 626</ref> After his victory over Madara, Hashirama's wife [[Mito Uzumaki]] sealed the fox within herself, becoming its first [[jinchūriki]].<ref name="ch500">''Naruto'' chapter 500</ref>
   
For over the period of the first two Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except on one event when the seal had begun to weaken as she was going through childbirth.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 500, page 9</ref> Towards the end of her life, Mito passed on this status and responsibility to another member of [[Uzumaki Clan|her clan]], [[Kushina Uzumaki]], who later became the wife of [[Minato Namikaze]], the Fourth Hokage. Although Kushina was terrified with the responsibility of containing Nine-Tailed Fox, Mito assured her successor that the fox's hatred was powerless against her love.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 500, pages 4-6</ref>
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Over the period of time which included the [[First Shinobi World War|First]] and [[Second Shinobi World War|Second]] Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except when the seal nearly broke when she was going through childbirth. Towards the final years of Mito's life, it was decided that a new jinchūriki would have to be found, and that was another member of [[Uzumaki Clan|her clan]], [[Kushina Uzumaki]]. Although Kushina was terrified when she learned of it, Mito comforted her young successor by telling her that by filling herself with love, Kushina would overcome the fox's hatred.<ref name="ch500" /> This was shown years later that despite Kurama's constant attempts to destroy her hope for happiness as its jinchūriki and coerce her to break the seal, Kushina's love for [[Minato Namikaze]] and his love for her were proven to be strong enough to contain the fox.<ref>''[[Naruto Gaiden: Whirlwind in the Vortex]]''</ref>
   
[[File:Kurama sealed within Kushina.png|thumb|Kurama sealed within Kushina.]]
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[[File:Kurama extraction.png|thumb|left|Kurama, extracted from Kushina.]]
Twelve years before the start of the series, after the end of the [[Third Shinobi World War]], the [[Third Hokage]] and his [[Biwako Sarutobi|wife]] made preparations to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed within Kushina as she gave birth to [[Naruto]]. However, despite keeping her childbirth a secret, [[Obito Uchiha]] discovered Kushina's location, killed her escorts and managed to [[Tailed Beast Extraction Technique|break the seal]], seizing control of Kurama.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 501, pages 7-11</ref> Since Kushina survived the extraction, Obito tried to have Kurama kill her before Minato got her and their son to safety. Soon afterwards, Obito [[Summoning Technique|summoned]] Kurama into [[Konoha]] and ordered it to [[Nine-Tails' Attack on Konoha|destroy the village]].<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 502, pages 3-5</ref>
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Soon after the end of the [[Third Shinobi World War]], the [[Third Hokage]] made special arrangements for Minato to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed inside Kushina while she gave birth to [[Naruto]] on the night of October 10. However, despite keeping the childbirth a secret, a masked man called [[Tobi]] tracked down their location, killed their escorts, and held Naruto hostage, forcing Minato to quickly rescue him and [[Flying Thunder God Technique|teleport]] him to safety. Right after Tobi captured Kushina, he [[Tail Releasing Method|extracted]] and seized control of Kurama, and tried to have the fox kill its barely surviving jinchūriki, but Minato made it in time to save her. Soon afterwards, the masked man [[Summoning Technique|summoned]] Kurama into Konoha and ordered it to [[Nine-Tailed Demon Fox's Attack|destroy the village]].<ref>''Naruto'' chapters 500-502</ref>
   
[[File:Konoha's destruction by Kyuubi.png|thumb|left|Kurama attacks Konoha.]]
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[[File:Kyuubi attack on Konoha.png|thumb|Kurama attacks Konoha.]]
While Kurama was rampaging in the village and decimating the [[shinobi]] forces that tried to repel it, Minato managed to place a [[Contract Seal]] on Obito during their fight to free the fox from the masked man's control. Despite no longer being in Obito's control, Kurama still harbored a deep hatred for Konoha for viewing it as nothing but a mindless beast and sealing it away for decades and resolved to destroy the village without orders from Obito. Before Kurama could annihilate Konoha, Minato [[Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique|summoned]] [[Gamabunta]] on top of the fox, and later teleported it to Kushina and Naruto's location, while letting its [[Tailed Beast Ball]] detonate away from the village. Soon afterwards, Kushina used her [[chakra chains]] to subdue Kurama, planning to seal it back inside her before she dies. However, Minato, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host and a threat the masked man still was to the village, came up with a different plan to give Konoha the means to combat him if he should ever attack the village again.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 503, pages 13-19</ref>
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While Kurama was rampaging in the village, Minato fought against Tobi and soon managed to place a [[Contract Seal]] on him, which freed the fox from his control. Despite that, Kurama still harboured resentment against Konoha for sealing it away and continued decimating the [[shinobi]] forces that tried to repel it. As it prepared a [[Tailed Beast Ball]], Minato [[Summoning: Food Cart Destroyer Technique|summoned]] [[Gamabunta]] on top of the fox, and quickly teleported it to Kushina and Naruto's location, letting its Tailed Beast Ball detonate away from the village. Already dying from the extraction, Kushina used her remaining strength to [[Adamantine Sealing Chains|restrain]] Kurama, planning to seal the fox back inside her so it would die with her. However, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host and how great a threat Tobi was, Minato instead came up with a plan to give his son the means to combat the masked man in the future.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 503</ref>
   
[[File:Kurama's initial cage.png|thumb|Kurama within Naruto.]]
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[[File:Nine-Tails ep.png|thumb|left|Yang-Kurama, moments after being sealed within Naruto.]]
Since Minato himself couldn't fully seal Kurama as it was, he used the [[Dead Demon Consuming Seal]] to seal its [[Yin]] chakra within the death god and then prepared the [[Eight Trigrams Seal]] to imprison the fox, along with its [[Yang]] chakra, within Naruto.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 370, pages 11-12</ref> Kurama realised Minato's intention and attempted to stop the process by killing Naruto while Kushina was weakened, but both the parents sacrificed themselves to protect their newborn child and completed the sealing, with Kurama cursing the pair during its last moments of freedom.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 504, pages 5-9</ref>
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Because Kurama's chakra was too immense to be sealed within an infant, Minato first used the [[Dead Demon Consuming Seal]] to separate and seal its [[Yin]] half within himself, and then prepared the [[Eight Trigrams Seal]] to imprison the [[Yang]] half within Naruto.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 370, pages 11-12</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 642, page 17</ref> Realising what they were planning, Kurama attempted to kill Naruto, but both of the parents used themselves as shields and completed the sealing.<ref name="ch504">''Naruto'' chapter 504</ref> Later, upon awakening within Naruto's subconscious and learning the reason behind Minato's intention, Yang-Kurama, though frustrated of being sealed again, decided to wait for the time to come when it would influence Naruto as much as it can to use its power to break the seal.<ref name="NS327">''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 327</ref> Throughout the years, Kurama weakened the seal through the cracks of its formation by constantly leaking out small portions of its chakra, which had positive side-effects on Naruto such as amplifying his naturally large chakra reserves and healing ability, being able to heal from minor wounds within seconds to major injuries within a day.
   
In the anime, it was revealed that Kurama had left behind large amounts of its chakra during the attack. [[Kazuma]] collected and sealed the chakra within his own son, [[Sora]], hoping to make use of its [[Sora's Jinchūriki Forms|power]] for his own agenda.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 68</ref>
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In the anime, it was revealed that Kurama had left behind large amounts of its chakra during the attack. [[Kazuma]], a former member of the [[Twelve Guardian Ninja]], collected and sealed the chakra within his son, [[Sora]], hoping to make use of its power for his own agenda.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 68</ref>
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== Personality ==
 
== Personality ==
Kurama is a cynical and shrewd individual, along with a somewhat twisted sense of humour. It uses {{translation|'washi'|ワシ}} when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. Kurama also has remarkable leadership skills, being able to stay completely composed even when being overwhelmed by the Ten-Tails and effectively tell its new team-mates on how best to handle the mighty tailed beast. Kurama is also shown to be very prideful as when Kakashi told the fox it was acting like a captain, Kurama immediately replied if he had any problems with that.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 610, pages 9-10</ref> In a flashback, it is revealed that Kurama cares greatly about the [[Sage of the Six Paths]], viewing him with great respect for the way he treated the tailed beasts and even shed tears after the Sage had imparted his final words to them.<ref name="ch572"/> However, this sentiment was not extended to its brethren, as [[Gyūki]] mentioned that they, especially [[Shukaku]], really disliked Kurama for its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 567, page 10</ref> Kurama even told Naruto that he should be ashamed for having Gyūki help him in their battle over its chakra.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 1</ref>
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Kurama was characterised as a snarky and shrewd individual. It used {{translation|"washi"|ワシ}} when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. Kurama expressed great pride in its power, believing itself to be the strongest of the tailed beasts due to its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails, which earned Kurama nothing but disapproval from its brethren, especially [[Shukaku]].<ref name="ch567">''Naruto'' chapter 567, page 10</ref> The fox would also react out of jealousy whenever Naruto was not using its power.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 645, page 5</ref> Conversely, Kurama openly acknowledged the fact that it alone doesn't stand a chance against the Ten-Tails,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, page 10</ref> and from its past experience with Madara, knew full well he was not an opponent to be underestimated, even when he was seemingly pushed into a corner.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 659, page 5</ref> Kurama held great respect to [[Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki]], as it was shown during the tailed beasts' youth that the fox shed tears after the Sage had imparted his final words to them.<ref name="ch572" /> Kurama's manner of speech was often harsh, but deep down it had a supportive disposition, as the fox expressed concern about its allies,<ref>''Naruto'' chapters 610-611</ref> and gave some words of encouragement to [[Kawaki]].<ref>''Boruto'' chapter 35, pages 7-8</ref>
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[[File:Naruto and Kurama fist bump.png|thumb|The change in dynamics between Naruto and Kurama.]]
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Centuries of receiving humanity's negative treatment caused Kurama to develop intense hostility and distrust against them, even going as far as proclaiming itself to be the living embodiment of hatred.<ref name="ch539">''Naruto'' chapter 539, page 2</ref> Ever since its sealing within Naruto, Kurama plotted to use his dependence on its power to break free from the seal. Eventually, after Naruto managed to best Kurama in combat,<ref>''Naruto'' chapters 496-499</ref> the young shinobi then told the fox that he hoped to resolve its hatred someday.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 539, pages 1-4</ref> Despite audibly reproaching him for making such a claim, Kurama nevertheless had developed a level of respect for Naruto and his determination, even noting that he was different from the humans it had previously encountered, therefore allowing its jinchūriki to utilise the [[Nine-Tails Chakra Mode]] without consequence during the early stages of the [[Fourth Shinobi World War]]. Later on, as Naruto told [[Son Gokū]] of his desire to save the tailed beasts and become friends with Kurama,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 568, pages 15-17</ref> the fox — having witnessed all of the hardships and deeds Naruto had in his life — stood by to see if he could truly aid its brethren through his actions.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 569, pages 12-17</ref> When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū from Obito's control, Kurama finally became convinced of Naruto's word and offered to meld its chakra with his as a coalition, to which Naruto then removed the [[Torii Seal|seal]] that restrained it and happily acknowledged the fox as his teammate and a member of Konoha.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 570, page 15</ref>
   
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Ultimately, Kurama formed a strong bond with Naruto; the fox would proudly declare itself as his friend and able to laugh with the boy, and admit that it had the utmost faith in Naruto's ability to carry on the legacy Minato and [[Jiraiya]] had left him, therefore abandoning its grudge against Minato for sealing it.<ref name="ch597">''Naruto'' chapter 597, pages 18-20</ref> The two expressed trust in one another that Naruto would even allow Kurama to [[Tailed Beast Control|take control]] of his body and switch back without conflict.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, pages 4-5, 12</ref> After [[Neji Hyūga]] died in Naruto's arms, causing the latter's spirit to become shaken and doubtful, Kurama fiercely reaffirmed Neji's sacrifice, reminding Naruto of his parents's similar sacrifices for him, and how they shouldn't be in vain.<ref name="ch615">''Naruto'' chapter 615</ref> It was later shown that despite its Yang half being freed from its seal in Naruto, the fox willingly complied to Hagoromo's request for it to return to Naruto. Over time, it came to care for Naruto's family, finding them entertaining to be around.<ref>''Boruto'' episode 126</ref> Its concern for Naruto was even shown when revealing the [[Baryon Mode]],<ref name="BC52">''Boruto'' chapter 52</ref> hiding the great risk of its own life if Naruto used the power because Kurama knew that he would oppose using the power if he knew the truth, showing that it would even go as far to sacrifice itself for him.<ref name="BC55">''Boruto'' chapter 55</ref> In addition, thanks to its exploits during [[Fourth Shinobi World War]] and working alongside with Naruto, Kurama's peaceful existence expanded to the [[Five Great Shinobi Countries]], as it would talk directly to the other [[Kage]] and assist over important matters.<ref>''Boruto'' chapter 35, page 2</ref>
Kurama had once expressed intense hatred and distrust against humans, mainly due to its long history of both its forced subjugation to the Sharingan and being sealed within the Uzumaki jinchūriki.<ref name="ch568">''Naruto'' chapter 568, page 8</ref> Because of that, both Kurama and Naruto initially had a very antagonistic relationship throughout most of the series, with Naruto trying to harness the fox's power to perform techniques that would normally be impossible for a ninja of his age, and Kurama seizing any kind of opportunity to gain control over Naruto, provoking his rage and thus allowing its influence within its chakra to consume him.
 
   
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Kurama also had a comical side of itself; the fox brazenly teased Naruto about his first kiss with Sasuke,<ref name="ch572" /> argued with him about each other's stubbornness,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 645, pages 3-6</ref> and nervously lashed out at a joyful Naruto after the tailed beasts were freed from [[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki]] while flipping him off.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 691, page 6</ref> In the anime, Kurama came to fear [[Himawari]] after being incapacitated by a [[Gentle Fist]] attack used by her during an incident where Naruto had to shield [[Boruto]] from Himawari, who attacked him in anger for damaging her plushy.<ref name="Hokage OVA">''[[The Day Naruto Became Hokage (OVA)]]''</ref>
[[File:Naruto and Kurama.png|thumb|left|The change in dynamics between Naruto and Kurama.]]
 
However, their relationship soon began to change during the [[Fourth Shinobi World War]], when Naruto himself told Kurama that he hoped to resolve its hatred someday.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 539, pages 1-4</ref> Despite the fox reproaching him for making such a claim, it nevertheless showed Kurama that Naruto was different from the humans it had previously encountered, eventually allowing him to utilise the [[Nine-Tails Chakra Mode]] without it consuming any more of his chakra. Later, as Naruto told [[Son Gokū]] of his desire to save the tailed beasts and become friends with Kurama,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 568, pages 15-17</ref> the fox — having witnessed all of the challenges and endeavours Naruto had in his life — silently told the young man that if he truly intended to help them, he would have to prove it through his actions.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 569, pages 12-17</ref> When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū from Obito's control, Kurama finally became convinced of Naruto's word and offered to meld its chakra with his as a coalition, to which Naruto then removed the [[Torii Seal|seal]] that restrained it and happily acknowledged the fox as his team-mate from Konoha.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 570, page 15</ref> Within that short space of time, the two had begun to express trust in one another, even to the point where Naruto would allow Kurama to take control of his body without worry, and switch back without hesitation.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, pages 4-5, 12</ref> Kurama later admitted that it had the utmost faith in Naruto being able to defeat Obito and to carry on the legacy Minato and Jiraiya had left him, which also means that it no longer holds a grudge against Minato for sealing it inside of Naruto.<ref name="ch597">''Naruto'' chapter 597, pages 17-19</ref> Kurama is also shown to be more caring about its comrades now as it put itself in harms way to save B and Gyūki.
 
   
 
== Appearance ==
 
== Appearance ==
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<gallery type="slideshow" widths="210" orientation="landscape" position="left" spacing="small" hideaddbutton="true">
[[File:Kid Kyuubi.png|thumb|A young Kurama.]]
 
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Young Kurama.png|A young Kurama.
Although Kurama is a [[Wikipedia:Kitsune|kitsune]] with red-orange fur and red eyes, it possesses the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. During the last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths, Kurama was a young kitsune much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage.<ref name="ch572"/> As time passed, Kurama's size increased to be around the same height, if not taller, as the [[Hokage Monument]]. Later, despite shrinking a lot after having its [[Yin]] chakra sealed, it still remained a massive entity as its claw dwarfed Minato and Kushina. When Naruto separated Kurama from its chakra, its entire physique became visibly emaciated,<ref name="ch499">''Naruto'' chapter 499, pages 11-14</ref> but it later regained its healthy look after consuming a certain amount of Naruto's chakra while he was using its own.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 538, page 2</ref>
 
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YinYangKurama.png|Yin and Yang-Kurama.
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Naruto and Minato TBM.png|Minato and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode.
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</gallery>
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Kurama was a red-orange coloured [[wikipedia:kitsune|kitsune]] with black fur around its red eyes that stretch up to its ears, and nine long swiping tails. It also had an upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. During the last remaining days of Hagoromo, Kurama in its youth was much smaller in size, yet still towering over an adult, with leaner and softer while less-defined in shape with a rounder face, akin to a fox cub.<ref name="ch572" />
   
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Over time, Kurama's size grew to roughly equaling the [[Hokage Rock]], and [[Gamabunta]] being only the size of Kurama's torso. Its pupil alone was bigger than a tall human.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 620, page 14</ref> When Minato separated Kurama's [[Yin]] chakra and [[Yang]] chakra, it was split into two entities, both of which were shrunken more than half its original size, yet still roughly the size of other massive tailed beasts.<ref name="ch504" /><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 610, page 5</ref> While the two were basically identical to the other, Yang-Kurama retained its original colouring while Yin-Kurama was darker coloured.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 643, pages 1-2</ref><ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 380</ref>
After having its cage opened by Naruto — who had assumed a new form — this is also reflected on Kurama, when Naruto transforms into it. In this form, the fox's whiskers become much thicker, and circular markings appear on its shoulders, stomach, as well as the front and back of its paws. Lines also run down its spine, arms, legs and tails.<ref name="ch571">''Naruto'' chapter 571</ref> Its size was comparable to that of the other tailed beasts, standing a little taller than [[Gyūki]] when standing alongside it.
 
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While manifesting its [[Nine-Tails Chakra Mode]], the fox's entire body took on a transparent golden colour, its whiskers were much thicker, and black circular markings appeared on its shoulders, stomach, as well as the front and back of its paws. Black lines also ran the length of its spine, arms, legs and tails. Additionally, while Naruto is in [[Sage Mode]], Kurama gained similar thick dark patches circling around its eyes.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 645, page 7</ref> Upon gaining Naruto's [[Chakra|Six Paths Chakra]], Kurama's [[Tailed Beast Mode]] avatar grew to tremendous proportions, roughly the same size as [[Sasuke Uchiha]]'s Six Paths Chakra-enhanced Complete Body — [[Susanoo]], with its tails becoming bushier.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 695</ref>
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After both halves of Kurama were reunited, the fox grew even larger than ever before, to the point it was towering over a stump of a [[God Tree]].
   
