Post by Smyles on Apr 25, 2013 7:10:54 GMT -5
Kurama
Kyūbi
The Nine-Tails
[ HOST ] Naruto Uzumaki
[ LOCATION ] Konohagakure
[ STRENGTH ] 1st
[ CHAKRA ] 1st
Kurama 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. 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.
Over the centuries, Kurama has gained a reputation as an age-old natural disaster, appearing suddenly out of nowhere to attack areas wherever human malice had collected and festered.
At one point during the time of the formation of the shinobi villages, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure were assigned to capture Kurama, but they were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers managed to survive and gain some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, which caused Kurama to regurgitate them.
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. After the fight, Hashirama's wife, Mito Uzumaki, sealed Kurama within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki. Towards the end of her life, Mito passed on this status and responsibility to another member of her clan, Kushina, who later became the wife of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage.
Twelve years before the start of the series, after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the seal containing Kurama within Kushina weakened as she became pregnant and gave birth to Naruto. Despite keeping her childbirth a secret, Tobi discovered her location, killed her escorts and managed to break the seal, seizing control of Kurama. Since Kushina survived the extraction, Tobi tried to have Kurama kill her before Minato got her and their son to safety. After that, Tobi summoned Kurama into Konoha, and ordered it to destroy the village.
While Kurama was rampaging in the village and decimating the shinobi forces that tried to repel it, Minato manages to place a Contract Seal on Tobi during their fight to freed the fox from the masked man's control. Before Kurama could annihilate Konoha, Minato 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 Tobi still was to the village, came up with a different plan to give Konoha the means to combat Tobi if he should ever attack the village again.
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 use the Eight Trigrams Seal to imprison the fox, along with its Yang chakra, within Naruto. Kurama realised Minato's intention and attempted to stop the process by killing Naruto while Kushina was weakened. Both Minato and Kushina sacrificed themselves to protect their child, with Kurama cursing the two during its last moments of freedom.
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 power for his own agenda.
Kurama is characterised as cynical and shrewd, with a distinct sense of honour and pride. It uses 'washi' (ワシ) when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. 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. However, this sentiment was not extended to its brethren, as Gyūki mentioned that they, especially Shukaku, hated Kurama for its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails. Kurama even told Naruto that he should be ashamed for having Gyūki help him in their battle over its chakra.
Because of its long history of both its forced subjugation to the Sharingan and being sealed within the Uzumaki jinchūriki, Kurama expressed intense hatred and distrust for humans, even showing its animosity toward Naruto whenever they communicated. The two 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. This status quo would remain between the two until the Fourth Shinobi World War, when Naruto, with the help from his mother, defeated Kurama and took control of its chakra.
During their first conversation after taking its chakra, Kurama was shocked to hear Naruto wanting to do something about its hatred. Although the fox reproached him for making such a claim, it nevertheless showed Kurama that Naruto was different from the humans it previously encountered, which made it stop consuming Naruto's chakra while he was using his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, allowing Naruto to keep on fighting throughout the night of the war. Later, while the reincarnated Madara Uchiha was fighting against one of Naruto's shadow clones and the Fourth Division, Kurama, while claiming to only be helping Naruto because he was a better alternative than the reincarnated Uchiha, gave Naruto enough chakra to repel his attacks. Afterwards, in Naruto's battle against Tobi and his Six Paths of Pain, Kurama — having witnessed the challenges and endeavours Naruto had in his life, and heard his intention of helping the tailed beasts — silently told Naruto that if he truly meant to do that, he would have to prove it through his actions, not his words. When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū, Kurama 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 partner. In that short space of time, the two have built a trusting relationship with one another, even to the point where Naruto would allow the fox to take control of his body without worry, and switch back without hesitation. Kurama would later admit that it had the utmost faith in Naruto being able to defeat Tobi and to carry on the legacy Minato and Jiraiya had left him. Kurama no longer seems to hold a grudge against Minato for sealing it inside of Naruto and even seems to be happy about it now.
Although Kurama is a 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. Out of all the tailed beasts, Kurama's form most closely relates to the Ten-Tails'. During the last remaining days of the Sage of the Six Paths, Kurama was a young kit much smaller than its present-day self, but was still much larger than the Sage. 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, but it later regained its healthy look after consuming a certain amount of Naruto's chakra while he was using its own.
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.
Being the strongest of the nine tailed beasts, it is said that Kurama can create tsunamis and flatten mountains with just a single swipe from one of its tails. With its massive supply of chakra, it can turn its roar into a powerful shockwave that can repel and destroy anything within its radius, increase its physical strength and speed, and fire Tailed Beast Balls. Kurama also has the ability to sense negative emotions, to which Naruto also gained after gaining control of its chakra. In the anime, it was shown to be able to create twisters and breathe fire.
Despite 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), effortlessly block Naruto's Sage Art: Ultra-Big Ball Rasengan with its tails, and — with Gyūki's assistance — fight and defeat five tailed beasts. Naruto also noted that it was extremely fast despite its massive size. 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.
Even though it is extremely durable, Kurama, when caught off guard, can be weakened by attacks that deals with massive physical impacts, such as Naruto's senjutsu-enhanced Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres. Kurama will "die" with its jinchūriki, if it is still sealed within them at the time of its host's death. The fox will, however, be revived later. It is also susceptible to control by the Sharingan, though only Madara Uchiha and Tobi had accomplished this great feat. 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 and that there is only a slight possibility of winning if the fox fought alongside with the other tailed beasts.
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. 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 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, a sword known as being able to cut through adamantine, and is completely undamaged by the alkali substance excreted by Saiken, which was able to damage Gyūki and disintegrate its surroundings rapidly.