Naruto: the story of Kurama, the nine-tailed fox

 

Among the best characters in Naruto, one of the most beloved and complex is Kurama, the nine-tailed fox that lives inside the protagonist. This is a key bijuu that we see evolve as the anime's story progresses and adapts in a certain way to the situations that link it with Naruto to stay alive with him until it becomes a type of companion.

All jinchūriki and their bijuus are feared and hated by humans, who only see them as weapons of mass destruction. Regarding the relationship between Naruto and Kurama, it is very different from what is seen in others and it is one of the complex things that are important for Naruto to become one of the Hokages of Konoha and help other people. to avoid evil conflicts. In this article, we explain what the history of the 9-tailed fox is and why it has been so essential to the plot.

Who is Kurama?

The Kyubi evolves as a character over time

Kurama, also known as Kyubi, is the nine-tailed bijuu and the most powerful of them all. His name means "wisdom" or "cunning" in Japanese. He has the appearance of a giant orange fox with red eyes and his chakra is red.

This creature originated from the chakra of the legendary sage of the six paths, the first ninja that existed and who created ninjutsu. The sage had a son named Hagoromo, who inherited his chakra and his will for peace. He had a friend named Hamura, who was also his brother. Together, they sealed away the tree god, an evil entity that absorbed the chakra of humans. However, the Tree God gave birth to a creature named Kaguya, who was the mother of Hagoromo and Hamura. Kaguya rebelled against her children and tried to recover the chakra that had been taken from her. However, Hagoromo and Hamura defeated her and sealed her within Hagoromo, making him the Tree God's jinchuuriki.

Hagoromo knew that he could not maintain the seal forever, so before dying, he divided the Tree God's chakra into nine parts and generated the nine bijuus that were represented by tails, including Kurama. He gave each one a name and asked them to get along with each other and with humans. However, the human race did not do its part and began to hunt the bijuus to use them in their wars as weapons.

How did Naruto meet Kurama?

Kurama would be the most powerful Bijuu of all

Throughout history, several ninja villages took over Kurama , but he always found a way to flee or be freed. One of those who mastered it was Madara Uchiha, a powerful ninja who sought to reunite the nine bijuus to resurrect the Tree God and create an illusory world where he ruled. Thus, Madara employed Kurama to raid the hidden leaf village, where Naruto resided. It was then that the fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, confronted Kurama and managed to seal him inside his newborn son, giving up his life on the spot.

Naruto became Kurama's jinchuuriki without knowing it, so he grew up being disowned and hated by the villagers, who considered him a monster. He was unaware of the reason until he learned the truth about Kurama when he was twelve years old. From that moment on, he had to endure the hatred and fear of others, but also the resentment and fury of Kurama, who held him responsible for his confinement and wanted to escape from him.

How did Naruto become friends with Kurama?

For a long period, both characters maintained a tense and difficult relationship. On the one hand, Naruto was afraid that his bijuu would take over him and transform him into a monster, while Kurama looked down on Naruto and considered him an insignificant container. However, as time went by, Naruto gained the respect and sympathy of Kurama and others. Therefore, he did not stop following his dreams of becoming the best shinobi of the village and the future hokage, so he had to fight against many fearsome adversaries, such as Orochimaru, Pain, Sasuke and Madara.

In these battles, Naruto perfected his chakra and techniques, while strengthening his bond with the nine-tailed fox. This was how he showed Kurama that he was not like other humans, that he did not treat him as an instrument, but as a companion, transmitting to him the meaning of friendship, loyalty, and affection. In fact, he made her remember the words Hagoromo once said to her.

In the end, Naruto and Kurama managed to overcome their disagreements and became partners. Together they faced Madara, who had managed to gather the other eight bijuus and resurrect the Tree God, but the good thing is that they managed to free the other bijuus and persuaded them to ally with them to defeat Madara.

After the war, Naruto realized his dream of being the seventh Hokage and started a family with Hinata Hyuga. Kurama continued to live within him but with more autonomy and consideration. The two became inseparable and had many more adventures.