 
== Abilities ==
 
== Abilities ==
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{{See also|Jinchūriki Forms|Nine-Tails Chakra Mode|Baryon Mode}}
Being the strongest of the nine [[tailed beasts]], it is said that Kurama can create [[Wikipedia:Tsunami|tsunamis]] and flatten mountains with just a single swipe from one of its tails.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 1, page 1</ref> With its massive supply of [[chakra]], it can turn its roar into a [[Tailed Beast Shockwave|powerful shockwave]] that can repel and destroy anything within its radius, increase its physical strength and speed, and fire [[Tailed Beast Ball]]s. Kurama also has the ability to [[Negative Emotions Sensing|sense negative emotions]],<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 496, page 10</ref> to which Naruto also gained after gaining control of its chakra.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 505, pages 9-10</ref> In the anime, it was shown to be able to create [[Nine-Tails Twister|twisters]] and breathe [[Nine-Tails Fire Breath|fire]].<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 167</ref>
 
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[[File:Kurama's power.png|thumb|Kurama's destructive power.]]
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Kurama was widely known as the strongest of the nine tailed beasts.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 471, page 11</ref><ref name="ch567" /> Hashirama Senju, who could [[Wood Release|subdue]] the fox, viewed it as too powerful and dangerous to be left roaming free.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 568, page 8</ref> Even with only half its power, Kurama remained strong enough to defeat five other tailed beasts at the same time.<ref name="ch571">''Naruto'' chapter 571</ref> After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kurama's full power was restored once its two halves reunited inside Naruto, allowing it to defeat [[Hamura Ōtsutsuki Golem|Toneri's giant golem]]<ref name="TheLast">''The Last: Naruto the Movie''</ref> and [[Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki]]'s elemental construct.<ref>''Boruto: Naruto the Movie''</ref> The [[Baryon Mode|absolute peak]] of its power allowed it to even decisively overwhelm [[Isshiki Ōtsutsuki]]. Kurama later became able to manifest itself outside of Naruto, allowing the two to fight independently and away from each other.
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=== Chakra and Physical Prowess ===
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[[File:Naruto powered the Alliance up.png|left|thumb|Kurama's chakra is enough to power up an entire shinobi army.]]
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Kurama possessed vast and powerful [[chakra]], the most of the nine tailed beasts alongside [[Gyūki]],<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, page 10</ref> and was required to be sealed last into the [[Demonic Statue of the Outer Path]] to avoid overloading it.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 353, page 5</ref> It could also accumulate a huge amount of chakra shortly after it has used up most of its own, enough to be [[Chakra Transfer Technique|passed on]] to the entire [[Allied Shinobi Forces]] and be felt countries away by non-sensors.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 616, pages 4-6</ref> Due to Naruto's compatibility with Kurama's chakra, any chakra it possessed is limited for its jinchūriki alone, unless it was moulded to fit the recipient's unique chakra signature.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 698, page 3</ref>
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When used by others, the chakra became dense enough to be seen as a visible shroud than can further protect the wearer. Using its chakra, Kurama could shroud itself within its [[Nine-Tails Chakra Mode]] to increase its power. As a last-ditch ability, Kurama could enter [[Baryon Mode]]. In this state, similar to [[wikipedia:Nuclear fusion|nuclear fusion]], Kurama's chakra was consumed as raw materials to produce a new type of energy. When in use, it dramatically boosted Kurama's reflexes, raw might, and chakra to extreme levels. Because all chakra is connected, the same power that is produced from bits of their lives also works to reduce the lifespan of opponents on contact. Due to its extreme energy consumption, Kurama must remain focused and not waste energy of extraneous thoughts and actions, to maximise the amount of time Baryon Mode can be maintained.<ref name="BC52" />
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  +
Kurama had a great deal of brute force, reputedly able to raise [[wikipedia:tsunami|tsunami]]s and flatten mountains with just a single swipe of a tail.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 1, page 1</ref> Even with half its strength, it could overpower Obito's controlled tailed beasts,<ref name="ch571" /> smash Madara's [[senjutsu]]-enhanced [[Susanoo]] with a tail,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 658, page 11</ref> and with the Six Paths Chakra, battle Sasuke's Tailed Beast-enhanced Complete Body — Susanoo.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 695</ref> Kurama was deceptively quite fast, able to track Naruto in Sage Mode.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, pages 6-7</ref> The fox was also durable enough to withstand [[Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres|several senjutsu-enhanced attacks]],<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 499, pages 7-8</ref> and block a Tailed Beast Ball from the [[Ten-Tails]]' initial form.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 610, page 14</ref>
   
  +
=== Ninjutsu ===
[[File:Kurama forming Bijuudama.png|thumb|left|Even with its chakra taken, Kurama creates a Tailed Beast Ball many times its own size.]]
 
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[[File:Kurama forming Bijuudama.png|thumb|Kurama supercharges a Tailed Beast Ball even on low chakra.]]
Despite [[Dead Demon Consuming Seal|losing]] its [[Yin]] chakra, Kurama was more than powerful enough to overwhelm [[Gyūki]]'s attempts to restrain it (although [[Killer B]] stated that he didn't have full access to his own powers within Naruto's subconscious),<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 496, pages 15-16</ref> effortlessly block Naruto's [[Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan]] with its tails,<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 6</ref> and — with Gyūki's assistance — fight and defeat five tailed beasts.<ref name="ch571"/> Naruto also noted that it was extremely fast despite its massive size.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 7</ref> In addition, it was shown that even when most of its chakra was taken by Naruto during their battle in his subconscious, Kurama still had enough to create a Tailed Beast Ball as big and powerful as that of a combined ball of five tailed beasts.<ref name="ch499"/><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 571, page 12</ref> Despite being the strongest of the nine tailed beasts, Kurama acknowledges the fact that it alone wouldn't stand a chance against the Ten-Tails.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 594, page 10</ref>
 
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As a tailed beast, Kurama could create a [[Tailed Beast Ball]], and was able to fire it as a beam or [[Continuous Tailed Beast Balls|rapid blast of spheres]]. Unlike most tailed beasts, Kurama could supercharge it, creating one many times its own size for much greater power, even on wisps of chakra. One of these was powerful enough to counter a collaborated Tailed Beast Ball from five tailed beasts.<ref name="ch571" /><ref name="ch572" /> At full power, Kurama's Tailed Beast Ball could blast Toneri's giant golem through the [[moon]] and into orbit.<ref name="TheLast" />
   
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[[File:Kurama Accumulating Energy.png|left|thumb|Kurama accumulating natural energy.]]
Kurama is shown to be extremely durable, and can only be stunned by attacks that deal with massive physical impacts (such as Naruto's [[senjutsu]]-enhanced [[Wind Release: Rasenshuriken]] and [[Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres]]).<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, pages 10-12</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 499, pages 8-10</ref> Kurama is also very clever, which though was normally put to conniving use in the past, it showed itself to be a master tactician, both of which it was able to put to good use on the battlefield during the [[Fourth Shinobi World War]].<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 609, pages 9-14</ref> Kurama can "''die''" with its jinchūriki, if it is still sealed within them at the time of its host's death, but the fox itself will be revived later.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 503, pages 14, 17</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 541, page 10</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 543, page 9</ref>
 
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Kurama could unleash [[Great Roar|destructive roars]], capable of dispersing a [[Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan#Senjutsu Influence|massive Rasengan]], knocking back five tailed beasts at once, and destroying entire city blocks as shown when he used it against Konoha.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 5</ref><ref name="ch571" /> Even when limited through Naruto's Version 1 and 2 states, they were strong enough to destroy an entire bridge and repel Pain's [[Shinra Tensei]] respectively.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 292, pages 9-11</ref><ref>''Naruto'' chapter 438, pages 5-6</ref> Kurama also had adept [[sensor]] skills, able to detect chakra from great distances and uniquely able to [[Negative Emotions Sensing|sense negative emotions]],<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 496, page 10</ref> as well as [[natural energy]], which it could accumulate and transfer to Naruto to create [[senjutsu]] chakra.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 696, page 14</ref> In the anime, it is shown using [[Wind Release|Wind]] and [[Fire Release]] [[nature transformation]]s, being able to generate [[Nine-Tails Twister|twisters]] and breathe fire.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 167</ref>
   
=== Activity inside Naruto ===
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=== Intelligence ===
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Kurama was very cunning and could formulate strategies in the midst of battle. Through Naruto's body, the fox tricked Obito into using [[Kamui]] to absorb Kakashi into [[Kamui's dimension]], only for Obito to become vulnerable to Kakashi's attacks as he phased through Naruto's punch.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 609, pages 9-14</ref> Kurama had also shown remarkable leadership skills, being able to calmly and effectively instruct its allies on how best to engage the Ten-Tails.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 610, pages 9-10</ref> In the anime, it had enough knowledge of [[fūinjutsu]] to determine the natures and weaknesses of the [[Eight Trigrams Seal]] that bound it inside Naruto.<ref name="NS327" /> In addition, Kurama had an advanced understanding of nuclear physics, particularly the nuclear fusion that occurs within the Sun.<ref name="BC52" />
{{Main|Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms}}
 
As Kurama's [[jinchūriki]], Naruto is gifted with its enormous supply of chakra, to which [[Kakashi Hatake]] estimated it to be a hundred times greater than his own when its influence is not suppressed.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 315, page 11</ref> It also gives Naruto accelerated healing (recovering from minor injuries within seconds and major injuries within a day). Also, depending on the amount of Kurama's chakra he's using, Naruto is given an increase in strength, speed, and his healing factor are pushed to such levels that he completely recovered from a [[Chidori]] through his chest in mere seconds with no signs of injury left. At times, he is also granted a fox-shaped chakra shroud with massive invulnerability, being able to resist being pierced by [[Orochimaru]]'s [[Sword of Kusanagi (Orochimaru)|Sword of Kusanagi]], a sword known as being able to cut through [[Transformation: Adamantine Staff|adamantine]], and is completely undamaged by the [[Leech Gap|alkali substance]] excreted by [[Saiken]], which was able to damage [[Gyūki]] and disintegrate its surroundings rapidly.
 
   
 
== Part I ==
 
== Part I ==
=== Land of Waves Arc ===
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=== Prologue — Land of Waves ===
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{{main|Prologue — Land of Waves}}
Naruto first made use of the Nine-Tails' chakra during his battle with [[Haku]]. Believing Haku to have killed [[Sasuke]], Naruto gave into his anger and entered his [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Initial Jinchūriki Form|initial jinchūriki form]] in order to defeat Haku.
 
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[[File:Naruto's 1st use of 9 Tails.png|thumb|Naruto's first use of the Nine-Tails' chakra.]]
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Naruto first made use of the Nine-Tails' chakra during his battle with [[Haku]]. Believing Haku to have killed [[Sasuke]], Naruto gave into his anger and entered his [[initial jinchūriki form]] in order to defeat Haku. The Nine-Tails expressed great delight at Naruto finally making use of its power.<ref name="NS327" />
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{{-L}}
   
=== Chūnin Exam Arc ===
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=== Chūnin Exams ===
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{{main|Chūnin Exams (Arc)|l1=Chūnin Exams}}
During the Second Stage of the the [[Chūnin Exams]], the Nine-Tails' chakra emerged again while Naruto battled with a disguised [[Orochimaru]] in the [[Forest of Death]]. Although Naruto's strength abilities increased, Orochimaru recognised the Nine-Tails' power, and countered it with the [[Five Elements Seal]]. The seal blocked Naruto's access to the fox's chakra and rendered him unconscious.
 
  +
During the Second Stage of the [[Chūnin Exams]], the Nine-Tails' chakra emerged again while Naruto battled with a disguised [[Orochimaru]] in the [[Forest of Death]]. Although Naruto's strength abilities increased, Orochimaru recognised the Nine-Tails' power, and countered it with the [[Five Elements Seal]]. The seal blocked Naruto's access to the fox's chakra and rendered him unconscious.
   
[[File:Trappedfox.jpg|thumb|Naruto's first encounter with the Nine-Tails.]]
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[[File:Naruto meets Kurama.png|thumb|left|The Nine-Tails meets Naruto.]]
[[Jiraiya]], who removed Orochimaru's seal, later explained to Naruto that he possessed two types of chakra. Naruto didn't realise that he was talking about the Nine-Tails until he was taught to take advantage of it. In order to induce Naruto to use the fox's chakra, Jiraiya pushed Naruto off a cliff. In a desperate act to save his own life, Naruto entered his subconscious and met with the Nine-Tails for the first time. The fox expressed immediate desire to kill and devour the boy, but Naruto, even though he knew the power of what he faced, bravely demanded he be given chakra as a form of "rent" for living in his body. Realising that Naruto's death would result in its own, the intrigued Nine-Tails complied, giving Naruto enough chakra to summon [[Gamabunta]].
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[[Jiraiya]], who the Nine-Tails quickly recognised as the Fourth Hokage's teacher,<ref name="NS327" /> later appeared and [[Five Elements Unseal|removed]] Orochimaru's seal. Jiraiya explained to Naruto that he possessed two types of chakra. Naruto didn't realise that he was talking about the Nine-Tails until he was taught to take advantage of it. In order to induce Naruto to use the fox's chakra, Jiraiya pushed him off a cliff. In a desperate act to save his own life, Naruto entered his subconscious and met with the Nine-Tails for the first time. Although the Nine-Tails initially terrified its jinchūriki by revealing its strong desire to kill and devour him, Naruto boldly demanded the fox to give him its chakra as a form of "rent money" for living in his body. Realising that his death would result in its own, the Nine-Tails complied, giving Naruto enough chakra to summon [[Gamabunta]]. Delighted that Naruto finally became consciously aware of its presence, the Nine-Tails became convinced that it could influence Naruto even more to use its power.<ref name="NS327" />
   
The Nine-Tails kept quiet until Naruto faced [[Neji Hyūga]] in the first match of the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams. After Neji used his [[Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]] technique to block Naruto's [[chakra points]], Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for assistance. Without hesitating, it gave Naruto enough chakra to force his chakra points open and defeat Neji.
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The Nine-Tails kept quiet until Naruto faced [[Neji Hyūga]] in the first match of the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams. After Neji used his [[Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms]] technique to block Naruto's [[chakra points]], Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for assistance. Without hesitating, it gave its jinchūriki enough chakra to force his chakra points open and defeat Neji.
   
=== Invasion of Konoha Arc ===
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=== Konoha Crush ===
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{{main|Konoha Crush (Arc)|l1=Konoha Crush}}
During [[Sunagakure]] and [[Otogakure]]'s [[Invasion of Konoha]], Naruto and Gamabunta both did a [[Combination Transformation]] technique to take the form of a giant fox (the Nine-Tails itself in the anime), to battle against [[Gaara]] in his [[Gaara's Jinchūriki Forms#Full Shukaku Form|full Shukaku form]]. As the battle was near to its conclusion, Naruto once again called upon the Nine-Tails for chakra in order to defeat Gaara, and it complied again without hesitation.
 
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During the climax of Naruto's fight against [[Gaara]], the Nine-Tails gave some of its chakra to Naruto, leading to him defeating Shukaku's jinchūriki.
   
=== Search for Tsunade Arc ===
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=== Search for Tsunade ===
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{{main|Search for Tsunade}}
 
While on his search for [[Tsunade]] with Jiraiya, Naruto was confronted by [[Itachi Uchiha]] and [[Kisame Hoshigaki]] of [[Akatsuki]]. Naruto tried to use the Nine-Tails' chakra to help him fight against them, but Kisame quickly used his [[Samehada]] sword to absorb it all and attempted to cut off Naruto's arms. Luckily, Jiraiya arrived in time to block Kisame's attack with his [[Gama|toad summon]] and was able to force both Akatsuki members to retreat.
 
While on his search for [[Tsunade]] with Jiraiya, Naruto was confronted by [[Itachi Uchiha]] and [[Kisame Hoshigaki]] of [[Akatsuki]]. Naruto tried to use the Nine-Tails' chakra to help him fight against them, but Kisame quickly used his [[Samehada]] sword to absorb it all and attempted to cut off Naruto's arms. Luckily, Jiraiya arrived in time to block Kisame's attack with his [[Gama|toad summon]] and was able to force both Akatsuki members to retreat.
   
Later, before Naruto defeated [[Kabuto Yakushi]] with a completed [[Rasengan]], Kabuto [[Chakra Scalpel|severed]] Naruto's heart muscles, and his neighbouring [[Chakra Pathway System|chakra system]], to which the Nine-Tails was unable to heal its host. While Tsunade desperately tried to save Naruto, the Nine-Tails noticed that its power was fading as its surroundings grew darker and darker. It, like Naruto, had a [[Wikipedia:Near death experience|near death experience]], something it was slow to recognise. Fortunately, Naruto and the Nine-Tails were able to survive this encounter through the help of Tsunade and her [[medical ninjutsu]].
+
Later, before Naruto defeated [[Kabuto Yakushi]] with a completed [[Rasengan]], Kabuto [[Chakra Scalpel|severed]] Naruto's heart muscles, and his neighbouring [[Chakra Pathway System|chakra system]], to which the Nine-Tails was unable to heal its host. While Tsunade desperately tried to save Naruto, the Nine-Tails noticed that its power was fading as its surroundings grew darker and darker. It, like Naruto, had a [[wikipedia:near-death experience|near-death experience]], something it was slow to recognise. Fortunately, Naruto and the Nine-Tails were able to survive this encounter through the help of Tsunade and her [[medical ninjutsu]].
   
=== Sasuke Retrieval Arc ===
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=== Sasuke Recovery Mission ===
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{{main|Sasuke Recovery Mission}}
[[File:Kurama image anime.png|thumb|left|The image of the Nine-Tails appears before Sasuke.]]
 
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[[File:Kurama empowers Naruto.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails' chakra manifests as an image of itself.]]
During the first stage of Naruto's battle with Sasuke at the [[Valley of the End]], Sasuke, in his first level of the [[Cursed Seal of Heaven]], pierced a fatal wound in Naruto's right shoulder with his [[Chidori]]. Fortunately, the Nine-Tails quickly gave Naruto enough chakra to heal his large wound almost instantly and entered his initial jinchūriki form. However, as the fight continued, Sasuke was able to predict and overcome Naruto's attacks with his then fully matured Sharingan. The Nine-Tails condemned the unconscious Naruto for being too weak and gave him more of its usual chakra to attain the [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 1|one-tailed form]], something the fox indicated that he should be grateful for.
 
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During the first stage of Naruto's battle with Sasuke at the [[Valley of the End]], Sasuke, in his first level of the [[Cursed Seal of Heaven]], pierced a fatal wound in Naruto's right shoulder with his [[Chidori]]. Fortunately, the Nine-Tails quickly gave Naruto enough chakra to heal his large wound almost instantly and entered his initial jinchūriki form. With this Naruto was able to overwhelm Sasuke with his immense speed; however, as the fight continued, Sasuke was able to predict and overcome Naruto's attacks with his then fully matured Sharingan. The Nine-Tails berated the unconscious Naruto for being too weak and gave him more of its usual chakra to attain the [[Version 1|one-tailed form]], something the fox indicated that he should be grateful for.
 
{{-}}
 
{{-}}
   
=== Land of the Sea Arc ===
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=== Kaima Capture Mission ===
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{{Main|Kaima Capture Mission}}
In the anime, Naruto fought against [[Amachi]] in the [[Land of the Sea]] after he discovered that the scientist became a monster by utilising the same research he used on [[Isaribi]]. Naruto was overwhelmed by Amachi's power at first, but as his desire to keep Isaribi from becoming a monster grew, the Nine-Tails immediately gave Naruto enough chakra to enter his initial jinchūriki form, and he quickly defeated Amachi.
 
  +
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== Interlude ==
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During Naruto's three-year training under Jiraiya, the Sannin began training Naruto to gain better control of the Nine-Tails' chakra, soon helping Naruto to master wielding the chakra cloak up to two tails. Feeling he was ready to take it to the next level, Jiraiya had [[Gerotora]] tweak the seal enough for additional chakra to be unleashed. However, the Nine-Tails took advantage of this and began mocking Naruto for his failure to save Sasuke, able to use Naruto's negative emotions to overwhelm him with additional chakra. This ultimately caused Naruto to slip into a four-tailed [[Version 2]] state, which allowed the Nine-Tails to go on a rampage in Naruto's body. Jiraiya was narrowly able to reseal the fox's chakra, to which his passive methods of saving Naruto led to Jiraiya being severely injured.<ref>''Naruto: Shippūden'' episode 409</ref>
   
 
== Part II ==
 
== Part II ==
=== Kazekage Rescue Arc ===
+
=== Kazekage Rescue Mission ===
  +
{{main|Kazekage Rescue Mission}}
During the conclusion of his battle against the [[Akatsuki]] member [[Deidara]], which turned out to be a [[clay clone]], Naruto slipped into his [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 1|two-tailed form]] out of anger about [[Gaara]]'s death. Immediately, Kakashi placed [[Jiraiya]]'s [[Chakra-Suppressing Seal|special seal tag]] on Naruto's forehead, restoring him back to normal.
 
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During the conclusion of his battle against the [[Akatsuki]] member [[Deidara]], which turned out to be a [[clay clone]], Naruto slipped into his [[Version 1|two-tailed form]] out of anger about [[Gaara]]'s death. Immediately, Kakashi placed Jiraiya's [[Chakra-Suppressing Seal|special seal tag]] on Naruto's forehead, restoring him back to normal.
   
=== Sasuke and Sai Arc ===
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=== Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission ===
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{{main|Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission}}
When his [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 1|three-tailed form]] was proven insufficient in his fight against [[Orochimaru]], Naruto gave into the Nine-Tails and entered his [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 2|four-tailed form]]. The Nine-Tails took control of his senses and began to attack everything that was around him, including both Orochimaru and [[Sakura Haruno]]. After its influence was suppressed by [[Yamato]], he told Naruto that he was the cause of Sakura's injury, which greatly shocked Naruto and resolved not to rely on the Nine-Tails' power again.
 
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At the [[Tenchi Bridge]], where [[Team Yamato]] was facing [[Orochimaru]] and [[Kabuto]], Naruto, enraged by Orochimaru's remark about Sasuke, attacked him in his three-tailed form. Naruto's rage intensified to the point where he gave into the Nine-Tails' influence, destroying the Tenchi Bridge and advancing into his [[Version 2|four-tailed form]] while fighting Orochimaru. Unable to tell friend from foe, Naruto attacked anyone around him, including [[Sakura]]. After Yamato managed to [[Hokage-Style Sixty-Year-Old Technique — Kakuan Entering Society with Bliss-Bringing Hands|suppress]] the Nine-Tails' chakra, he later revealed to Naruto that he was the one responsible for Sakura's injury, which greatly horrified Naruto and resolved to never rely on the Nine-Tails' power again.
   
