From the moment I was born, I've been thinking about one question.
Who am I?
The Nine-Tails that the old Sage of Six Paths talks about? A part of the Ten-Tails? Or the monster called Kurama?
Old Sage of Six Paths, you said we were all important parts in helping the Child of Prophecy beat Kaguya in the future. But what about beyond that? What am I? Just a tool to defeat Kaguya? Or a monster with its own mind?
Or just... a part of the Ten-Tails?
I've been thinking about this all along.
People call me a disaster, so am I a disaster?
People say I'm too strong, so am I a powerhouse?
I haven't done anything, but people fear me. Is it because I'm a disaster?
Because I run around outside, they seal me away. Is it because I'm a powerhouse?
I've had these doubts for so long.
Who... am I, really?
In the pitch-black void of my inner world, Kurama lay on the ground, staring blankly at the darkness all around.
Suddenly, a sliver of light appeared in the darkness.
It was a human.
He said: "Nine-Tails? Kurama? Holy crap! I time-traveled!"
He said: "Kurama, can you not kill me? Please! I haven't finished watching my new episodes!"
He said: "You ask me who you are? You're Kurama, duh. What kind of question is that?"
"I'm not afraid of you, okay, maybe a little scared. After all, you are pretty huge... No other meaning behind that."
I asked him: Am I Nine-Tails Kurama? A part of the Ten-Tails? A piece of the old Sage's future plan? A disaster? A powerhouse... What am I? What are Tailed Beasts?
He said: "Who knows about that? How about we play a round of exciting Ludo? Or Gwent works too; I'm the best card player in my village."
This human is nuts.
I realized that, so I stopped paying attention to him.
But that human... was a bit more annoying than I expected.
He jumped around nonstop, spouting words I couldn't understand. He wasn't even a ninja, weak as an ant. I really wanted to squash him flat with my butt.
A long, long time later—who knows how long, just really long—he asked me: "Kurama, what do you think decides who a person is? Their soul or their memories?"
Without thinking, I answered: "The soul."
He looked up at me: "Then what
if... you had my memories but lost your memories as Kurama? Would you be me, or Kurama?"
I froze.
Because I couldn't answer that.
He saw how stuck I was and laughed: "Kurama, I think what decides who a person is isn't the soul, but memories—the real ones. Even if you're not me, once you have my memories and confirm the things in them are real, you'll believe them. At that point... 'you' will fade away, replaced by a new 'me'."
"A 'me' with 'your' memories, not a 'you' with 'my' memories."
He smiled: "Kurama, life is pretty boring. Most memories are meaningless junk. It's these fake memories that make you doubt if you're even real. In our words, it's just boredom eating at you."
What are you trying to say?
I asked him.
He stood in front of me: "Let's do an experiment, Kurama. Devour me, take my memories, and when you wake up, tell yourself who you are: Kurama, or 'me'."
Why?
I didn't get why this guy wanted to die.
He answered with a helpless laugh: "I think I can't get out. I'll just live deep in your memories. But your memories are too dull—not even close to my short twenty-something years. So... I don't want to die. I just want a different way to keep living."
You think your twenty years of memories can take over my body?
"Take over your body? Why would you think that?" He rolled his eyes like he was using Byakugan. "I have zero interest in your body. And even if my memories did take it over then, it'd be a new 'me', not the original me."
"Besides, you're Kurama. No way I'd take over you." He sat on the ground and sighed. "I'm just... too bored. I'm not immortal, so I can't handle being alone for years like this. Kurama, I give up."
I didn't want to kill him, because he was interesting.
"No worries. Once you get my memories, you'll have a whole new life. Maybe not super exciting, maybe boring as heck, but full of fun stuff." He looked up at the pitch-black space, his eyes shining.
"Games, anime, comics, novels, waifu posters, and all that weird junk hardcoded in our DNA."
"Super fun... Kurama, the other world is super fun..." The light in his eyes faded. "Really fun. Next time... nah, not going."
He cried.
He... vanished.
Now in this silence, it was just me again.
I closed my eyes to sleep like before...
Couldn't sleep. Anyway, bored, so let's see what this guy left me before disappearing.
I'm not interested in that stuff. I'm just a little curious why a puny human could be so hyper.
I... saw that guy's memories.
I woke up.
I looked at the darkness before me, the endless darkness, the darkness wrapping around me... I couldn't stay here another second.
Human, I admit it—you got me interested.
—
Kurama opened his eyes to the familiar underground passage, the familiar seal bars, but something felt different. E
In his memories, there was another person's shadow, in another world—no chakra, no ninjas—and he was just a character in something called anime.
Wait, am I Kurama?
No, I think I'm... from Earth? What's my name again?
Kurama forgot. For a moment, he didn't even know if he was the Tailed Beast Kurama or that Earth guy.
But whatever, I'm me.
I could tell that guy's memories couldn't take over my body. I'm still Kurama. I just gained some unknown experiences from another world, from childhood to the crossover.
That other world is fun, way more fun than this place.
Games, anime, comics, novels, waifu posters, and all that weird junk hardcoded in our DNA...
Yeah, that question I've been pondering since birth.
Who am I?
The answer is simple.
I'm Kurama.
I want to play more games, watch more anime, read more comics and novels, collect more waifu posters.
...
"Hahahahaha!!!" Facing Naruto, Sasuke, and Kaguya's stares, Kurama threw his head back and laughed. "This is the meaning of my life!"
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