[[File:Kyūbi inside Naruto.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails tempting Naruto.]]
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[[File:Nine-Tails tempts Naruto.png|thumb|left|The Nine-Tails tempts Naruto.]]
Soon afterwards, when Naruto encountered [[Sasuke]] again for the first time in almost three years, the Nine-Tails began to offer Naruto its chakra, but he firmly rejected its assistance. The fox became contemptuous at Naruto, mocking him that if it wasn't for its power, he would be nothing. It then tempted Naruto to break the seal so it can "grant" him all of its power, but he still refused. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, Sasuke, with his active [[Sharingan]], suddenly appeared within Naruto's subconscious, which surprised both Naruto and the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails became impressed with Sasuke's growth and ability, but as it stated that Sasuke's chakra was similar to [[Madara Uchiha]], Sasuke effortlessly suppressed the fox's residual chakra with his Sharingan. Although angrily shocked by the display of his power, the Nine-Tails concluded that this might be its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warned him not to kill Naruto, because he would only end up regretting it.
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Soon afterwards, when Naruto encountered [[Sasuke]] again for the first time in almost three years, the Nine-Tails began to tempt Naruto to release the seal. Naruto firmly refused, but the Nine-Tails scoffed, cruelly remarking that he had always come to it in times of need and he was nothing without its power. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, both Naruto and the Nine-Tails were shocked to see Sasuke appearing in Naruto's subconscious with his [[Sharingan]]. When the fox noted of his similarity to [[Madara Uchiha]] in terms of visual prowess and chakra, Sasuke effortlessly suppressed the fox. Although angrily shocked by the display of his power, the Nine-Tails warned Sasuke not to kill Naruto, stating he would only regret it.
   
=== Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc ===
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=== Twelve Guardian Ninja ===
{{Main|Twelve Guardian Ninja Arc}}
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{{Main|Twelve Guardian Ninja (Arc)|l1=Twelve Guardian Ninja}}
In the anime, the Nine-Tails reacted to its leftover chakra that was stored within [[Sora]]. When Naruto in his three-tailed form battled Sora in his [[Sora's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 2|four-tailed form]], the Nine-Tails started to force Naruto to accept its power, but he was able to keep it from taking control of his body as he threatened the fox to back off. The Nine-Tails begrudgingly pulled back, but it soon managed to absorb back all of its chakra from Sora.
 
   
=== Hidan and Kakuzu Arc ===
+
=== Akatsuki Suppression Mission ===
  +
{{main|Akatsuki Suppression Mission}}
During Naruto's [[nature transformation]] training, the Nine-Tails' chakra was surfacing within some of his [[Shadow Clone Technique|shadow clones]] that had grown very frustrated with combining the [[Rasengan]] with his [[Wind Release|wind element]]. Fortunately, Yamato was able to suppress the chakra before it could cause serious damage.
 
  +
During Naruto's [[nature transformation]] training, the Nine-Tails' chakra began to surface within some of his [[shadow clones]] that had grown very frustrated with combining the [[Rasengan]] with his [[Wind Release|wind element]]. Yamato was able to [[Wood Release: Foo Dog Heads|suppress]] the chakra before it could do serious damage.
   
=== Invasion of Pain Arc ===
+
=== Pain's Assault ===
  +
{{main|Pain's Assault (Arc)|l1=Pain's Assault}}
 
During Naruto's training at [[Mount Myōboku]], the Nine-Tails prevented [[Fukasaku]] from [[Sage Art: Amphibian Technique|fusing]] with Naruto, making it impossible for him to mould [[senjutsu]] chakra for Naruto.
 
During Naruto's training at [[Mount Myōboku]], the Nine-Tails prevented [[Fukasaku]] from [[Sage Art: Amphibian Technique|fusing]] with Naruto, making it impossible for him to mould [[senjutsu]] chakra for Naruto.
   
[[File:8 tails.PNG|thumb|left|Naruto's eight-tailed form breaks through Pain's Chibaku Tensei.]]
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[[File:8 tails.PNG|thumb|Naruto's eight-tailed form breaks through Pain's Chibaku Tensei.]]
Later, during Naruto's battle with [[Pain]], he slipped into his [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Version 2|six-tailed form]] right after Pain appeared to have killed [[Hinata Hyūga]]. Despite the [[First Hokage's Necklace|necklace]]'s attempts to [[Necklace Sealing Technique|suppress]] it, the Nine-Tails quickly seized the necklace and crushed it. When Naruto was soon contained by Pain's [[Chibaku Tensei]] technique, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms#Partial Transformation|eight-tailed form]] was released. Before it could convince him to completely remove the seal, the spirit of Minato appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him. Enraged, the Nine-Tails tried to dare Minato to come closer so it could rip him to shreds, but Minato simply ignored it and restored the seal to its original strength.
+
Later, during Naruto's battle with [[Pain]], he slipped into his six-tailed form right after Pain appeared to have killed [[Hinata Hyūga]]. Despite the [[First Hokage's Necklace|necklace]]'s attempts to [[Tailed Beast Sealing|suppress]] it, the Nine-Tails quickly seized the necklace and crushed it. When Naruto was soon contained by Pain's [[Chibaku Tensei]] technique, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the [[Jinchūriki Forms#Partial Transformation|eight-tailed form]] was released. Before it could convince him to completely remove the seal, the spirit of Minato appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him. Enraged, the Nine-Tails tried to dare Minato to come closer so it could rip him to shreds, but Minato simply ignored it and restored the seal to its original strength.
   
  +
During Naruto's conversation with [[Nagato]], the Nine-Tails became angry with Nagato's words and its chakra began to leak out while Naruto was in Sage Mode, allowing the two forms to synchronise.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 645, page 4</ref>
=== Chikara Arc ===
 
{{main|Chikara Arc}}
 
In the anime, as [[Kabuto Yakushi]] implanted by accident a swarm of his [[Clone Snakes|special snakes]] into Naruto during his mission at [[The Hole]], the Nine-Tails' attempt to purge the foreign entities only added its chakra into the material they were recreating. When the snakes were vomited out and formed into a [[Nine-Tailed Naruto Clone|Naruto clone]], the Nine-Tails willingly allowed him to siphon its chakra from Naruto's body to increase his power. Later, while Naruto was held within [[Tonika Village]]'s underground hall, the Nine-Tails attempted to control the youth before [[Dokku]]'s interference snapped Naruto to his senses.
 
   
=== Confining the Jinchūriki Arc ===
+
=== Power ===
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{{Main|Power (Arc)|l1=Power}}
When Naruto was summoned back to Mount Myōboku, the [[Great Toad Sage]] gave Naruto [[Gerotora]], along with the key to the seal. From this, Naruto was on a task to find a way to control the Nine-Tails' power, in order to fight a fated battle with Sasuke.
 
   
  +
=== Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown ===
[[File:Cho-odama.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails vs. Naruto.]]
 
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{{main|Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown}}
Later, at a [[Island Turtle|remote island]] in the [[Land of Lightning]], after Naruto completed the first step at the [[Falls of Truth]], [[Killer B]] then lead Naruto to a special room within the [[Tailed Beast Temple|secret temple]] behind the waterfall, where Naruto would fight the Nine-Tails. When Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within him, and questioned Naruto about where the "[[Naruto Uzumaki#Dark Naruto|real him]]" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it. After Naruto used the key to completely unlock the seal, the Nine-Tails pushed the cage's doors and fired a [[Tailed Beast Ball]] at him, but Killer B used the remaining bit of the [[Eight-Tails]] power to contain the attack. While in [[Sage Mode]], Naruto was able to weaken the Nine-Tails with the [[Wind Release: Rasenshuriken]] and started to drain out its chakra. However, the Nine-Tails planted its hatred within its drained chakra, and it suddenly began to consume Naruto, making him lose the control and forcing him out of Sage Mode. Just before Naruto was completely succumbed, his mother [[Kushina Uzumaki]] appeared, halted his transformation, and used her [[chakra chains]] to subdue the Nine-Tails, to which the fox reacted in anger and shock when it recognised her chakra.
 
  +
When Naruto was summoned back to Mount Myōboku, the [[Great Toad Sage]] gave Naruto [[Gerotora]], along with the key to the seal. From this, Naruto was on a task to find a way to [[Tailed Beast Control|control]] the Nine-Tails' power, in order to fight a fated battle with Sasuke.
   
[[File:Torii seal closed.png|thumb|left|Naruto reseals the Nine-Tails.]]
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[[File:Cho-odama.png|thumb|left|The Nine-Tails fighting Naruto.]]
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Later, at a [[Genbu|remote island]] in the [[Land of Lightning]], after Naruto completed the first step at the [[Falls of Truth]], [[Killer B]] then led Naruto to a special room within the [[Tailed Beast Temple|secret temple]] behind the waterfall, to prepare Naruto in fighting the Nine-Tails. When Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within him, and questioned Naruto about where the "real him" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it. After Naruto used the key to unlock the seal, the Nine-Tails pushed the cage's doors and fired a [[Tailed Beast Ball]] at him, but Killer B used the remaining bit of the [[Eight-Tails]]' power to contain the attack. While in [[Sage Mode]], Naruto was able to weaken the Nine-Tails with the [[Rasenshuriken]] and started to drain out its chakra. However, the Nine-Tails planted its hatred within its drained chakra, and it suddenly began to consume Naruto, making him lose the control and forcing him out of Sage Mode. Just before Naruto completely succumbed, the chakra imprint of his mother [[Kushina Uzumaki]] appeared, halted his transformation, and used her [[Adamantine Sealing Chains]] to subdue the Nine-Tails, to which the fox reacted in anger and shock when it recognised her chakra.
After being comforted by Kushina, Naruto's positive emotions depleted the Nine-Tails' hatred within its drained chakra, and he made a large number of shadow clones, forming multiple Rasengan as they charged at the Nine-Tails. After the Nine-Tails broke most of the chakra chains, Kushina immediately used the last chain that was attached on the fox's leg to make it trip, giving Naruto's shadow clones enough time to enter Sage Mode and bombard it with the [[Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres]]. As the Nine-Tails was pushed back from the impact, one of Naruto's shadow clones immediately used the Rasenshuriken to weaken the Nine-Tails further and completely separate it from its chakra. When the chakra merged with Naruto, the enraged the Nine-Tails attempted to fire a much larger Tailed Beast Ball, but its attack was ultimately dissipated as Naruto used a [[Torii Seal|new, stronger seal]] to imprison the fox once again. As the Nine-Tails disappeared into the darkness, it told Naruto that it would never forget this defeat.
 
   
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[[File:Kurama Sealed.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails resealed by Naruto.]]
=== Shinobi World War Arc ===
 
  +
After being comforted by Kushina, Naruto's positive emotions purged the Nine-Tails' hatred within its drained chakra. With Kushina holding the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto quickly made a large number of shadow clones, entered Sage Mode, and bombarded the Nine-Tails with his [[Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres|onslaught of Rasengan]]. Immediately followed by the Rasenshuriken, Naruto was able to separate an extensive portion of chakra from the Nine-Tails, leaving the fox in an emaciated state. As its chakra merged into Naruto, the Nine-Tails became so furious that it brashly attempted to fire a massive Tailed Beast Ball at him, but Naruto cancelled its attack by using a [[Torii Seal|new, stronger seal]] to imprison the fox once again. In its moment alone, the Nine-Tails, in great frustration and disbelief of its defeat, frantically began to ponder just what was Naruto.<ref name="NS327" />
While Naruto and [[Killer B]] continued their way to the battlefield, the Nine-Tails pulled its [[jinchūriki]] into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra. Calling Naruto naive for thinking he could stop the war and bear the hatred by himself, the Nine-Tails tried once again to tempt him with power, but to no avail, earning Naruto some recognition. After the Nine-Tails reminded Naruto about the day he met Sasuke and how he was consumed by hate even then, it claimed that the boy's attempt to put an end to hatred is futile. In retaliation, Naruto pinned the fox down with a [[Torii Seal|torii]] while exclaiming with great confidence that he already planned on how to stop both Sasuke and the war. As the Nine-Tails recalled Naruto's growth, it then condescendingly complimented him for finally learning how to stand up for himself before being unnerved by the boy's promise to someday resolve the fox's own malice.
 
   
  +
=== Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation ===
[[File:Kyubi helps Naruto.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails chooses to help Naruto.]]
 
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{{main|Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation}}
Later, after the [[Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation|reincarnated]] [[Madara Uchiha]] was fighting against one of Naruto's shadow clones and the [[Fourth Division]], he attempted to summon the Nine-Tails. Even though the summoning failed, the fox angrily recognised Madara's chakra calling for it and resolved to lend Naruto its chakra. Naruto at first thought that it was going to attempt to take over his body like it used to, but the Nine-Tails explained that it would rather help Naruto than be manipulated by Madara again. The Nine-Tails then spurred Naruto on as he [[Big Ball Spiralling Serial Zone Spheres|countered]] the Uchiha's [[Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees|attack]].
 
  +
During Naruto's training to control the Nine-Tails' chakra, the fox had been consuming a certain amount of Naruto's chakra while he was using its own, which recovered it from its emaciated state.
   
  +
[[File:Naruto in Kyubi's eye.png|thumb|left|Naruto states his resolve to the Nine-Tails.]]
As Killer B and the real Naruto were fighting against [[Tobi]] and the reincarnated [[jinchūriki]], the Nine-Tails proceeded to feign sleep while it purposely stopped consuming Naruto's chakra, deciding to let the young man fight on his own against the [[Four-Tails]]. The Eight-Tails tried to convince the Nine-Tails to continue its much needed support, but the fox replied that it would not cooperate with its jinchūriki as easily as the Eight-Tails does. As the Nine-Tails remembered the words that [[Madara]], [[Hashirama]], [[Mito]], and [[Kushina]] had said to it in the past, the fox concluded that no matter how the humans said it, it would always come down to the same thing, with the exception of Naruto, a thought which silenced it. The Nine-Tails quietly watched on as Naruto was speaking with Son Gokū, only expressing annoyance when its name was revealed to Naruto.
 
  +
Later, as Naruto and [[Killer B]] continued their way toward the battlefield, the Nine-Tails pulled its [[jinchūriki]] into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra and calling him naive for thinking he could stop the war by himself. After failing to tempt him with power, the Nine-Tails tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him that shouldering all the hatred was futile, using his failure to save Sasuke from revenge as proof. In retaliation, Naruto [[Torii Seal|pinned]] the fox down, refuting with brimming confidence that regardless of the odds, he would still find a way to do something about Sasuke and end the war. Recalling its jinchūriki's growth, the Nine-Tails condescendingly complimented Naruto for finally learning how to stand up for himself, before being unnerved by his promise to someday resolve the fox's hatred.
   
  +
=== Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax ===
[[File:Naruto Kurama.png|thumb|left|Kurama and Naruto team up.]]
 
  +
{{main|Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax}}
While thinking back on the events in Naruto's life and watching the proceeds, Kurama silently noted that Naruto of all people should know that no matter what he said to the tailed beasts, his true intentions would only reach them through his own actions. After Naruto successfully removed Tobi's control over Son Gokū, Kurama silently celebrated the small victory and offered to lend him more of its chakra. Before accepting however, Naruto thanked Kurama for its help during his encounter with Madara, to which the fox rebuffed him before offering to meld their chakra together. Accepting this proposal, Naruto opened the [[Torii Seal|seal's gate]] that held Kurama back and acknowledged it as his team-mate from Konoha. As a result, Kurama enabled Naruto to enter a [[Tailed Beast Mode|new form]], in order to stop the other tailed beasts that were bearing down on [[Might Guy]] and Kakashi.
 
  +
[[File:Kurama helps Naruto.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails chooses to help Naruto.]]
  +
Later, as one of Naruto's shadow clones was fighting alongside the [[Fourth Division]], the [[Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation|reincarnated]] [[Madara Uchiha]] attempted to summon the Nine-Tails. Even though the summoning failed, the fox expressed its anger as it recognised his chakra calling for it. Having no desire to be manipulated by Madara again, as well as dismissing Naruto's suspicions of its usual attempts of taking over his body, the Nine-Tails willingly lent the shadow clone enough chakra to [[Big Ball Spiralling Serial Zone Spheres|counter]] the Uchiha's [[Wood Release Secret Technique: Nativity of a World of Trees|massive Wood Release onslaught]].
   
  +
At the time of Killer B and the real Naruto's battle against [[Tobi]] and the reincarnated [[jinchūriki]], the Nine-Tails had purposely stopped consuming Naruto's chakra, deciding to let its jinchūriki fight on his own. As the impartial Nine-Tails refused to listen to the Eight-Tails' request for its aid, the fox vividly remembered its past encounters with [[Madara]], [[Hashirama]], [[Mito]], and [[Kushina]]. From those experiences, the Nine-Tails concluded that no matter what words humans use, they always mean the same thing, with the exception of Naruto, a thought which silenced it. The Nine-Tails quietly watched on as Naruto was speaking with the imprisoned Four-Tails, [[Son Gokū]], only expressing annoyance when the fox's name was revealed to him.
[[File:Naruto transforms into Kurama.png|thumb|Kurama and Naruto vs. the other tailed beasts.]]
 
  +
However, as this was their first time transforming into this mode, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes. They first started by grabbing [[Chōmei]] in mid-flight to pile-drive it into [[Isobu]], but it rolled out of the way to counterattack after [[Saiken]] quickly swallowed Kurama's hand prior to Gyūki joining the fray. When [[Matatabi]] attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, they fiercely swung Saiken right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative [[Tailed Beast Ball]], Naruto and Kurama performed one of their own and cancelled the attack. Right after that, Naruto entered a deeper level of Kurama's subconscious, where he meets the other five tailed beasts and their jinchūriki, to which Kurama explained that this was somewhere not even [[Tobi]] could enter. As it remembered the [[Sage of the Six Paths]], Kurama asked its brethren if they too believed that Naruto was the one the Sage had spoken of so long ago, to which they agreed before being resealed into the [[Demonic Statue of the Outer Path]].
 
  +
[[File:Kurama teams up.png|thumb|left|Kurama and Naruto join forces.]]
  +
While thinking back on the events in Naruto's life and watching the proceeds, Kurama silently noted that Naruto of all people should know that no matter what he says to the tailed beasts, his true intentions would only reach them through his actions. After Naruto successfully removed Tobi's control over Son Gokū, Kurama silently celebrated the small victory and offered to lend him more of its chakra. Before accepting however, Naruto thanked Kurama for its help during his encounter with Madara, to which the flustered fox rebuffed him before offering to meld their chakra together. Naruto opened the [[Torii Seal|seal's gate]] and acknowledged Kurama as his teammate from Konoha. As a result, Kurama enabled Naruto to enter a [[Tailed Beast Mode|new form]], in order to stop the other tailed beasts that were bearing down on [[Might Guy]] and Kakashi.
  +
  +
[[File:Naruto's TBM.png|thumb|Kurama and Naruto fighting the five tailed beasts.]]
  +
However, as this was their first time transforming into this mode, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes. They first started by grabbing [[Chōmei]] in mid-flight to pile-drive it into [[Isobu]], but it rolled out of the way to counter-attack after [[Saiken]] quickly swallowed Kurama's hand prior to Gyūki joining the fray. When [[Matatabi]] attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, they fiercely swung Saiken right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative [[Tailed Beast Ball]], Naruto and Kurama performed one of their own and cancelled the attack. Right after that, Naruto entered a deeper level of Kurama's subconscious, where he meets the other five tailed beasts and their respective jinchūriki, to which Kurama explained that this was somewhere not even [[Tobi]] could enter. As it remembered the [[Sage of the Six Paths]], Kurama asked its brethren if they too believed that Naruto was the one the Sage had spoken of so long ago, to which they agreed before being resealed into the [[Demonic Statue of the Outer Path]].
   
 
While they were fighting against the Demonic Statue, Tobi summoned both the [[Benihisago]] and the [[Kohaku no Jōhei]] which contained the reincarnated [[Gold and Silver Brothers]], who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra. Right after the masked man made the giant statue devour them, Kurama, who had sensed its own chakra signature within those two items, requested Naruto to switch with it so it could explain the situation to the others, as well as about the Ten-Tails and what its revival would mean. Kurama also echoed Kakashi's words that something needed to be done before the Ten-Tails' revival was completed, afterwhich, on Naruto's request, Kurama switched back with him. Kurama was later seen smiling when Naruto opposed Tobi's ideals and told him that he was who he was today because he had heroes to look up to and to show him the way. After a brief fight, Tobi tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him what would Jiraiya and Minato say if he ended up neglecting the legacy they left him. Kurama, recalling what Minato said to Naruto during his battle with Nagato, requested Naruto to switch again and directly told Tobi that Naruto would never follow his ideals and that Minato sealed it into Naruto so that he could defeat Tobi. After melding their chakra together once more, Naruto entered his Tailed Beast Mode and Naruto began his assault on Tobi after being assured by Kurama that he would not fail.
 
While they were fighting against the Demonic Statue, Tobi summoned both the [[Benihisago]] and the [[Kohaku no Jōhei]] which contained the reincarnated [[Gold and Silver Brothers]], who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra. Right after the masked man made the giant statue devour them, Kurama, who had sensed its own chakra signature within those two items, requested Naruto to switch with it so it could explain the situation to the others, as well as about the Ten-Tails and what its revival would mean. Kurama also echoed Kakashi's words that something needed to be done before the Ten-Tails' revival was completed, afterwhich, on Naruto's request, Kurama switched back with him. Kurama was later seen smiling when Naruto opposed Tobi's ideals and told him that he was who he was today because he had heroes to look up to and to show him the way. After a brief fight, Tobi tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him what would Jiraiya and Minato say if he ended up neglecting the legacy they left him. Kurama, recalling what Minato said to Naruto during his battle with Nagato, requested Naruto to switch again and directly told Tobi that Naruto would never follow his ideals and that Minato sealed it into Naruto so that he could defeat Tobi. After melding their chakra together once more, Naruto entered his Tailed Beast Mode and Naruto began his assault on Tobi after being assured by Kurama that he would not fail.
   
[[File:Naruto battling madara's dragon.png|thumb|left|Kurama and Naruto battle against Madara's wooden dragon.]]
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[[File:Naruto vs. Madara's dragon.png|thumb|left|Kurama and Naruto battle against Madara's wooden dragon.]]
As the battle raged on with Madara suddenly entering the fray, the reincarnated Uchiha summoned Hashirama's [[Wood Dragon|giant wooden dragon]] in order to restrain Naruto. While Naruto instantly manifested Kurama's body to fight against it, the wooden dragon eventually managed to bind Naruto and started draining Kurama's chakra, forcing his tailed beast form to falter. However, Naruto was able to quickly escape from its coils before it could absorb any more of Kurama's chakra and created a shadow clone to protect Kakashi from Obito. When Kurama noticed that Kakashi was low on chakra, it told Naruto to switch places with it, and, through Naruto's body, tossed Kakashi at Obito, who used [[Kamui]] to absorb him into the [[other dimension]]. Despite Naruto initially berating it for what it did, Kurama assured him that he could now fight without worry. Naruto attacked Obito again and phased through him, but surprisingly Obito coughed up blood. Kurama revealed that it [[Chakra Transfer Technique|transferred]] some of its chakra to Kakashi, allowing him to attack Obito in the other world and come back to the real world with Kamui. Elsewhere, the original Naruto entered the full Tailed Beast Mode to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki and fired it at the Demonic Statue. This was all done in vain however, as after the resulting explosion, the Ten-Tails had been revived.
+
As the battle raged on with Madara suddenly entering the fray, the reincarnated Uchiha summoned Hashirama's [[Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique|giant wooden dragon]] in order to restrain Naruto. While Naruto instantly manifested Kurama's body to fight against it, the wooden dragon eventually managed to bind Naruto and started draining Kurama's chakra, forcing his tailed beast form to falter. However, Naruto was able to quickly escape from its coils before it could absorb any more of Kurama's chakra and created a shadow clone to protect Kakashi from Obito. When Kurama noticed that Kakashi was low on chakra, it told Naruto to switch places with it, and, through Naruto's body, tossed Kakashi at Obito, who used [[Kamui]] to absorb him into [[Kamui's dimension]]. Despite Naruto initially berating it for what it did, Kurama assured him that he could now fight without worry. Naruto attacked Obito again and phased through him, but surprisingly Obito coughed up blood. Kurama revealed that it [[Chakra Transfer Technique|transferred]] some of its chakra to Kakashi, allowing him to attack Obito in the other world and come back to the real world with Kamui. Meanwhile, the original Naruto entered the full Tailed Beast Mode to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki and fired it at the Demonic Statue. This was all done in vain however, as after the resulting explosion, the Ten-Tails had been revived.
   
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[[File:Kurama&Gyuki vs. Jubi.png|thumb|Kurama and Gyūki during their battle against the Ten-Tails.]]
While Naruto noted that he could not sense anything from it, Kurama explained that the Ten-Tails was void of thought and feelings, and was more akin to a natural force of energy. As Kurama began restoring Kakashi and Guy's respective chakra, the Ten-Tails attacked, quickly overwhelming it and Gyūki before they could finish devising a strategy. Kurama and Gyūki then quickly fired a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls at the Ten-Tails, who easily deflected them with a single blast of its own. Kurama and Naruto were able to withstand the attack (losing six of its tails in exchange) and threw Kakashi and Naruto's Sage Mode shadow clone above the Ten-Tails, where Kakashi teleported Gyūki who prepared to launch a Tailed Beast Ball from the beast's blind-spot. After the Ten-Tails flicked the attack right back at Gyūki, Kurama was able to rescue Gyūki and Killer B before the Tailed Beast Mode was deactivated. With this, Kurama noted to Naruto that it needed time to generate more chakra.
 
  +
Naruto and the others quickly regroup while Kurama restored Kakashi and Guy's respective chakra, but the Ten-Tails, under the control of Obito and Madara, quickly overwhelmed them before they could finish devising a strategy. Kurama and Gyūki then fired a [[Continuous Tailed Beast Balls|barrage of Tailed Beast Balls]] at the Ten-Tails, who easily deflected them with a single blast of its own. Kurama and Naruto were able to withstand the attack (losing six of its tails in exchange) and threw Kakashi and Naruto's Sage Mode shadow clone above the Ten-Tails, where Kakashi teleported Gyūki who prepared to launch a Tailed Beast Ball from the beast's blind-spot. However, the Ten-Tails simply flicked the attack back at Gyūki, leaving Naruto's shadow clone, and Kakashi open for an attack. Kurama and Naruto were able to rescue Kakashi, Gyūki, and B before the Tailed Beast Mode was deactivated, which Kurama noted to Naruto that it needed time to generate more chakra.
   
Later echoing [[Hinata Hyūga]]'s sentiments that Naruto's life was not his own, the fox reminded him that it was also here and that his parents had also died in a similar manner to protect him. After the words finally get through to the young man, Naruto once again entered [[Tailed Beast Mode]], and with Kurama's instruction, created shadow clones to distribute its chakra to the other remaining shinobi to help empower their respective abilities.
+
Later echoing Hinata's sentiments that Naruto's life was not his own, the fox reminded him that it was also here and that his parents had also died in a similar manner to protect him. After the words finally get through to the young shinobi, Naruto once again entered [[Tailed Beast Mode]], and with Kurama's instruction, created shadow clones to distribute its chakra to the other remaining shinobi to help empower their respective abilities. Kurama then silently praised Naruto's ability to distribute his chakra to others despite how different they were, the fox noted that Naruto had surpassed his [[Minato Namikaze|father]] and [[Kushina Uzumaki|mother]]. Continuing their attack on the Ten-Tails, Kurama warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was continuing to mature and to be careful about micro-managing all of the chakra he had given his allies, as it was exhausting him. Kurama also warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was preparing its devastating attack, the [[Tenpenchii]]. After the attack injured Naruto and drained him all of Kurama's chakra, the fox proceeded to gather more chakra to prepare for another assault. After the reincarnated Hokage's arrival, Kurama was suddenly startled by Minato's use of its chakra. Naruto boasted about Minato's ability with the fox's chakra, only for Kurama to point out it already knew about Minato's skill, given he was the one to use such a complex technique to seal it into Naruto. Later, when Naruto's mantle disappeared and the young shinobi requested the fox to supply him with more chakra, Kurama advised him that he should stay in his normal form a bit longer if he wanted to enter Tailed Beast Mode.
   
  +
=== Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki ===
== Movies ==
 
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{{main|Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki}}
=== Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow ===
 
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[[File:Minato and Naruto bump fists.png|thumb|left|Kurama's two halves join forces with their jinchūriki.]]
{{Main|Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow}}
 
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Meanwhile, as their battle strategy unfolded, Kurama's Yin half within Minato noted that Naruto's actions and speech about his father was touching enough to move this half of it. Yin-Kurama also told Minato to disregard Obito's words as he was not responsible for any of those tragedies and that instead of leaving his son to do it, he should also act. Later, when Naruto and Minato bumped fists, Yin and Yang-Kurama came in contact with each other, with Yang-Kurama greeting its other half casually and asking it to share its chakra, which led Yin-Kurama to note that asking itself for chakra was an odd situation. Nonetheless, when the father-son duo prepared to deal with Obito, the two halves of Kurama also bumped fists as they prepared to initiate their strategy. As their chakra begin to meld, the two halves conversed about Minato and Naruto, leading Yin-Kurama to comment that Naruto must have had some upbringing to treat a tailed beast as a comrade.
During the fight between Naruto and [[Dotō Kazahana]], he managed to knock Naruto, who was at the disadvantage due to having the Chakra Negator on him, though the ice of the lake they were standing on, causing him to sink beneath the waters. However, as Naruto called upon Kurama for its chakra, which helped break the Chakra Negator, it allowed him to recover quickly and summon his shadow clones to overwhelm Dotō.
 
   
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[[File:TBM Rasengan.png|thumb|Kurama and its team attack Obito.]]
=== Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel ===
 
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As Naruto donned the Tailed Beast Mode shroud and prepared to attack Obito, only to be reminded that only senjutsu-based attacks would work, Yang-Kurama reminded Naruto of the time during [[Pain]]'s invasion that the two modes had been combined and noted that while had resented Naruto's use of another power instead of its own, it would allow him to use Sage Mode while also using its own power. Yin-Kurama advised Minato to follow suit so that he could provide powerful support for his son. With this, both shinobi, shrouded in Kurama's form, created a giant, senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan and were teleported to Obito's location by Tobirama. However, the Uchiha anticipated the attack and was able to deflect it. Reassessing their strategy to destroy the mysterious black substance, Naruto and Minato formed a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, but Obito quickly created a full-blown replica of the Ten-Tails' tree form, and its roots started chasing and absorbing chakra from anyone in its path. As the [[Allied Shinobi Forces]] began to despair, Naruto, through [[Ino Yamanaka]]'s [[Mind Body Transmission Technique|telepathy]], conveyed his memories and feelings to them, restoring their resolve to fight.
{{Main|Naruto the Movie 2: Legend of the Stone of Gelel}}
 
   
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[[File:Susanoo K11.png|thumb|left|Kurama enveloped by Sasuke's Susanoo.]]
=== Naruto the Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom ===
 
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After Yin-Kurama transferred the majority of its chakra to its Yang half, Naruto joined Sasuke in their team assault against Obito. With a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, as well as Sasuke firing a senjutsu-enhanced arrow with his [[Susanoo Bow]], they cracked the sphere Obito had wrapped around himself as he pushed forward. The battle continued, resulting in Sasuke's Susanoo and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode form being destroyed. However, Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet again, their resolves untouched, and Sasuke then manifested his final Susanoo to [[Majestic Attire: Susanoo|encase]] Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Using the telepathic link, Naruto called for his comrades who rallied to his side all donning Tailed Beast Mode mantles as they entered Kurama's tails. Using the Rasengan Naruto had created, they all attacked and broke through Obito's shield, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to deliver a devastating blow against Obito and forcing out the chakra of all the tailed beasts. Through the combined effort of the Allied Shinobi Forces, all of the sealed tailed beasts were extracted from Obito's body, reducing the Ten-Tails within him back to its [[Demonic Statue of the Outer Path|empty shell]]. As Naruto and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces went to aid Hashirama against Madara, Yin-Kurama explained to Minato who was tending the defeated Obito that he was not in mortal danger from the extraction as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was still filled with great amounts of life energy, but rendered immobilised for a while.
{{Main|Naruto the Movie 3: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom}}
 
   
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[[File:Kurama extracted from Naruto.png|thumb|Yang-Kurama extracted from Naruto.]]
=== Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds ===
 
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Naruto and Yang-Kurama re-entered Tailed Beast Mode to join the other tailed beasts in assaulting Madara, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to [[Limbo: Border Jail|repel]] the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then proceeded to [[Demonic Statue Chains|chain]] them up and prepared to remove Yang-Kurama and Gyūki from their jinchūriki. As Naruto failed to cancel the Tailed Beast Mode, Yang-Kurama, realising its extraction was imminent, [[Tailed Beast Telepathy|contacted]] Gaara to transfer its Yin half from Minato to save Naruto, wishing him luck before it was extracted and sealed within the statue along with the other tailed beasts.
{{Main|Naruto Shippūden 2: Bonds}}
 
   
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Unfortunately, Black [[Zetsu]] put himself between Naruto and Minato just as the latter was transferring Yin-Kurama, becoming its jinchūriki in the process. As Madara, now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, arrived, Black Zetsu attempted to return to the Uchiha with his left Rinnegan eye and Yin-Kurama, only for Obito to overpower Black Zetsu and maintain their merger. Having decided to help the Allied Forces stop Madara, Obito worked with Kakashi to teleport Naruto to Kamui's dimension, and soon joined him. Once there, Obito proceeded to transfer Yin-Kurama into Naruto.
=== Naruto 6: Road to Ninja ===
 
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{{Main|Naruto 6: Road to Ninja}}
 
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[[File:Tailed Beast Reunion.png|thumb|left|Yin-Kurama alongside the other tailed beasts reunite with Hagoromo and Naruto.]]
In the [[Genjutsu World|alternate world]] that Naruto and Sakura ended up in, Kurama has a counterpart called "Dark Kurama", who is sealed within the body of Naruto's alternate self, [[Menma (movie)|Menma]]. Other than giving its jinchūriki similar benefits like its counterpart does for Naruto, Menma can use the dark fox's chakra to create constructs that wear masks like his own.
 
  +
Within Naruto's subconscious, as he spoke to the spirit of Hagoromo, Yin-Kurama along with the chakra portions of the other tailed beasts, including Gyūki and Shukaku, which Obito stole from Madara and also sealed inside Naruto, manifested to join the meeting. They voiced their continued trust in the Sage and their belief that Naruto is the child of prophecy. Later, after Naruto returned to the battlefield, Madara managed to regain both his eyes. He then proceeded to perform the [[Chibaku Tensei]] to set up for the [[Infinite Tsukuyomi]]. Yin-Kurama then lent Naruto chakra for him to use [[Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken]] against the Chibaku Tensei satellites.
{{-}}
 
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=== Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes ===
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{{main|Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes}}
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Later, Madara's ambitions were cut short by Black Zetsu, who revealed itself to be in fact the manifestation of [[Kaguya Ōtsutsuki]]'s will. It then used Madara's body as a medium to resurrect its true creator. After Kaguya managed to trap Sasuke in a separate dimension, Yin-Kurama granted Naruto more chakra, letting him create a [[Naruto Region Combo|massive army of shadow clones]].
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[[File:Tailed Beast separate from Kaguya.png|thumb|The tailed beasts being freed from the Ten-Tails.]]
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Yin-Kurama, alongside the chakra portions of its brethren, helped Naruto create an onslaught of [[Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken|Rasenshuriken]] that dealt a significant blow against Kaguya. After reacting to the chakra, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts within Kaguya tried to escape but caused Kaguya to morph into a rabbit form with a gigantic blob of the tailed beasts. After Kaguya was touched by Naruto and Sasuke's seals, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts were extracted from Kaguya as she was [[Chibaku Tensei|sealed away]]. After escaping, [[Son Gokū]] praised Naruto's efforts, causing Yang-Kurama to grin. The tailed beasts then ran away from the new moon and joined the rest of [[Team Kakashi|Team 7]]. When Naruto joined them, he and Sakura were both shocked by the fact that they couldn't escape the dimension, causing Son to state that Naruto was still a bit dumb, making Yang-Kurama grunt. However, Hagoromo, who [[Outer Path|called upon the souls]] of all of the previous Kage, performed a massive [[summoning]] alongside the reincarnated Hokage in order to return the tailed beasts, Team 7, and Madara's body back to the real world. Having returned to the real world, Naruto, happy to see Yang-Kurama again, asked if it missed him, which lead the flustered fox to comically deny his claim, much to Son's entertainment.
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  +
After the past Kage return to the afterlife, plans for the future were discussed, to which the tailed beasts expressed their joy at finally being free. As Yang-Kurama was surprised to hear Gyūki's wish to return to B, Hagoromo insisted to the fox to return within Naruto to watch over the young ninja, who has become an important part of the tailed beasts' existence. While Yang-Kurama accepted Hagoromo's request, Sasuke made his own intentions known: removing as many people as possible who could get in the way of his own plans of leading the world through a revolution to do away with current shinobi systems, including killing all the current Kage and tailed beasts. Just as Sasuke swiftly subdued the tailed beasts with his Rinnegan and sealed them within his [[Chibaku Tensei]], Naruto reassured Yang-Kurama that he would save them once again.
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[[File:Susanoo Kurama Fist Bump Color.png|thumb|left|Kurama clashes with Sasuke's Susanoo.]]
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Soon after, Naruto and Sasuke finally have their long-awaited confrontation, ultimately leaving both ninja battered and exhausted. Yin-Kurama attempted to help Naruto by accumulating a little extra chakra for him, but it got absorbed by Sasuke. As it recalled Yang-Kurama's memories on Naruto's determination to save both Sasuke and Kurama, Yin-Kurama applauded Naruto for countering Sasuke's [[Chidori]] and noted that transferring the last of its chakra would put itself to sleep. After the battle, where Sasuke declared Naruto the victor, the two dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Sasuke released the tailed beasts from their prisons. Yang-Kurama would then return to Naruto and merged with its Yin half, finally restored into a complete state.
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== Blank Period ==
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=== The Last: Naruto the Movie ===
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{{Main|The Last: Naruto the Movie}}
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[[File:Kurama Writing Message.png|thumb|Kurama writing on the moon.]]
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When Naruto and [[Hanabi Rescue Team|his team]] saw the [[Hamura Ōtsutsuki Golem|giant golem]] emerging from beneath [[Toneri Ōtsutsuki]]'s castle within the [[moon]], he activated his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and summoned Kurama outside of his body. During their fight, Kurama was initially overwhelmed by its opponent, but eventually the fox was able to blast the golem away into space with a Tailed Beast Ball. Kurama then later wrote the "Mission Complete" symbol on the moon's crater so everyone on Earth knew they succeeded in their mission, but the fox complained to Naruto that its penmanship was terrible.
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=== Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise ===
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{{Main|Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise|Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise (Arc)|l1=Sasuke Shinden (novel)|l2=Sasuke Shinden (anime)}}
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When the [[genjutsu]]-controlled missing shinobi were attacking Konoha, Kurama assisted Naruto by infusing its chakra to his [[Rasengan: Flash]] to repel them.
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== New Era ==
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Years later, on the day that Naruto was to be inaugurated as the Seventh [[Hokage]], Kurama was knocked out along with Naruto when [[Himawari]], having awakened her [[Byakugan]], hit Naruto's tenketsu by accident while aiming at [[Boruto]], due to his role in a tug-of-war that ripped off her stuffed toy.<ref name="Hokage OVA" /> This caused both Naruto and Kurama to develop a strong fear of Himawari, even when she's her usual happy and sweet self.
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=== Sarada Uchiha Arc ===
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{{Main|Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring}}
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When Naruto went to meet with Sasuke about a mysterious young Uchiha, Naruto discovered the said boy attacking [[Sarada Uchiha]] and [[Chōchō Akimichi]]. As Naruto intervened and entered his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Kurama noted its excitement about getting to battle again after so long. However, Kurama's hopes were dashed as the mysterious boy [[Space–Time Ninjutsu|retreated]].
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[[File:Kurama Stares Down.png|thumb|left|Kurama intimidating a Shin clone.]]
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Later, as [[Shin Uchiha (Clones)|the boy]] — along with his [[Shin Uchiha|father]] — battled Naruto and Sasuke, Kurama criticised its jinchūriki for being careless, commenting on how easily he was stabbed by the enemy's [[Object Manipulation Technique|technique]]. Later, during the final battle with Shin, Naruto brought one of Shin's clones into his subconscious with Kurama glaring down at the boy, scaring him and his clones to surrender.
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{{-L}}
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=== Naruto Shinden: Parent and Child Day ===
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{{Main|Naruto Shinden: Parent and Child Day|Parent and Child Day Arc}}
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When the release of a popular but limited edition doll modelled after Kurama came out, Himawari was eager get one for herself. While Naruto decided to help his daughter get one, Kurama was openly unsatisfied at the childish design of its likeness. In addition to Naruto mistaking a Shukaku-doll for it, Kurama's mood turned sour and was unwilling to help Naruto catch a thief who stole a Kurama-doll from him, citing that Naruto wouldn't be a very good father if he couldn't help his daughter using his own power, a sentiment Naruto agreed with.
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  +
Later, a grumpy Kurama responded with a pout when Naruto told Himawari that the Shukaku doll was cuter than a Kurama-doll. When Naruto teased it by calling it by the doll's name, Kurama glared at Naruto to intimidate him and showcase its displeasure.
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=== Versus Momoshiki Arc ===
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{{Main|Boruto: Naruto the Movie|Versus Momoshiki Arc}}
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[[File:Kurama Vs Golem.png|thumb|Kurama fighting Momoshiki's golem.]]
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After they defeated [[Killer B]] and absorbed a lot of [[Gyūki]]'s chakra from him, [[Momoshiki]] and [[Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki]] decided to capture Naruto with the intent of extracting Kurama's chakra for their own use. They soon arrived at the arena where the Chūnin Exams were held and proceeded to attack, creating chaos. As Momoshiki created an amplified [[Tailed Beast Ball]] to obliterate everyone with it, Naruto entered [[Tailed Beast Mode]] in order to stop the attack, and warned Kurama that it better not have gotten out of shape, to which Kurama refuted and declared it was going with all the power it had stored up. Ultimately, though Naruto stopped the attack, he allowed himself to be taken.
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Brought to [[Momoshiki's Planet|another dimension]], Naruto stubbornly resisted Momoshiki's attempt to effectively extract Kurama's chakra from him, as [[Darui|the]] [[Chōjūrō|other]] [[Kurotsuchi|four]] [[Gaara|Kage]], Sasuke, and Naruto's son, [[Boruto]], managed to arrive in the dimension and free him from his bounds. Naruto soon [[Majestic Attire: Susanoo|combined]] his Tailed Beast Mode with Sasuke's [[Susanoo]], gaining the upper hand against the empowered Momoshiki.
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=== One-Tail Escort Arc ===
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{{Main|One-Tail Escort Arc}}
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[[File:Biju Conference.png|thumb|left|Kurama and Naruto, with the other tailed beasts in a meeting.]]
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In the anime, when [[Urashiki Ōtsutsuki]] began targeting Shukaku for its chakra, the tanuki agreed to be temporarily sealed in a small tea kettle and escorted to Konoha. While under Naruto's protection, Kurama, smug as ever towards Shukaku, laughed at how Himawari was treating the tanuki as a pet/toy. Kurama and Naruto later had a [[Tailed Beast Telepathy|telepathic meeting]] with the other tailed beasts, though [[Matatabi]], [[Kokuō]], and [[Chōmei]] decided not to participate, and talked about their protection. Shukaku, vowing to get back at the fox for teasing it, was intrigued to learn that Himawari once knocked out Kurama, and decided to play nice with the young girl in hopes of learning how she did it as a chance to have some mocking rights on the fox. It was later revealed that Kurama was aware of the tanuki's plan.
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After a few days, Kurama and Shukaku bonded over how spending time with Naruto's family drove them crazy, and that they were never boring to be around. As Shukaku figured that Kurama had grown attached to them, the tanuki teased the fox, to which it quickly rebuffed such an accusation.
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=== Time Slip Arc ===
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{{Main|Time Slip Arc}}
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In the anime, [[Urashiki Ōtsutsuki]] decided that the best course of stealing Kurama's chakra was to use [[Karasuki]] to time-travel to the past, and attack Naruto when he was too weak and inexperienced to fight back. He arrived in the time period shortly after Sasuke's defection from Konoha.
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When failing to steal past-Naruto's chakra due to the seal on him, Urashiki entered into Naruto's subconscious to forcibly remove it. Once finding Kurama's domain, the fox demanded to know what his intentions were. Shortly after he replied that he was "taking back" its chakra, the angered Kurama used its power to reject Urashiki from Naruto's subconscious and subsequently burned the intruder's hand. This outburst also forced Naruto to enter his Version 1 state. Ultimately, Jiraiya was forced to use an extra seal to subdue Naruto back into normal.
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=== Kawaki Arc ===
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{{Main|Kawaki Arc}}
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[[File:Kurama & Kawaki.png|thumb|Kurama appearing before Kawaki.]]
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While Naruto was sleeping, Kurama manifested its head from his body to warn [[Kawaki]] against wandering off from Naruto. While shocked, Kawaki remained composed enough for Kurama to explain its role in watching over him, and corrected certain misconceptions Kawaki had about Naruto, explaining the various hardships he had to overcome. Moved by the story, Kawaki wondered if he could become someone like Naruto, to which Kurama believed that it would be all up to him, before directing him to go to sleep.
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[[File:Jigen vs Shinobi.png|thumb|left|Kurama facing Jigen with Naruto and Sasuke.]]
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Later, using the connection between his and Kawaki's [[Kāma]], [[Jigen]] teleported to Naruto's house instantly to bring back Kawaki. When Jigen subdued Naruto with black chakra draining rods, Kurama immediately chastised him for shaming the Hokage title, causing Naruto to playfully retort to the fox as he activated Six Paths Sage Mode. Jigen then soon teleported himself and Naruto to another dimension and attempted to strand him there, but Sasuke arrived and stopped him.
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Despite their best efforts, Kurama, Naruto, and Sasuke were swiftly overwhelmed and subdued by Jigen, who was later revealed to be possessed by [[Isshiki Ōtsutsuki]]. When Isshiki was going to kill Sasuke, Naruto managed to hold Isshiki off with his shadow clones while Sasuke escaped with his [[Rinnegan]]. As Naruto continued to taunt Isshiki, Kurama quickly told him off, stating that from the beginning Isshiki never had any intentions to kill him, but could just easily change his mind and slaughter them both, to which the Ōtsutsuki commended the fox before sealing them away in a giant coffin. The seal was then put under safeguard by [[Boro]].
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Determined to save them, [[Team 7 (Konohamaru)|Team 7]] and Kawaki later used the power of Kawaki and Boruto's Kāma to enter the dimension. While struggling to fight against Boro, Boruto and Kawaki used their Kāma to create a rift in the seal, freeing the unconscious Naruto. After the team defeated Boro and returned to Konoha with Naruto, they were all taken to the hospital for treatment, with Naruto making a swift recovery.
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[[File:Kurama activates Baryon Mode.png|thumb|Kurama preparing to activate Baryon Mode.]]
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Later, after Boruto teleported the [[Kāma|resurrected]] Isshiki and himself to a separate dimension, Kurama, Naruto, and Sasuke managed to join Boruto for their second confrontation against Isshiki. However, the Ōtsutsuki once again proved too powerful as he knocked out Sasuke and blocked Naruto's sensory abilities by manifesting giant black cubes, a fact that Kurama noticed. Seeing how determined Naruto was to stop Isshiki, even if it cost him his own life, Kurama suggested using a last resort while [[wikipedia:Ambiguity#Lexical ambiguity|misleading him into thinking it would result in his death]]. Naruto agreed to it, declaring that the moment he decided to become Hokage, he knew the risks and was prepared to die. Naruto took on a new form of [[Baryon Mode]].
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Kurama explained to Naruto that the form is like nuclear fusion, consuming all their respective energy and that he must be careful not to make any unnecessary movements or thoughts. The new form baffled everyone with its sheer power. Naruto quickly began overwhelming Isshiki. Soon after, the strain of Baryon Mode began catching up as Naruto began to tire. Kurama noted this form gradually drains all life-forces, including Naruto's. However, it would also drain Isshiki's with each contact, meaning they just had to keep pressuring Isshiki until his already diminished lifespan ran out.
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[[File:Kurama's Life Fades Away.png|thumb|left|Kurama's life fades away after a final conversation with Naruto.]]
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After Isshiki's defeat, Kurama spoke with Naruto inside his subconscious for a final conversation as Baryon Mode proved too much to handle. In the manga, Naruto told the kitsune that he had no ill will to Kurama despite killing his parents. In the anime, they reminisce about their history together as Naruto prepared to die. However, Kurama revealed that Naruto would be fine, as it was Kurama's life that was gambled from using Baryon Mode. Kurama revealed the double meaning behind its earlier words and Naruto interpreted it as Baryon Mode resulting in his death rather than Kurama's. Before Kurama's life finally faded away, it warned Naruto that he would lose all access to Kurama's chakra and abilities, meaning he would have to be more careful from now on.
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== In Other Media ==
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=== Movies ===
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==== Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow ====
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{{main|Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow}}
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During the fight between Naruto and [[Dotō Kazahana]], he managed to knock Naruto, who was at the disadvantage due to having the Chakra Negator on him, through the ice of the lake they were standing on, causing him to sink beneath the waters. However, as Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for its chakra, which helped break the Chakra Negator, it allowed him to recover quickly and summon his shadow clones to overwhelm Dotō.
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==== Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom ====
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{{main|Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom}}
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During an attempt to escape the [[Land of the Moon]], [[Wandering Ninja Clan|the three ninja]] hired by [[Shabadaba]] attacked, disabling Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and [[Lee]] with [[Odourless Poison Mist|poison mists]] that slowed their reactions. The prince [[Michiru Tsuki]] was captured, but the emergence of the Nine-Tails' chakra allowed Naruto to repel the attacking ninja before the prince's [[Hikaru Tsuki|son]] could be taken.
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==== Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds ====
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{{main|Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds}}
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When Naruto fought against the [[Zero-Tails]] to free [[Amaru]] from its influence, the malevolent spirit sensed the Nine-Tails within Naruto and expressed desire to obtain its power. The Zero-Tails then taunted Naruto and coaxed him into using the fox's power by saying that he couldn't save anyone without it. That made Naruto remember his failure in saving Sasuke and became emotionally unstable, which caused him to eventually enter his [[Version 2|four-tailed form]]. After fighting with the spirit for a while, he turned back to normal when a [[Chakra-Suppressing Seal|seal]] on Naruto given by Jiraiya came off and reminded him of how the tailed beast chakra hurt his friends in which he immediately turned back to normal.
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Later, when Shinnō grabbed hold of both Naruto and Sasuke and began draining their chakra to empower the Zero-Tails, Sasuke activated the first level of his cursed seal, releasing its evil chakra, and Naruto, who had understood Sasuke's plan, sent a large amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra into the Zero-Tails, which was too much for the spirit to handle. They managed to break free and Naruto used the [[Tornado Rasengan]] to defeat it.
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==== Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie ====
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{{main|Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie}}
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In the [[Genjutsu World|alternate world]] that Naruto and Sakura ended up in, the Nine-Tails has a counterpart called the {{translation|'''Black Nine-Tails'''|黒九尾|Kuro Kyūbi}}, who is sealed within the body of Naruto's alternate self, [[Menma]]. Menma's hatred has allowed him to bond with the Black Nine-Tails, and he is able to create and control living entities composed of its chakra, which are known as the [[Nine Masked Beasts]]. He doesn't display any kind of tailed beast transformations during the film, but he is able to completely unleash the black fox, using it in a manner similar to a summon.
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[[File:Kurama vs Black Kurama.png|thumb|The Nine-Tails vs. the Black Nine-Tails.]]
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As they fought, Menma restored and summoned the Black Nine-Tails so he could finish Naruto off. While the Nine-Tails berated its jinchūriki for being overwhelmed by a fake, it offered a truce with Naruto to work together since the fox didn't want to be trapped into a world controlled by Tobi. Having no other choice, Naruto opened the seal to summon the Nine-Tails in a similar matter to fight against its opposite. In the battle, Naruto was barely able to win, but Tobi revealed that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken the Nine-Tails. As he possessed Menma, the Nine-Tails warned Naruto to avoid eye contact with the Sharingan, as it would allow Tobi to extract the fox out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina.
   
== Video Games ==
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== Video Games ==
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Kurama has some minor roles in some of the ''Naruto'' video games.
Kurama has some minor roles in some of the ''Naruto'' video games. In ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Dragon Blade Chronicles]]'', Kurama appears as a boss when it tries to take control of Naruto. In ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Kizuna Drive]]'', [[Gensui Amagiri]] creates a fake Naruto, who transforms into Kurama, "kills" Gensui and destroys [[Yumegakure]], all to pin the blame on Konoha and the real Naruto. Gensui later transforms [[Ryuka Tenro]] into a [[Tailed Beast Replication|false replication]] of Kurama, but Konoha 11 soon defeated her. Kurama also appears as a boss twice in the story mode of ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3]]''.
 
  +
* In ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Dragon Blade Chronicles]]'', Kurama appears as a boss when it tries to take control of Naruto.
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* In ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Kizuna Drive]]'', [[Gensui Amagiri]] creates a fake Naruto, who transforms into Kurama, "kills" Gensui and destroys [[Yumegakure]], all to pin the blame on Konoha and the real Naruto. Gensui later transforms [[Ryuka Tenrō]] into a [[Tailed Beast Replication|false replication]] of Kurama, but Konoha 11 soon defeated her.
  +
* Kurama also appears as a boss twice and a playable character in the story mode of ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3]]''.
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* In ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 4]]'' and ''[[Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution|Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution]]'', Naruto takes on Kurama's form as his awakening. However, in UNS4, only three versions of Naruto Uzumaki can use Kurama via awakening: Road to Boruto, Kurama Link, and Sage of Six Paths.
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* [[Mecha-Naruto]] possesses most of Naruto and Kurama's abilities, such as the Rocket Rasengan and a mechanical variant of the Tailed Beast Ball. Additionally, it can also shoot rays with its "eyes", after targeting the opponent. It can also merge itself with a huge mechanism to form [[Mecha-Kurama]].
   
 
== Trivia ==
 
== Trivia ==
  +
{{youthwiki|Nine-Tails}}
* {{translation|"Kurama"|九喇嘛}} literally means 'nine [[Wikipedia:Lama|lama]]'. Kishimoto was mainly inspired to create Kurama based on the [[w:c:yuyuhakusho:Kurama|character with the same name]] from the manga series ''[[Wikipedia:Yu Yu Hakusho|Yū Yū Hakusho]]''.<ref>Second Artbook, pages 74-81</ref>. The name may also reference {{translation|[[wikipedia:Mount Kurama|Mount Kurama]]|鞍馬山}}, the sacred mountain said to be the home of the Tengu Sōjōbō who taught people ninjutsu and other Japanese martial arts.
 
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* Kurama was the first character shown in the series.
* A {{translation|[[Wikipedia:Kitsune|kitsune]]|狐|fox}} is a popular figure in Japanese folklore, and is the influence to many other reincarnations in modern Japanese culture. Kitsune are very well-known to be cunning and mischievous creatures with shape-shifting abilities, to which on occasions, use to transform themselves into beautiful women in order to seduce men (possibly the inspiration for the [[Sexy Technique]]). They are also said be rivals to the [[Wikipedia:Tanuki|tanuki]], which created an old Japanese proverb: {{translation|"A fox and a tanuki matching their cleverness"|狐と狸の化かし合い|kitsune to tanuki no bakashi ai}}, meaning as much as two sly characters trying to outsmart one another. However, kitsune are known to keep their promises, a trait Naruto has; his ninja way is to "''never go back on [his] word''". It is also noted that every time Naruto becomes overwhelmed by Kurama's power, he gains another 'tail' of chakra, which stems from the belief that the more tails a kitsune has, the more powerful it is, with nine being the limit.
 
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* {{translation|"Kurama"|九喇嘛}} literally means "nine [[wikipedia:lama|lama]]". Kishimoto was mainly inspired to create Kurama based on the [[w:c:yuyuhakusho:Kurama|character with the same name]] from the manga series ''[[wikipedia:Yū Yū Hakusho|Yū Yū Hakusho]]''.<ref>Second Artbook, pages 74-81</ref> The name may also reference {{translation|[[wikipedia:Mount Kurama|Mount Kurama]]|鞍馬山|Kurama-yama}}, the sacred mountain said to be the home of [[wikipedia:Sōjōbō|Sōjōbō]], a [[wikipedia:Tengu|tengu]] who taught the arts of swordsmanship to [[wikipedia:Minamoto no Yoshitsune|Minamoto no Yoshitsune]].
* Based on its reaction, Naruto almost dying at the hands of [[Kabuto]] was the only time Kurama was close to death, or to that matter, suffered any injury it could not simply heal through.<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 168, pages 10-12</ref>
 
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** Furthermore, in the ''jōruri'' and kabuki play ''[[wikipedia:Yoshitsune Senbon Zakura|Yoshitsune and the Thousand Cherry Trees]]'', Minamoto no Yoshitsune is accompanied by [[wikipedia:Genkurō|Genkurō]], a ''kitsune'' disguising himself as Yoshitsune's retainer, [[wikipedia:Satō Tadanobu|Satō Tadanobu]].
* All of Kurama's jinchūriki have come from the [[Uzumaki clan]].
 
  +
* {{translation|[[wikipedia:Kitsune|Kitsune]]|狐|fox}} are popular animal [[wikipedia:Yōkai|yōkai]] in Japanese folklore, and are very well-known to be cunning tricksters with shape-shifting abilities, to which on occasions, use to transform themselves into beautiful women in order to seduce men (possibly the inspiration for the [[Sexy Technique]]; Naruto even thought Kushina would be Kurama, when they first met). They are also said to be rivals to the [[wikipedia:Tanuki|tanuki]], which created an old Japanese proverb: {{translation|"A fox and a tanuki matching their cleverness"|狐と狸の化かし合い|kitsune to tanuki no bakashi ai}}, which meant the two sly characters trying to outsmart one another. However, kitsune are known to keep their promises, a trait Naruto has with his [[nindō]]. Stories often depict kitsune growing additional tails as they age, which increases their magical power; once a kitsune reaches 1,000 years of age and grows their ninth and final tail, their fur turns gold and becomes a {{translation|[[wikipedia:Tenko (fox)|tenko]]|天狐|celestial fox}}, making themselves equivalent to a [[wikipedia:kami|kami]].
  +
* In the [[Naruto Manga Pilot|manga pilot]], Kurama was actually Naruto's father, who attacked the village of Mt. Oinari and required nine shinobi to defeat him. Hiruzen was the only survivor and had taken pity on Naruto, who had taken human form, and allowed him to live in the village.
  +
* Kurama's death was featured in ''Boruto'' episode 218, on the 19th anniversary of the debut of the ''Naruto'' anime, where Kurama debuted.
  +
* Despite being a kitsune in appearance, Kurama has never once been called the Kyubi no Kitsune in the official translation, but is erroneously called that in the English anime and Viz translations.
   
 
== Quotes ==
 
== Quotes ==
* (To [[Naruto]]) "''I suppose I can't kill you, can I? After all, '''you''' die, '''I''' die. Your courage is impressive, little boy… Very well, as a reward for making it this far, I will loan you my [[Naruto Uzumaki's Jinchūriki Forms|chakra]]!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 95, pages 16-17</ref>
+
* (To Naruto) "''I suppose I can't kill you, can I? After all, ''you'' die, ''I'' die. Your courage is impressive, little boy… Very well, as a reward for making it this far, I will loan you my chakra!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 95, pages 16-17</ref>
 
* (To Naruto) "''You runt, you really are weak! You better be grateful to me… and to your beloved [[Minato Namikaze|Fourth Hokage]], who sealed me inside a twerp like you!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 230, page 16</ref>
 
* (To Naruto) "''You runt, you really are weak! You better be grateful to me… and to your beloved [[Minato Namikaze|Fourth Hokage]], who sealed me inside a twerp like you!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 230, page 16</ref>
* (To [[Sasuke]]) "''With [[Sharingan|that vision]] of yours and [[chakra]] more ominous than my own… You're the spitting image of [[Madara Uchiha]] from the elder days…''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 309, page 3</ref>
+
* (To Sasuke) "''With [[Sharingan|that vision]] of yours and [[chakra]] more ominous than my own… You're the [[Reincarnation|spitting image]] of [[Madara Uchiha]] from the elder days…''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 309, page 3</ref>
* (To Naruto) "'''''Destroy everything'''… Erase '''everything''' that hurts you… Entrust your heart to me… I will save you from your suffering…''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 439, page 11</ref>
+
* (To Naruto) "'''''Destroy everything'''… Erase everything that hurts you… Entrust your heart to me… I will save you from your pain…''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 439, page 11</ref>
* (To Naruto) "''You don't have what it takes to control my power! You're nothing more than a mere fragment of '''my''' hatred!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 16</ref>
+
* (To Naruto) "''You don't have what it takes to control my power! You're nothing more than a mere fragment of my hatred!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 497, page 16</ref>
* (To Naruto) "''Are you stupid!? I am the Nine-Tails! I haven't fallen so far that a little child can influence me! I'm a living mass of malevolence!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 539, page 2</ref>
+
* (To Naruto) "''Are you stupid!? I am the Nine-Tails! I haven't fallen so far that a little brat can influence me! '''I am hatred incarnate!'''''"<ref name="ch539" />
* (To Naruto) "''No… I will give you my chakra and it alone! I dislike Madara… if the alternative is being controlled by him… I choose you!''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 561, page 14</ref>
 
* (About humans) "''No matter how they say it… humans always say one thing.''"<ref name="ch568"/>
 
 
* (About Naruto) "''Naruto… If you really want to do something for [[Tailed Beasts|us]]… then do what you've always done… Prove it to us with your actions! '''That's who you are!'''''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 569, pages 15-17</ref>
 
* (About Naruto) "''Naruto… If you really want to do something for [[Tailed Beasts|us]]… then do what you've always done… Prove it to us with your actions! '''That's who you are!'''''"<ref>''Naruto'' chapter 569, pages 15-17</ref>
* (To [[Obito]]) "''Sorry but… this guy doesn't suit your words. The Fourth Hokage entrusted me to Naruto… We became friends and now he's able to use my chakra!! The Fourth sealed me into Naruto… '''to take you down!!'''''"<ref name="ch597"/>
+
* (To [[Obito]] about Naruto) "''Sorry, but… this guy doesn't suit your words. The Fourth Hokage entrusted me to him, and not only has Naruto befriended me… he mastered my power as well!! The Fourth sealed me inside Naruto… to take you down! Go… Naruto! You won't fail!!''"<ref name="ch597" />
  +
* (To Kawaki about Naruto) "''Hmph… He was always lonely. Now, he uses the [[Shadow Clone Technique]] as his specialty. It's ironic, isn't it…? Originally, he was bad at [[ninjutsu]] itself. He was especially bad at things like the [[Clone Technique]]… But in the end, the void in Naruto's heart… wasn't filled by some sort of jutsu… I got to watch closely as Naruto's heart slowly became fuller… He's certainly living proof of it…''"<ref>''Boruto'' chapter 35, pages 5-6</ref>
  +
*(Last words to Naruto) ''"Well, I guess this is it. I've got to go, but… be real careful. You won't have superhuman strength anymore. So if you overdo it, you'll end up joining me in no time. But until that day comes… you be well… Naruto.''"<ref>''Boruto'' chapter 55, pages 6-7</ref>
   
 
== References ==
 
== References ==
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Latest revision as of 23:54, 16 March 2024

This article is about the character. For other uses, see Kurama (disambiguation).
editKurama Camera font awesome Browse Information[1][2][3][4]
Kurama2
九喇嘛 Kurama

  • Nine-Tails (九尾, Kyūbi)
  • Nine-Tailed Demon Fox (九尾の妖狐, Kyūbi no Yōko, English TV: Nine-Tailed Fox)
  • Monster Fox (化け狐
  • バケ狐, Bakegitsune)[5]
Debut
Manga Naruto Chapter #1
Anime Naruto Episode #1
Novel Naruto: Innocent Heart, Demonic Blood
Movie Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
Game Naruto: Konoha Ninpōchō
OVA Naruto Shippūden: UNSG anime cutscenes
Appears in Anime, Manga, Novel, Game, Movie
Voice Actors
Japanese
English
Personal
Species Kitsune
Status Deceased
Classification
Jinchūriki
Affiliation
Family
Nature Type
Unique Traits
Jutsu

Kurama (九喇嘛), more commonly known as the Nine-Tails (九尾, Kyūbi), was one of the nine tailed beasts. Centuries of being regarded as a mindless monster and sought after as a tool for war caused Kurama to hate humans. After being sealed into Naruto Uzumaki, Kurama attempts to maintain its cynical perspective about the world, but with Naruto's insistence on treating it with respect, the fox overturns its hatred and willingly strives to use its power for the world's salvation.

Background

Young Bijuu and Hagoromo

Kurama and the other young tailed beasts with Hagoromo.

Kurama and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving them each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is.[6][7] In the anime, before his death, Hagoromo sent Kurama to live in a temple built for the purpose of protecting it in a forest region with mountains that would later become part of the Land of Fire.[8] Over time, Kurama gained a fearsome reputation as a natural disaster that can desolate areas where the darkest aspects of human nature collect and fester.[9][10]

During the time of the founding of the shinobi villages, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure were assigned to capture Kurama, but were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers survived and gained some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, forcing Kurama to regurgitate them.[11][12][13]

Hashirama vs Madara

Kurama and Madara vs. Hashirama.

After Madara Uchiha's defection from Konohagakure, he found Kurama and used his Sharingan to control it, forcing the fox to help him fight against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage. The epic battle left a colossal scar in the earth that would come to be called the Valley of the End.[14][15] After his victory over Madara, Hashirama's wife Mito Uzumaki sealed the fox within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki.[16]

Over the period of time which included the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except when the seal nearly broke when she was going through childbirth. Towards the final years of Mito's life, it was decided that a new jinchūriki would have to be found, and that was another member of her clan, Kushina Uzumaki. Although Kushina was terrified when she learned of it, Mito comforted her young successor by telling her that by filling herself with love, Kushina would overcome the fox's hatred.[16] This was shown years later that despite Kurama's constant attempts to destroy her hope for happiness as its jinchūriki and coerce her to break the seal, Kushina's love for Minato Namikaze and his love for her were proven to be strong enough to contain the fox.[17]

Kurama extraction

Kurama, extracted from Kushina.

Soon after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage made special arrangements for Minato to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed inside Kushina while she gave birth to Naruto on the night of October 10. However, despite keeping the childbirth a secret, a masked man called Tobi tracked down their location, killed their escorts, and held Naruto hostage, forcing Minato to quickly rescue him and teleport him to safety. Right after Tobi captured Kushina, he extracted and seized control of Kurama, and tried to have the fox kill its barely surviving jinchūriki, but Minato made it in time to save her. Soon afterwards, the masked man summoned Kurama into Konoha and ordered it to destroy the village.[18]

Kyuubi attack on Konoha

Kurama attacks Konoha.

While Kurama was rampaging in the village, Minato fought against Tobi and soon managed to place a Contract Seal on him, which freed the fox from his control. Despite that, Kurama still harboured resentment against Konoha for sealing it away and continued decimating the shinobi forces that tried to repel it. As it prepared a Tailed Beast Ball, Minato summoned Gamabunta on top of the fox, and quickly teleported it to Kushina and Naruto's location, letting its Tailed Beast Ball detonate away from the village. Already dying from the extraction, Kushina used her remaining strength to restrain Kurama, planning to seal the fox back inside her so it would die with her. However, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host and how great a threat Tobi was, Minato instead came up with a plan to give his son the means to combat the masked man in the future.[19]

Nine-Tails ep

Yang-Kurama, moments after being sealed within Naruto.

Because Kurama's chakra was too immense to be sealed within an infant, Minato first used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to separate and seal its Yin half within himself, and then prepared the Eight Trigrams Seal to imprison the Yang half within Naruto.[20][21] Realising what they were planning, Kurama attempted to kill Naruto, but both of the parents used themselves as shields and completed the sealing.[22] Later, upon awakening within Naruto's subconscious and learning the reason behind Minato's intention, Yang-Kurama, though frustrated of being sealed again, decided to wait for the time to come when it would influence Naruto as much as it can to use its power to break the seal.[23] Throughout the years, Kurama weakened the seal through the cracks of its formation by constantly leaking out small portions of its chakra, which had positive side-effects on Naruto such as amplifying his naturally large chakra reserves and healing ability, being able to heal from minor wounds within seconds to major injuries within a day.

In the anime, it was revealed that Kurama had left behind large amounts of its chakra during the attack. Kazuma, a former member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, collected and sealed the chakra within his son, Sora, hoping to make use of its power for his own agenda.[24]

Personality

Kurama was characterised as a snarky and shrewd individual. It used "washi" (ワシ) when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. Kurama expressed great pride in its power, believing itself to be the strongest of the tailed beasts due to its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails, which earned Kurama nothing but disapproval from its brethren, especially Shukaku.[25] The fox would also react out of jealousy whenever Naruto was not using its power.[26] Conversely, Kurama openly acknowledged the fact that it alone doesn't stand a chance against the Ten-Tails,[27] and from its past experience with Madara, knew full well he was not an opponent to be underestimated, even when he was seemingly pushed into a corner.[28] Kurama held great respect to Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, as it was shown during the tailed beasts' youth that the fox shed tears after the Sage had imparted his final words to them.[7] Kurama's manner of speech was often harsh, but deep down it had a supportive disposition, as the fox expressed concern about its allies,[29] and gave some words of encouragement to Kawaki.[30]

Naruto and Kurama fist bump

The change in dynamics between Naruto and Kurama.

Centuries of receiving humanity's negative treatment caused Kurama to develop intense hostility and distrust against them, even going as far as proclaiming itself to be the living embodiment of hatred.[31] Ever since its sealing within Naruto, Kurama plotted to use his dependence on its power to break free from the seal. Eventually, after Naruto managed to best Kurama in combat,[32] the young shinobi then told the fox that he hoped to resolve its hatred someday.[33] Despite audibly reproaching him for making such a claim, Kurama nevertheless had developed a level of respect for Naruto and his determination, even noting that he was different from the humans it had previously encountered, therefore allowing its jinchūriki to utilise the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode without consequence during the early stages of the Fourth Shinobi World War. Later on, as Naruto told Son Gokū of his desire to save the tailed beasts and become friends with Kurama,[34] the fox — having witnessed all of the hardships and deeds Naruto had in his life — stood by to see if he could truly aid its brethren through his actions.[35] When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū from Obito's control, Kurama finally became convinced of Naruto's word and offered to meld its chakra with his as a coalition, to which Naruto then removed the seal that restrained it and happily acknowledged the fox as his teammate and a member of Konoha.[36]

Ultimately, Kurama formed a strong bond with Naruto; the fox would proudly declare itself as his friend and able to laugh with the boy, and admit that it had the utmost faith in Naruto's ability to carry on the legacy Minato and Jiraiya had left him, therefore abandoning its grudge against Minato for sealing it.[37] The two expressed trust in one another that Naruto would even allow Kurama to take control of his body and switch back without conflict.[38] After Neji Hyūga died in Naruto's arms, causing the latter's spirit to become shaken and doubtful, Kurama fiercely reaffirmed Neji's sacrifice, reminding Naruto of his parents's similar sacrifices for him, and how they shouldn't be in vain.[39] It was later shown that despite its Yang half being freed from its seal in Naruto, the fox willingly complied to Hagoromo's request for it to return to Naruto. Over time, it came to care for Naruto's family, finding them entertaining to be around.[40] Its concern for Naruto was even shown when revealing the Baryon Mode,[41] hiding the great risk of its own life if Naruto used the power because Kurama knew that he would oppose using the power if he knew the truth, showing that it would even go as far to sacrifice itself for him.[42] In addition, thanks to its exploits during Fourth Shinobi World War and working alongside with Naruto, Kurama's peaceful existence expanded to the Five Great Shinobi Countries, as it would talk directly to the other Kage and assist over important matters.[43]

Kurama also had a comical side of itself; the fox brazenly teased Naruto about his first kiss with Sasuke,[7] argued with him about each other's stubbornness,[44] and nervously lashed out at a joyful Naruto after the tailed beasts were freed from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki while flipping him off.[45] In the anime, Kurama came to fear Himawari after being incapacitated by a Gentle Fist attack used by her during an incident where Naruto had to shield Boruto from Himawari, who attacked him in anger for damaging her plushy.[46]

Appearance

Kurama was a red-orange coloured kitsune with black fur around its red eyes that stretch up to its ears, and nine long swiping tails. It also had an upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. During the last remaining days of Hagoromo, Kurama in its youth was much smaller in size, yet still towering over an adult, with leaner and softer while less-defined in shape with a rounder face, akin to a fox cub.[7]

Over time, Kurama's size grew to roughly equaling the Hokage Rock, and Gamabunta being only the size of Kurama's torso. Its pupil alone was bigger than a tall human.[47] When Minato separated Kurama's Yin chakra and Yang chakra, it was split into two entities, both of which were shrunken more than half its original size, yet still roughly the size of other massive tailed beasts.[22][48] While the two were basically identical to the other, Yang-Kurama retained its original colouring while Yin-Kurama was darker coloured.[49][50]

While manifesting its Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, the fox's entire body took on a transparent golden colour, its whiskers were much thicker, and black circular markings appeared on its shoulders, stomach, as well as the front and back of its paws. Black lines also ran the length of its spine, arms, legs and tails. Additionally, while Naruto is in Sage Mode, Kurama gained similar thick dark patches circling around its eyes.[51] Upon gaining Naruto's Six Paths Chakra, Kurama's Tailed Beast Mode avatar grew to tremendous proportions, roughly the same size as Sasuke Uchiha's Six Paths Chakra-enhanced Complete Body — Susanoo, with its tails becoming bushier.[52]

After both halves of Kurama were reunited, the fox grew even larger than ever before, to the point it was towering over a stump of a God Tree.

Abilities

See also: Jinchūriki Forms, Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, and Baryon Mode

Kurama's power

Kurama's destructive power.

Kurama was widely known as the strongest of the nine tailed beasts.[53][25] Hashirama Senju, who could subdue the fox, viewed it as too powerful and dangerous to be left roaming free.[54] Even with only half its power, Kurama remained strong enough to defeat five other tailed beasts at the same time.[55] After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kurama's full power was restored once its two halves reunited inside Naruto, allowing it to defeat Toneri's giant golem[56] and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki's elemental construct.[57] The absolute peak of its power allowed it to even decisively overwhelm Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. Kurama later became able to manifest itself outside of Naruto, allowing the two to fight independently and away from each other.

Chakra and Physical Prowess

Naruto powered the Alliance up

Kurama's chakra is enough to power up an entire shinobi army.

Kurama possessed vast and powerful chakra, the most of the nine tailed beasts alongside Gyūki,[58] and was required to be sealed last into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to avoid overloading it.[59] It could also accumulate a huge amount of chakra shortly after it has used up most of its own, enough to be passed on to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces and be felt countries away by non-sensors.[60] Due to Naruto's compatibility with Kurama's chakra, any chakra it possessed is limited for its jinchūriki alone, unless it was moulded to fit the recipient's unique chakra signature.[61]

When used by others, the chakra became dense enough to be seen as a visible shroud than can further protect the wearer. Using its chakra, Kurama could shroud itself within its Nine-Tails Chakra Mode to increase its power. As a last-ditch ability, Kurama could enter Baryon Mode. In this state, similar to nuclear fusion, Kurama's chakra was consumed as raw materials to produce a new type of energy. When in use, it dramatically boosted Kurama's reflexes, raw might, and chakra to extreme levels. Because all chakra is connected, the same power that is produced from bits of their lives also works to reduce the lifespan of opponents on contact. Due to its extreme energy consumption, Kurama must remain focused and not waste energy of extraneous thoughts and actions, to maximise the amount of time Baryon Mode can be maintained.[41]

Kurama had a great deal of brute force, reputedly able to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains with just a single swipe of a tail.[62] Even with half its strength, it could overpower Obito's controlled tailed beasts,[55] smash Madara's senjutsu-enhanced Susanoo with a tail,[63] and with the Six Paths Chakra, battle Sasuke's Tailed Beast-enhanced Complete Body — Susanoo.[64] Kurama was deceptively quite fast, able to track Naruto in Sage Mode.[65] The fox was also durable enough to withstand several senjutsu-enhanced attacks,[66] and block a Tailed Beast Ball from the Ten-Tails' initial form.[67]

Ninjutsu

Kurama forming Bijuudama

Kurama supercharges a Tailed Beast Ball even on low chakra.

As a tailed beast, Kurama could create a Tailed Beast Ball, and was able to fire it as a beam or rapid blast of spheres. Unlike most tailed beasts, Kurama could supercharge it, creating one many times its own size for much greater power, even on wisps of chakra. One of these was powerful enough to counter a collaborated Tailed Beast Ball from five tailed beasts.[55][7] At full power, Kurama's Tailed Beast Ball could blast Toneri's giant golem through the moon and into orbit.[56]

Kurama Accumulating Energy

Kurama accumulating natural energy.

Kurama could unleash destructive roars, capable of dispersing a massive Rasengan, knocking back five tailed beasts at once, and destroying entire city blocks as shown when he used it against Konoha.[68][55] Even when limited through Naruto's Version 1 and 2 states, they were strong enough to destroy an entire bridge and repel Pain's Shinra Tensei respectively.[69][70] Kurama also had adept sensor skills, able to detect chakra from great distances and uniquely able to sense negative emotions,[71] as well as natural energy, which it could accumulate and transfer to Naruto to create senjutsu chakra.[72] In the anime, it is shown using Wind and Fire Release nature transformations, being able to generate twisters and breathe fire.[73]

Intelligence

Kurama was very cunning and could formulate strategies in the midst of battle. Through Naruto's body, the fox tricked Obito into using Kamui to absorb Kakashi into Kamui's dimension, only for Obito to become vulnerable to Kakashi's attacks as he phased through Naruto's punch.[74] Kurama had also shown remarkable leadership skills, being able to calmly and effectively instruct its allies on how best to engage the Ten-Tails.[75] In the anime, it had enough knowledge of fūinjutsu to determine the natures and weaknesses of the Eight Trigrams Seal that bound it inside Naruto.[23] In addition, Kurama had an advanced understanding of nuclear physics, particularly the nuclear fusion that occurs within the Sun.[41]

Part I

Prologue — Land of Waves

Main article: Prologue — Land of Waves

Naruto's 1st use of 9 Tails

Naruto's first use of the Nine-Tails' chakra.

Naruto first made use of the Nine-Tails' chakra during his battle with Haku. Believing Haku to have killed Sasuke, Naruto gave into his anger and entered his initial jinchūriki form in order to defeat Haku. The Nine-Tails expressed great delight at Naruto finally making use of its power.[23]

Chūnin Exams

Main article: Chūnin Exams During the Second Stage of the Chūnin Exams, the Nine-Tails' chakra emerged again while Naruto battled with a disguised Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. Although Naruto's strength abilities increased, Orochimaru recognised the Nine-Tails' power, and countered it with the Five Elements Seal. The seal blocked Naruto's access to the fox's chakra and rendered him unconscious.

Naruto meets Kurama

The Nine-Tails meets Naruto.

Jiraiya, who the Nine-Tails quickly recognised as the Fourth Hokage's teacher,[23] later appeared and removed Orochimaru's seal. Jiraiya explained to Naruto that he possessed two types of chakra. Naruto didn't realise that he was talking about the Nine-Tails until he was taught to take advantage of it. In order to induce Naruto to use the fox's chakra, Jiraiya pushed him off a cliff. In a desperate act to save his own life, Naruto entered his subconscious and met with the Nine-Tails for the first time. Although the Nine-Tails initially terrified its jinchūriki by revealing its strong desire to kill and devour him, Naruto boldly demanded the fox to give him its chakra as a form of "rent money" for living in his body. Realising that his death would result in its own, the Nine-Tails complied, giving Naruto enough chakra to summon Gamabunta. Delighted that Naruto finally became consciously aware of its presence, the Nine-Tails became convinced that it could influence Naruto even more to use its power.[23]

The Nine-Tails kept quiet until Naruto faced Neji Hyūga in the first match of the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams. After Neji used his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique to block Naruto's chakra points, Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for assistance. Without hesitating, it gave its jinchūriki enough chakra to force his chakra points open and defeat Neji.

Konoha Crush

Main article: Konoha Crush During the climax of Naruto's fight against Gaara, the Nine-Tails gave some of its chakra to Naruto, leading to him defeating Shukaku's jinchūriki.

Search for Tsunade

Main article: Search for Tsunade While on his search for Tsunade with Jiraiya, Naruto was confronted by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki of Akatsuki. Naruto tried to use the Nine-Tails' chakra to help him fight against them, but Kisame quickly used his Samehada sword to absorb it all and attempted to cut off Naruto's arms. Luckily, Jiraiya arrived in time to block Kisame's attack with his toad summon and was able to force both Akatsuki members to retreat.

Later, before Naruto defeated Kabuto Yakushi with a completed Rasengan, Kabuto severed Naruto's heart muscles, and his neighbouring chakra system, to which the Nine-Tails was unable to heal its host. While Tsunade desperately tried to save Naruto, the Nine-Tails noticed that its power was fading as its surroundings grew darker and darker. It, like Naruto, had a near-death experience, something it was slow to recognise. Fortunately, Naruto and the Nine-Tails were able to survive this encounter through the help of Tsunade and her medical ninjutsu.

Sasuke Recovery Mission

Main article: Sasuke Recovery Mission

Kurama empowers Naruto

The Nine-Tails' chakra manifests as an image of itself.

During the first stage of Naruto's battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End, Sasuke, in his first level of the Cursed Seal of Heaven, pierced a fatal wound in Naruto's right shoulder with his Chidori. Fortunately, the Nine-Tails quickly gave Naruto enough chakra to heal his large wound almost instantly and entered his initial jinchūriki form. With this Naruto was able to overwhelm Sasuke with his immense speed; however, as the fight continued, Sasuke was able to predict and overcome Naruto's attacks with his then fully matured Sharingan. The Nine-Tails berated the unconscious Naruto for being too weak and gave him more of its usual chakra to attain the one-tailed form, something the fox indicated that he should be grateful for.

Kaima Capture Mission

Main article: Kaima Capture Mission

Interlude

During Naruto's three-year training under Jiraiya, the Sannin began training Naruto to gain better control of the Nine-Tails' chakra, soon helping Naruto to master wielding the chakra cloak up to two tails. Feeling he was ready to take it to the next level, Jiraiya had Gerotora tweak the seal enough for additional chakra to be unleashed. However, the Nine-Tails took advantage of this and began mocking Naruto for his failure to save Sasuke, able to use Naruto's negative emotions to overwhelm him with additional chakra. This ultimately caused Naruto to slip into a four-tailed Version 2 state, which allowed the Nine-Tails to go on a rampage in Naruto's body. Jiraiya was narrowly able to reseal the fox's chakra, to which his passive methods of saving Naruto led to Jiraiya being severely injured.[76]

Part II

Kazekage Rescue Mission

Main article: Kazekage Rescue Mission During the conclusion of his battle against the Akatsuki member Deidara, which turned out to be a clay clone, Naruto slipped into his two-tailed form out of anger about Gaara's death. Immediately, Kakashi placed Jiraiya's special seal tag on Naruto's forehead, restoring him back to normal.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission

Main article: Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission At the Tenchi Bridge, where Team Yamato was facing Orochimaru and Kabuto, Naruto, enraged by Orochimaru's remark about Sasuke, attacked him in his three-tailed form. Naruto's rage intensified to the point where he gave into the Nine-Tails' influence, destroying the Tenchi Bridge and advancing into his four-tailed form while fighting Orochimaru. Unable to tell friend from foe, Naruto attacked anyone around him, including Sakura. After Yamato managed to suppress the Nine-Tails' chakra, he later revealed to Naruto that he was the one responsible for Sakura's injury, which greatly horrified Naruto and resolved to never rely on the Nine-Tails' power again.

Nine-Tails tempts Naruto

The Nine-Tails tempts Naruto.

Soon afterwards, when Naruto encountered Sasuke again for the first time in almost three years, the Nine-Tails began to tempt Naruto to release the seal. Naruto firmly refused, but the Nine-Tails scoffed, cruelly remarking that he had always come to it in times of need and he was nothing without its power. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, both Naruto and the Nine-Tails were shocked to see Sasuke appearing in Naruto's subconscious with his Sharingan. When the fox noted of his similarity to Madara Uchiha in terms of visual prowess and chakra, Sasuke effortlessly suppressed the fox. Although angrily shocked by the display of his power, the Nine-Tails warned Sasuke not to kill Naruto, stating he would only regret it.

Twelve Guardian Ninja

Main article: Twelve Guardian Ninja

Akatsuki Suppression Mission

Main article: Akatsuki Suppression Mission During Naruto's nature transformation training, the Nine-Tails' chakra began to surface within some of his shadow clones that had grown very frustrated with combining the Rasengan with his wind element. Yamato was able to suppress the chakra before it could do serious damage.

Pain's Assault

Main article: Pain's Assault During Naruto's training at Mount Myōboku, the Nine-Tails prevented Fukasaku from fusing with Naruto, making it impossible for him to mould senjutsu chakra for Naruto.

8 tails

Naruto's eight-tailed form breaks through Pain's Chibaku Tensei.

Later, during Naruto's battle with Pain, he slipped into his six-tailed form right after Pain appeared to have killed Hinata Hyūga. Despite the necklace's attempts to suppress it, the Nine-Tails quickly seized the necklace and crushed it. When Naruto was soon contained by Pain's Chibaku Tensei technique, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the eight-tailed form was released. Before it could convince him to completely remove the seal, the spirit of Minato appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him. Enraged, the Nine-Tails tried to dare Minato to come closer so it could rip him to shreds, but Minato simply ignored it and restored the seal to its original strength.

During Naruto's conversation with Nagato, the Nine-Tails became angry with Nagato's words and its chakra began to leak out while Naruto was in Sage Mode, allowing the two forms to synchronise.[77]

Power

Main article: Power

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown

Main article: Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown When Naruto was summoned back to Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage gave Naruto Gerotora, along with the key to the seal. From this, Naruto was on a task to find a way to control the Nine-Tails' power, in order to fight a fated battle with Sasuke.

Cho-odama

The Nine-Tails fighting Naruto.

Later, at a remote island in the Land of Lightning, after Naruto completed the first step at the Falls of Truth, Killer B then led Naruto to a special room within the secret temple behind the waterfall, to prepare Naruto in fighting the Nine-Tails. When Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within him, and questioned Naruto about where the "real him" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it. After Naruto used the key to unlock the seal, the Nine-Tails pushed the cage's doors and fired a Tailed Beast Ball at him, but Killer B used the remaining bit of the Eight-Tails' power to contain the attack. While in Sage Mode, Naruto was able to weaken the Nine-Tails with the Rasenshuriken and started to drain out its chakra. However, the Nine-Tails planted its hatred within its drained chakra, and it suddenly began to consume Naruto, making him lose the control and forcing him out of Sage Mode. Just before Naruto completely succumbed, the chakra imprint of his mother Kushina Uzumaki appeared, halted his transformation, and used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to subdue the Nine-Tails, to which the fox reacted in anger and shock when it recognised her chakra.

Kurama Sealed

The Nine-Tails resealed by Naruto.

After being comforted by Kushina, Naruto's positive emotions purged the Nine-Tails' hatred within its drained chakra. With Kushina holding the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto quickly made a large number of shadow clones, entered Sage Mode, and bombarded the Nine-Tails with his onslaught of Rasengan. Immediately followed by the Rasenshuriken, Naruto was able to separate an extensive portion of chakra from the Nine-Tails, leaving the fox in an emaciated state. As its chakra merged into Naruto, the Nine-Tails became so furious that it brashly attempted to fire a massive Tailed Beast Ball at him, but Naruto cancelled its attack by using a new, stronger seal to imprison the fox once again. In its moment alone, the Nine-Tails, in great frustration and disbelief of its defeat, frantically began to ponder just what was Naruto.[23]

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation

Main article: Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation During Naruto's training to control the Nine-Tails' chakra, the fox had been consuming a certain amount of Naruto's chakra while he was using its own, which recovered it from its emaciated state.

Naruto in Kyubi's eye

Naruto states his resolve to the Nine-Tails.

Later, as Naruto and Killer B continued their way toward the battlefield, the Nine-Tails pulled its jinchūriki into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra and calling him naive for thinking he could stop the war by himself. After failing to tempt him with power, the Nine-Tails tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him that shouldering all the hatred was futile, using his failure to save Sasuke from revenge as proof. In retaliation, Naruto pinned the fox down, refuting with brimming confidence that regardless of the odds, he would still find a way to do something about Sasuke and end the war. Recalling its jinchūriki's growth, the Nine-Tails condescendingly complimented Naruto for finally learning how to stand up for himself, before being unnerved by his promise to someday resolve the fox's hatred.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Main article: Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax

Kurama helps Naruto

The Nine-Tails chooses to help Naruto.

Later, as one of Naruto's shadow clones was fighting alongside the Fourth Division, the reincarnated Madara Uchiha attempted to summon the Nine-Tails. Even though the summoning failed, the fox expressed its anger as it recognised his chakra calling for it. Having no desire to be manipulated by Madara again, as well as dismissing Naruto's suspicions of its usual attempts of taking over his body, the Nine-Tails willingly lent the shadow clone enough chakra to counter the Uchiha's massive Wood Release onslaught.

At the time of Killer B and the real Naruto's battle against Tobi and the reincarnated jinchūriki, the Nine-Tails had purposely stopped consuming Naruto's chakra, deciding to let its jinchūriki fight on his own. As the impartial Nine-Tails refused to listen to the Eight-Tails' request for its aid, the fox vividly remembered its past encounters with Madara, Hashirama, Mito, and Kushina. From those experiences, the Nine-Tails concluded that no matter what words humans use, they always mean the same thing, with the exception of Naruto, a thought which silenced it. The Nine-Tails quietly watched on as Naruto was speaking with the imprisoned Four-Tails, Son Gokū, only expressing annoyance when the fox's name was revealed to him.

Kurama teams up

Kurama and Naruto join forces.

While thinking back on the events in Naruto's life and watching the proceeds, Kurama silently noted that Naruto of all people should know that no matter what he says to the tailed beasts, his true intentions would only reach them through his actions. After Naruto successfully removed Tobi's control over Son Gokū, Kurama silently celebrated the small victory and offered to lend him more of its chakra. Before accepting however, Naruto thanked Kurama for its help during his encounter with Madara, to which the flustered fox rebuffed him before offering to meld their chakra together. Naruto opened the seal's gate and acknowledged Kurama as his teammate from Konoha. As a result, Kurama enabled Naruto to enter a new form, in order to stop the other tailed beasts that were bearing down on Might Guy and Kakashi.

Naruto's TBM

Kurama and Naruto fighting the five tailed beasts.

However, as this was their first time transforming into this mode, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes. They first started by grabbing Chōmei in mid-flight to pile-drive it into Isobu, but it rolled out of the way to counter-attack after Saiken quickly swallowed Kurama's hand prior to Gyūki joining the fray. When Matatabi attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, they fiercely swung Saiken right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, Naruto and Kurama performed one of their own and cancelled the attack. Right after that, Naruto entered a deeper level of Kurama's subconscious, where he meets the other five tailed beasts and their respective jinchūriki, to which Kurama explained that this was somewhere not even Tobi could enter. As it remembered the Sage of the Six Paths, Kurama asked its brethren if they too believed that Naruto was the one the Sage had spoken of so long ago, to which they agreed before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

While they were fighting against the Demonic Statue, Tobi summoned both the Benihisago and the Kohaku no Jōhei which contained the reincarnated Gold and Silver Brothers, who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra. Right after the masked man made the giant statue devour them, Kurama, who had sensed its own chakra signature within those two items, requested Naruto to switch with it so it could explain the situation to the others, as well as about the Ten-Tails and what its revival would mean. Kurama also echoed Kakashi's words that something needed to be done before the Ten-Tails' revival was completed, afterwhich, on Naruto's request, Kurama switched back with him. Kurama was later seen smiling when Naruto opposed Tobi's ideals and told him that he was who he was today because he had heroes to look up to and to show him the way. After a brief fight, Tobi tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him what would Jiraiya and Minato say if he ended up neglecting the legacy they left him. Kurama, recalling what Minato said to Naruto during his battle with Nagato, requested Naruto to switch again and directly told Tobi that Naruto would never follow his ideals and that Minato sealed it into Naruto so that he could defeat Tobi. After melding their chakra together once more, Naruto entered his Tailed Beast Mode and Naruto began his assault on Tobi after being assured by Kurama that he would not fail.

Naruto vs

Kurama and Naruto battle against Madara's wooden dragon.

As the battle raged on with Madara suddenly entering the fray, the reincarnated Uchiha summoned Hashirama's giant wooden dragon in order to restrain Naruto. While Naruto instantly manifested Kurama's body to fight against it, the wooden dragon eventually managed to bind Naruto and started draining Kurama's chakra, forcing his tailed beast form to falter. However, Naruto was able to quickly escape from its coils before it could absorb any more of Kurama's chakra and created a shadow clone to protect Kakashi from Obito. When Kurama noticed that Kakashi was low on chakra, it told Naruto to switch places with it, and, through Naruto's body, tossed Kakashi at Obito, who used Kamui to absorb him into Kamui's dimension. Despite Naruto initially berating it for what it did, Kurama assured him that he could now fight without worry. Naruto attacked Obito again and phased through him, but surprisingly Obito coughed up blood. Kurama revealed that it transferred some of its chakra to Kakashi, allowing him to attack Obito in the other world and come back to the real world with Kamui. Meanwhile, the original Naruto entered the full Tailed Beast Mode to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki and fired it at the Demonic Statue. This was all done in vain however, as after the resulting explosion, the Ten-Tails had been revived.

Kurama&Gyuki vs

Kurama and Gyūki during their battle against the Ten-Tails.

Naruto and the others quickly regroup while Kurama restored Kakashi and Guy's respective chakra, but the Ten-Tails, under the control of Obito and Madara, quickly overwhelmed them before they could finish devising a strategy. Kurama and Gyūki then fired a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls at the Ten-Tails, who easily deflected them with a single blast of its own. Kurama and Naruto were able to withstand the attack (losing six of its tails in exchange) and threw Kakashi and Naruto's Sage Mode shadow clone above the Ten-Tails, where Kakashi teleported Gyūki who prepared to launch a Tailed Beast Ball from the beast's blind-spot. However, the Ten-Tails simply flicked the attack back at Gyūki, leaving Naruto's shadow clone, and Kakashi open for an attack. Kurama and Naruto were able to rescue Kakashi, Gyūki, and B before the Tailed Beast Mode was deactivated, which Kurama noted to Naruto that it needed time to generate more chakra.

Later echoing Hinata's sentiments that Naruto's life was not his own, the fox reminded him that it was also here and that his parents had also died in a similar manner to protect him. After the words finally get through to the young shinobi, Naruto once again entered Tailed Beast Mode, and with Kurama's instruction, created shadow clones to distribute its chakra to the other remaining shinobi to help empower their respective abilities. Kurama then silently praised Naruto's ability to distribute his chakra to others despite how different they were, the fox noted that Naruto had surpassed his father and mother. Continuing their attack on the Ten-Tails, Kurama warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was continuing to mature and to be careful about micro-managing all of the chakra he had given his allies, as it was exhausting him. Kurama also warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was preparing its devastating attack, the Tenpenchii. After the attack injured Naruto and drained him all of Kurama's chakra, the fox proceeded to gather more chakra to prepare for another assault. After the reincarnated Hokage's arrival, Kurama was suddenly startled by Minato's use of its chakra. Naruto boasted about Minato's ability with the fox's chakra, only for Kurama to point out it already knew about Minato's skill, given he was the one to use such a complex technique to seal it into Naruto. Later, when Naruto's mantle disappeared and the young shinobi requested the fox to supply him with more chakra, Kurama advised him that he should stay in his normal form a bit longer if he wanted to enter Tailed Beast Mode.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki

Main article: Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki

Minato and Naruto bump fists

Kurama's two halves join forces with their jinchūriki.

Meanwhile, as their battle strategy unfolded, Kurama's Yin half within Minato noted that Naruto's actions and speech about his father was touching enough to move this half of it. Yin-Kurama also told Minato to disregard Obito's words as he was not responsible for any of those tragedies and that instead of leaving his son to do it, he should also act. Later, when Naruto and Minato bumped fists, Yin and Yang-Kurama came in contact with each other, with Yang-Kurama greeting its other half casually and asking it to share its chakra, which led Yin-Kurama to note that asking itself for chakra was an odd situation. Nonetheless, when the father-son duo prepared to deal with Obito, the two halves of Kurama also bumped fists as they prepared to initiate their strategy. As their chakra begin to meld, the two halves conversed about Minato and Naruto, leading Yin-Kurama to comment that Naruto must have had some upbringing to treat a tailed beast as a comrade.

TBM Rasengan

Kurama and its team attack Obito.

As Naruto donned the Tailed Beast Mode shroud and prepared to attack Obito, only to be reminded that only senjutsu-based attacks would work, Yang-Kurama reminded Naruto of the time during Pain's invasion that the two modes had been combined and noted that while had resented Naruto's use of another power instead of its own, it would allow him to use Sage Mode while also using its own power. Yin-Kurama advised Minato to follow suit so that he could provide powerful support for his son. With this, both shinobi, shrouded in Kurama's form, created a giant, senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan and were teleported to Obito's location by Tobirama. However, the Uchiha anticipated the attack and was able to deflect it. Reassessing their strategy to destroy the mysterious black substance, Naruto and Minato formed a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, but Obito quickly created a full-blown replica of the Ten-Tails' tree form, and its roots started chasing and absorbing chakra from anyone in its path. As the Allied Shinobi Forces began to despair, Naruto, through Ino Yamanaka's telepathy, conveyed his memories and feelings to them, restoring their resolve to fight.

Susanoo K11

Kurama enveloped by Sasuke's Susanoo.

After Yin-Kurama transferred the majority of its chakra to its Yang half, Naruto joined Sasuke in their team assault against Obito. With a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, as well as Sasuke firing a senjutsu-enhanced arrow with his Susanoo Bow, they cracked the sphere Obito had wrapped around himself as he pushed forward. The battle continued, resulting in Sasuke's Susanoo and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode form being destroyed. However, Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet again, their resolves untouched, and Sasuke then manifested his final Susanoo to encase Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Using the telepathic link, Naruto called for his comrades who rallied to his side all donning Tailed Beast Mode mantles as they entered Kurama's tails. Using the Rasengan Naruto had created, they all attacked and broke through Obito's shield, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to deliver a devastating blow against Obito and forcing out the chakra of all the tailed beasts. Through the combined effort of the Allied Shinobi Forces, all of the sealed tailed beasts were extracted from Obito's body, reducing the Ten-Tails within him back to its empty shell. As Naruto and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces went to aid Hashirama against Madara, Yin-Kurama explained to Minato who was tending the defeated Obito that he was not in mortal danger from the extraction as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was still filled with great amounts of life energy, but rendered immobilised for a while.

Kurama extracted from Naruto

Yang-Kurama extracted from Naruto.

Naruto and Yang-Kurama re-entered Tailed Beast Mode to join the other tailed beasts in assaulting Madara, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then proceeded to chain them up and prepared to remove Yang-Kurama and Gyūki from their jinchūriki. As Naruto failed to cancel the Tailed Beast Mode, Yang-Kurama, realising its extraction was imminent, contacted Gaara to transfer its Yin half from Minato to save Naruto, wishing him luck before it was extracted and sealed within the statue along with the other tailed beasts.

Unfortunately, Black Zetsu put himself between Naruto and Minato just as the latter was transferring Yin-Kurama, becoming its jinchūriki in the process. As Madara, now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, arrived, Black Zetsu attempted to return to the Uchiha with his left Rinnegan eye and Yin-Kurama, only for Obito to overpower Black Zetsu and maintain their merger. Having decided to help the Allied Forces stop Madara, Obito worked with Kakashi to teleport Naruto to Kamui's dimension, and soon joined him. Once there, Obito proceeded to transfer Yin-Kurama into Naruto.

Tailed Beast Reunion

Yin-Kurama alongside the other tailed beasts reunite with Hagoromo and Naruto.

Within Naruto's subconscious, as he spoke to the spirit of Hagoromo, Yin-Kurama along with the chakra portions of the other tailed beasts, including Gyūki and Shukaku, which Obito stole from Madara and also sealed inside Naruto, manifested to join the meeting. They voiced their continued trust in the Sage and their belief that Naruto is the child of prophecy. Later, after Naruto returned to the battlefield, Madara managed to regain both his eyes. He then proceeded to perform the Chibaku Tensei to set up for the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Yin-Kurama then lent Naruto chakra for him to use Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken against the Chibaku Tensei satellites.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes

Main article: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes Later, Madara's ambitions were cut short by Black Zetsu, who revealed itself to be in fact the manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will. It then used Madara's body as a medium to resurrect its true creator. After Kaguya managed to trap Sasuke in a separate dimension, Yin-Kurama granted Naruto more chakra, letting him create a massive army of shadow clones.

Tailed Beast separate from Kaguya

The tailed beasts being freed from the Ten-Tails.

Yin-Kurama, alongside the chakra portions of its brethren, helped Naruto create an onslaught of Rasenshuriken that dealt a significant blow against Kaguya. After reacting to the chakra, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts within Kaguya tried to escape but caused Kaguya to morph into a rabbit form with a gigantic blob of the tailed beasts. After Kaguya was touched by Naruto and Sasuke's seals, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts were extracted from Kaguya as she was sealed away. After escaping, Son Gokū praised Naruto's efforts, causing Yang-Kurama to grin. The tailed beasts then ran away from the new moon and joined the rest of Team 7. When Naruto joined them, he and Sakura were both shocked by the fact that they couldn't escape the dimension, causing Son to state that Naruto was still a bit dumb, making Yang-Kurama grunt. However, Hagoromo, who called upon the souls of all of the previous Kage, performed a massive summoning alongside the reincarnated Hokage in order to return the tailed beasts, Team 7, and Madara's body back to the real world. Having returned to the real world, Naruto, happy to see Yang-Kurama again, asked if it missed him, which lead the flustered fox to comically deny his claim, much to Son's entertainment.

After the past Kage return to the afterlife, plans for the future were discussed, to which the tailed beasts expressed their joy at finally being free. As Yang-Kurama was surprised to hear Gyūki's wish to return to B, Hagoromo insisted to the fox to return within Naruto to watch over the young ninja, who has become an important part of the tailed beasts' existence. While Yang-Kurama accepted Hagoromo's request, Sasuke made his own intentions known: removing as many people as possible who could get in the way of his own plans of leading the world through a revolution to do away with current shinobi systems, including killing all the current Kage and tailed beasts. Just as Sasuke swiftly subdued the tailed beasts with his Rinnegan and sealed them within his Chibaku Tensei, Naruto reassured Yang-Kurama that he would save them once again.

Susanoo Kurama Fist Bump Color

Kurama clashes with Sasuke's Susanoo.

Soon after, Naruto and Sasuke finally have their long-awaited confrontation, ultimately leaving both ninja battered and exhausted. Yin-Kurama attempted to help Naruto by accumulating a little extra chakra for him, but it got absorbed by Sasuke. As it recalled Yang-Kurama's memories on Naruto's determination to save both Sasuke and Kurama, Yin-Kurama applauded Naruto for countering Sasuke's Chidori and noted that transferring the last of its chakra would put itself to sleep. After the battle, where Sasuke declared Naruto the victor, the two dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Sasuke released the tailed beasts from their prisons. Yang-Kurama would then return to Naruto and merged with its Yin half, finally restored into a complete state.

Blank Period

The Last: Naruto the Movie

Main article: The Last: Naruto the Movie

Kurama Writing Message

Kurama writing on the moon.

When Naruto and his team saw the giant golem emerging from beneath Toneri Ōtsutsuki's castle within the moon, he activated his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and summoned Kurama outside of his body. During their fight, Kurama was initially overwhelmed by its opponent, but eventually the fox was able to blast the golem away into space with a Tailed Beast Ball. Kurama then later wrote the "Mission Complete" symbol on the moon's crater so everyone on Earth knew they succeeded in their mission, but the fox complained to Naruto that its penmanship was terrible.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise

Main articles: Sasuke Shinden (novel) and Sasuke Shinden (anime) When the genjutsu-controlled missing shinobi were attacking Konoha, Kurama assisted Naruto by infusing its chakra to his Rasengan: Flash to repel them.

New Era

Years later, on the day that Naruto was to be inaugurated as the Seventh Hokage, Kurama was knocked out along with Naruto when Himawari, having awakened her Byakugan, hit Naruto's tenketsu by accident while aiming at Boruto, due to his role in a tug-of-war that ripped off her stuffed toy.[46] This caused both Naruto and Kurama to develop a strong fear of Himawari, even when she's her usual happy and sweet self.

Sarada Uchiha Arc

Main article: Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring When Naruto went to meet with Sasuke about a mysterious young Uchiha, Naruto discovered the said boy attacking Sarada Uchiha and Chōchō Akimichi. As Naruto intervened and entered his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Kurama noted its excitement about getting to battle again after so long. However, Kurama's hopes were dashed as the mysterious boy retreated.

Kurama Stares Down

Kurama intimidating a Shin clone.

Later, as the boy — along with his father — battled Naruto and Sasuke, Kurama criticised its jinchūriki for being careless, commenting on how easily he was stabbed by the enemy's technique. Later, during the final battle with Shin, Naruto brought one of Shin's clones into his subconscious with Kurama glaring down at the boy, scaring him and his clones to surrender.

Naruto Shinden: Parent and Child Day

Main articles: Naruto Shinden: Parent and Child Day and Parent and Child Day Arc When the release of a popular but limited edition doll modelled after Kurama came out, Himawari was eager get one for herself. While Naruto decided to help his daughter get one, Kurama was openly unsatisfied at the childish design of its likeness. In addition to Naruto mistaking a Shukaku-doll for it, Kurama's mood turned sour and was unwilling to help Naruto catch a thief who stole a Kurama-doll from him, citing that Naruto wouldn't be a very good father if he couldn't help his daughter using his own power, a sentiment Naruto agreed with.

Later, a grumpy Kurama responded with a pout when Naruto told Himawari that the Shukaku doll was cuter than a Kurama-doll. When Naruto teased it by calling it by the doll's name, Kurama glared at Naruto to intimidate him and showcase its displeasure.

Versus Momoshiki Arc

Main articles: Boruto: Naruto the Movie and Versus Momoshiki Arc

Kurama Vs Golem

Kurama fighting Momoshiki's golem.

After they defeated Killer B and absorbed a lot of Gyūki's chakra from him, Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki decided to capture Naruto with the intent of extracting Kurama's chakra for their own use. They soon arrived at the arena where the Chūnin Exams were held and proceeded to attack, creating chaos. As Momoshiki created an amplified Tailed Beast Ball to obliterate everyone with it, Naruto entered Tailed Beast Mode in order to stop the attack, and warned Kurama that it better not have gotten out of shape, to which Kurama refuted and declared it was going with all the power it had stored up. Ultimately, though Naruto stopped the attack, he allowed himself to be taken.

Brought to another dimension, Naruto stubbornly resisted Momoshiki's attempt to effectively extract Kurama's chakra from him, as the other four Kage, Sasuke, and Naruto's son, Boruto, managed to arrive in the dimension and free him from his bounds. Naruto soon combined his Tailed Beast Mode with Sasuke's Susanoo, gaining the upper hand against the empowered Momoshiki.

One-Tail Escort Arc

Main article: One-Tail Escort Arc

Biju Conference

Kurama and Naruto, with the other tailed beasts in a meeting.

In the anime, when Urashiki Ōtsutsuki began targeting Shukaku for its chakra, the tanuki agreed to be temporarily sealed in a small tea kettle and escorted to Konoha. While under Naruto's protection, Kurama, smug as ever towards Shukaku, laughed at how Himawari was treating the tanuki as a pet/toy. Kurama and Naruto later had a telepathic meeting with the other tailed beasts, though Matatabi, Kokuō, and Chōmei decided not to participate, and talked about their protection. Shukaku, vowing to get back at the fox for teasing it, was intrigued to learn that Himawari once knocked out Kurama, and decided to play nice with the young girl in hopes of learning how she did it as a chance to have some mocking rights on the fox. It was later revealed that Kurama was aware of the tanuki's plan.

After a few days, Kurama and Shukaku bonded over how spending time with Naruto's family drove them crazy, and that they were never boring to be around. As Shukaku figured that Kurama had grown attached to them, the tanuki teased the fox, to which it quickly rebuffed such an accusation.

Time Slip Arc

Main article: Time Slip Arc In the anime, Urashiki Ōtsutsuki decided that the best course of stealing Kurama's chakra was to use Karasuki to time-travel to the past, and attack Naruto when he was too weak and inexperienced to fight back. He arrived in the time period shortly after Sasuke's defection from Konoha.

When failing to steal past-Naruto's chakra due to the seal on him, Urashiki entered into Naruto's subconscious to forcibly remove it. Once finding Kurama's domain, the fox demanded to know what his intentions were. Shortly after he replied that he was "taking back" its chakra, the angered Kurama used its power to reject Urashiki from Naruto's subconscious and subsequently burned the intruder's hand. This outburst also forced Naruto to enter his Version 1 state. Ultimately, Jiraiya was forced to use an extra seal to subdue Naruto back into normal.

Kawaki Arc

Main article: Kawaki Arc

Kurama & Kawaki

Kurama appearing before Kawaki.

While Naruto was sleeping, Kurama manifested its head from his body to warn Kawaki against wandering off from Naruto. While shocked, Kawaki remained composed enough for Kurama to explain its role in watching over him, and corrected certain misconceptions Kawaki had about Naruto, explaining the various hardships he had to overcome. Moved by the story, Kawaki wondered if he could become someone like Naruto, to which Kurama believed that it would be all up to him, before directing him to go to sleep.

Jigen vs Shinobi

Kurama facing Jigen with Naruto and Sasuke.

Later, using the connection between his and Kawaki's Kāma, Jigen teleported to Naruto's house instantly to bring back Kawaki. When Jigen subdued Naruto with black chakra draining rods, Kurama immediately chastised him for shaming the Hokage title, causing Naruto to playfully retort to the fox as he activated Six Paths Sage Mode. Jigen then soon teleported himself and Naruto to another dimension and attempted to strand him there, but Sasuke arrived and stopped him.

Despite their best efforts, Kurama, Naruto, and Sasuke were swiftly overwhelmed and subdued by Jigen, who was later revealed to be possessed by Isshiki Ōtsutsuki. When Isshiki was going to kill Sasuke, Naruto managed to hold Isshiki off with his shadow clones while Sasuke escaped with his Rinnegan. As Naruto continued to taunt Isshiki, Kurama quickly told him off, stating that from the beginning Isshiki never had any intentions to kill him, but could just easily change his mind and slaughter them both, to which the Ōtsutsuki commended the fox before sealing them away in a giant coffin. The seal was then put under safeguard by Boro.

Determined to save them, Team 7 and Kawaki later used the power of Kawaki and Boruto's Kāma to enter the dimension. While struggling to fight against Boro, Boruto and Kawaki used their Kāma to create a rift in the seal, freeing the unconscious Naruto. After the team defeated Boro and returned to Konoha with Naruto, they were all taken to the hospital for treatment, with Naruto making a swift recovery.

Kurama activates Baryon Mode

Kurama preparing to activate Baryon Mode.

Later, after Boruto teleported the resurrected Isshiki and himself to a separate dimension, Kurama, Naruto, and Sasuke managed to join Boruto for their second confrontation against Isshiki. However, the Ōtsutsuki once again proved too powerful as he knocked out Sasuke and blocked Naruto's sensory abilities by manifesting giant black cubes, a fact that Kurama noticed. Seeing how determined Naruto was to stop Isshiki, even if it cost him his own life, Kurama suggested using a last resort while misleading him into thinking it would result in his death. Naruto agreed to it, declaring that the moment he decided to become Hokage, he knew the risks and was prepared to die. Naruto took on a new form of Baryon Mode.

Kurama explained to Naruto that the form is like nuclear fusion, consuming all their respective energy and that he must be careful not to make any unnecessary movements or thoughts. The new form baffled everyone with its sheer power. Naruto quickly began overwhelming Isshiki. Soon after, the strain of Baryon Mode began catching up as Naruto began to tire. Kurama noted this form gradually drains all life-forces, including Naruto's. However, it would also drain Isshiki's with each contact, meaning they just had to keep pressuring Isshiki until his already diminished lifespan ran out.

Kurama's Life Fades Away

Kurama's life fades away after a final conversation with Naruto.

After Isshiki's defeat, Kurama spoke with Naruto inside his subconscious for a final conversation as Baryon Mode proved too much to handle. In the manga, Naruto told the kitsune that he had no ill will to Kurama despite killing his parents. In the anime, they reminisce about their history together as Naruto prepared to die. However, Kurama revealed that Naruto would be fine, as it was Kurama's life that was gambled from using Baryon Mode. Kurama revealed the double meaning behind its earlier words and Naruto interpreted it as Baryon Mode resulting in his death rather than Kurama's. Before Kurama's life finally faded away, it warned Naruto that he would lose all access to Kurama's chakra and abilities, meaning he would have to be more careful from now on.

In Other Media

Movies

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow

Main article: Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow During the fight between Naruto and Dotō Kazahana, he managed to knock Naruto, who was at the disadvantage due to having the Chakra Negator on him, through the ice of the lake they were standing on, causing him to sink beneath the waters. However, as Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for its chakra, which helped break the Chakra Negator, it allowed him to recover quickly and summon his shadow clones to overwhelm Dotō.

Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom

Main article: Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom During an attempt to escape the Land of the Moon, the three ninja hired by Shabadaba attacked, disabling Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee with poison mists that slowed their reactions. The prince Michiru Tsuki was captured, but the emergence of the Nine-Tails' chakra allowed Naruto to repel the attacking ninja before the prince's son could be taken.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds

Main article: Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds When Naruto fought against the Zero-Tails to free Amaru from its influence, the malevolent spirit sensed the Nine-Tails within Naruto and expressed desire to obtain its power. The Zero-Tails then taunted Naruto and coaxed him into using the fox's power by saying that he couldn't save anyone without it. That made Naruto remember his failure in saving Sasuke and became emotionally unstable, which caused him to eventually enter his four-tailed form. After fighting with the spirit for a while, he turned back to normal when a seal on Naruto given by Jiraiya came off and reminded him of how the tailed beast chakra hurt his friends in which he immediately turned back to normal.

Later, when Shinnō grabbed hold of both Naruto and Sasuke and began draining their chakra to empower the Zero-Tails, Sasuke activated the first level of his cursed seal, releasing its evil chakra, and Naruto, who had understood Sasuke's plan, sent a large amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra into the Zero-Tails, which was too much for the spirit to handle. They managed to break free and Naruto used the Tornado Rasengan to defeat it.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie

Main article: Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie In the alternate world that Naruto and Sakura ended up in, the Nine-Tails has a counterpart called the Black Nine-Tails (黒九尾, Kuro Kyūbi), who is sealed within the body of Naruto's alternate self, Menma. Menma's hatred has allowed him to bond with the Black Nine-Tails, and he is able to create and control living entities composed of its chakra, which are known as the Nine Masked Beasts. He doesn't display any kind of tailed beast transformations during the film, but he is able to completely unleash the black fox, using it in a manner similar to a summon.

Kurama vs Black Kurama

The Nine-Tails vs. the Black Nine-Tails.

As they fought, Menma restored and summoned the Black Nine-Tails so he could finish Naruto off. While the Nine-Tails berated its jinchūriki for being overwhelmed by a fake, it offered a truce with Naruto to work together since the fox didn't want to be trapped into a world controlled by Tobi. Having no other choice, Naruto opened the seal to summon the Nine-Tails in a similar matter to fight against its opposite. In the battle, Naruto was barely able to win, but Tobi revealed that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken the Nine-Tails. As he possessed Menma, the Nine-Tails warned Naruto to avoid eye contact with the Sharingan, as it would allow Tobi to extract the fox out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina.

Video Games

Kurama has some minor roles in some of the Naruto video games.

Trivia

Springtime of Youth
The Springtime of Youth wiki has an article about this topic:
  • Kurama was the first character shown in the series.
  • "Kurama" (九喇嘛) literally means "nine lama". Kishimoto was mainly inspired to create Kurama based on the character with the same name from the manga series Yū Yū Hakusho.[78] The name may also reference Mount Kurama (鞍馬山, Kurama-yama), the sacred mountain said to be the home of Sōjōbō, a tengu who taught the arts of swordsmanship to Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
  • Kitsune (, fox) are popular animal yōkai in Japanese folklore, and are very well-known to be cunning tricksters with shape-shifting abilities, to which on occasions, use to transform themselves into beautiful women in order to seduce men (possibly the inspiration for the Sexy Technique; Naruto even thought Kushina would be Kurama, when they first met). They are also said to be rivals to the tanuki, which created an old Japanese proverb: "A fox and a tanuki matching their cleverness" (狐と狸の化かし合い, kitsune to tanuki no bakashi ai), which meant the two sly characters trying to outsmart one another. However, kitsune are known to keep their promises, a trait Naruto has with his nindō. Stories often depict kitsune growing additional tails as they age, which increases their magical power; once a kitsune reaches 1,000 years of age and grows their ninth and final tail, their fur turns gold and becomes a tenko (天狐, celestial fox), making themselves equivalent to a kami.
  • In the manga pilot, Kurama was actually Naruto's father, who attacked the village of Mt. Oinari and required nine shinobi to defeat him. Hiruzen was the only survivor and had taken pity on Naruto, who had taken human form, and allowed him to live in the village.
  • Kurama's death was featured in Boruto episode 218, on the 19th anniversary of the debut of the Naruto anime, where Kurama debuted.
  • Despite being a kitsune in appearance, Kurama has never once been called the Kyubi no Kitsune in the official translation, but is erroneously called that in the English anime and Viz translations.

Quotes

  • (To Naruto) "I suppose I can't kill you, can I? After all, you die, I die. Your courage is impressive, little boy… Very well, as a reward for making it this far, I will loan you my chakra!"[79]
  • (To Naruto) "You runt, you really are weak! You better be grateful to me… and to your beloved Fourth Hokage, who sealed me inside a twerp like you!"[80]
  • (To Sasuke) "With that vision of yours and chakra more ominous than my own… You're the spitting image of Madara Uchiha from the elder days…"[81]
  • (To Naruto) "Destroy everything… Erase everything that hurts you… Entrust your heart to me… I will save you from your pain…"[82]
  • (To Naruto) "You don't have what it takes to control my power! You're nothing more than a mere fragment of my hatred!"[83]
  • (To Naruto) "Are you stupid!? I am the Nine-Tails! I haven't fallen so far that a little brat can influence me! I am hatred incarnate!"[31]
  • (About Naruto) "Naruto… If you really want to do something for us… then do what you've always done… Prove it to us with your actions! That's who you are!"[84]
  • (To Obito about Naruto) "Sorry, but… this guy doesn't suit your words. The Fourth Hokage entrusted me to him, and not only has Naruto befriended me… he mastered my power as well!! The Fourth sealed me inside Naruto… to take you down! Go… Naruto! You won't fail!!"[37]
  • (To Kawaki about Naruto) "Hmph… He was always lonely. Now, he uses the Shadow Clone Technique as his specialty. It's ironic, isn't it…? Originally, he was bad at ninjutsu itself. He was especially bad at things like the Clone Technique… But in the end, the void in Naruto's heart… wasn't filled by some sort of jutsu… I got to watch closely as Naruto's heart slowly became fuller… He's certainly living proof of it…"[85]
  • (Last words to Naruto) "Well, I guess this is it. I've got to go, but… be real careful. You won't have superhuman strength anymore. So if you overdo it, you'll end up joining me in no time. But until that day comes… you be well… Naruto."[86]

References

  1. Rin no Sho, page 61
  2. Tō no Sho, pages 82-83
  3. Sha no Sho, pages 70-71
  4. Jin no Sho, pages 148-151
  5. Naruto chapter 1, page 12
  6. Naruto chapter 467, pages 15-16
  7. 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Naruto chapter 572
  8. Naruto: Shippūden episode 464
  9. Naruto chapter 149, page 9
  10. Naruto chapter 370, page 14
  11. Naruto chapter 527, page 5
  12. Naruto chapter 529, pages 3-4
  13. Naruto chapter 594, page 6
  14. Naruto chapter 399, pages 11-13
  15. Naruto chapters 620, 621, 626
  16. 16.0 16.1 Naruto chapter 500
  17. Naruto Gaiden: Whirlwind in the Vortex
  18. Naruto chapters 500-502
  19. Naruto chapter 503
  20. Naruto chapter 370, pages 11-12
  21. Naruto chapter 642, page 17
  22. 22.0 22.1 Naruto chapter 504
  23. 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 23.4 23.5 Naruto: Shippūden episode 327
  24. Naruto: Shippūden episode 68
  25. 25.0 25.1 Naruto chapter 567, page 10
  26. Naruto chapter 645, page 5
  27. Naruto chapter 594, page 10
  28. Naruto chapter 659, page 5
  29. Naruto chapters 610-611
  30. Boruto chapter 35, pages 7-8
  31. 31.0 31.1 Naruto chapter 539, page 2
  32. Naruto chapters 496-499
  33. Naruto chapter 539, pages 1-4
  34. Naruto chapter 568, pages 15-17
  35. Naruto chapter 569, pages 12-17
  36. Naruto chapter 570, page 15
  37. 37.0 37.1 Naruto chapter 597, pages 18-20
  38. Naruto chapter 594, pages 4-5, 12
  39. Naruto chapter 615
  40. Boruto episode 126
  41. 41.0 41.1 41.2 Boruto chapter 52
  42. Boruto chapter 55
  43. Boruto chapter 35, page 2
  44. Naruto chapter 645, pages 3-6
  45. Naruto chapter 691, page 6
  46. 46.0 46.1 The Day Naruto Became Hokage (OVA)
  47. Naruto chapter 620, page 14
  48. Naruto chapter 610, page 5
  49. Naruto chapter 643, pages 1-2
  50. Naruto: Shippūden episode 380
  51. Naruto chapter 645, page 7
  52. Naruto chapter 695
  53. Naruto chapter 471, page 11
  54. Naruto chapter 568, page 8
  55. 55.0 55.1 55.2 55.3 Naruto chapter 571
  56. 56.0 56.1 The Last: Naruto the Movie
  57. Boruto: Naruto the Movie
  58. Naruto chapter 594, page 10
  59. Naruto chapter 353, page 5
  60. Naruto chapter 616, pages 4-6
  61. Naruto chapter 698, page 3
  62. Naruto chapter 1, page 1
  63. Naruto chapter 658, page 11
  64. Naruto chapter 695
  65. Naruto chapter 497, pages 6-7
  66. Naruto chapter 499, pages 7-8
  67. Naruto chapter 610, page 14
  68. Naruto chapter 497, page 5
  69. Naruto chapter 292, pages 9-11
  70. Naruto chapter 438, pages 5-6
  71. Naruto chapter 496, page 10
  72. Naruto chapter 696, page 14
  73. Naruto: Shippūden episode 167
  74. Naruto chapter 609, pages 9-14
  75. Naruto chapter 610, pages 9-10
  76. Naruto: Shippūden episode 409
  77. Naruto chapter 645, page 4
  78. Second Artbook, pages 74-81
  79. Naruto chapter 95, pages 16-17
  80. Naruto chapter 230, page 16
  81. Naruto chapter 309, page 3
  82. Naruto chapter 439, page 11
  83. Naruto chapter 497, page 16
  84. Naruto chapter 569, pages 15-17
  85. Boruto chapter 35, pages 5-6
  86. Boruto chapter 55, pages 6-7