How Kurama Leads Naruto Astray

Also known as: The more you try to let it go, the angrier you get. The more you give in, the more you feel like you lost.

— Naruto couldn't fall asleep that night. He kept tossing and turning, still stuck on the argument he had with Kurama earlier. "I should've said something else… If I put it differently, I definitely could've won the argument."

"Water Style: Exploding Water Shockwave!"

Just as Naruto and Kurama were chatting away, a massive stream of water suddenly burst from the sky. It looked like the heavens had opened, pouring endless waves straight down.

Naruto stayed calm. He raised his right hand, and a black Truth-Seeking Orb turned into a shield above him. No matter how strong the water was, it couldn't break through its defense.

"Damn, that's tough," Kisame clicked his tongue, looking up at Naruto in the sky. "Flying really is a pain. If Deidara weren't busy catching the One-Tail, he should be the one dealing with this guy."

Deidara's flying and bombing combo, paired with Hidan's immortality and death ritual, made a better team on paper than Kisame and Hidan. But Deidara wasn't available right now.

"You little brat!" Hidan yelled from the ground, completely losing it. He pointed his bloody scythe at Naruto and started cursing, "You think you're tough 'cause you're up there? Come down if you've got guts! Don't be a coward! Fight me one-on-one!"

Seeing Hidan jumping around in anger, Naruto actually smiled like it was funny. "If I just flew off now, wouldn't those two down there be super pissed?"

"Heh, I agree you should just leave," Kurama said flatly, "but would you actually do that?"

Naruto looked awkward. "Nope."

He wasn't Sasuke, after all.

"Well, that's that then," Kurama said, shrugging.

Honestly, Naruto's personality could be really annoying sometimes. If you can avoid a fight and go straight to the target, why wouldn't you? But Naruto just couldn't walk away. Whether it was a good person or a bad one, he always showed respect.

"I already told you what to do. Hurry up and finish them. Shukaku's been nagging me again, saying we're taking too long," Kurama waved him off.

"Got it." Naruto nodded, his face turning serious. He made some hand signs and started gathering chakra. "Sorry, but since we're short on time, I can't waste any more with you two."

Hidan didn't react much. He just smiled even more creepily. "Finally coming down, huh?"

Kisame's face turned tense. He squinted at Naruto, hands still locked in a sign, his whole body on high alert.

The next second, an enormous wave of chakra burst out of Naruto's body. Golden light wrapped around him like a cloak, and the wind above stirred with it—bringing along a surge of powerful natural energy.

Uzumaki Naruto, in Six Paths Mode, had arrived.

Kisame twitched at the corner of his mouth. "Wow… You really think we're that strong, huh?"

White Zetsu had been secretly watching Naruto for a while. Even if he didn't know exactly how strong Naruto was, he had a good idea. They were familiar with Naruto's different forms: the Nine-Tails cloak, Kurama mode, Sage mode, Sage Fox mode, and now the strongest—Six Paths mode.

Kisame knew the differences between each mode. So when Naruto jumped straight to his strongest form, he really couldn't hold it in.

Suddenly, a strange thought popped into Kisame's head. He gave a sly smile, looked up at Naruto, and said in a sarcastic tone, "You know, as a strong person, shouldn't you show some spirit and fight fair? Isn't it kind of overkill to use your strongest power against someone weaker?"

Kurama practically yelled, "Oh man!"

That level of guilt-tripping? Top tier. Classic Akatsuki move.

"Tsk tsk tsk\~" Kurama clicked his tongue and shook his head. "Hearing that made me so mad I started shaking. In this hot weather, I broke into a cold sweat. My hands and feet went numb. Is this what the world has come to? When will strong people finally be treated fairly? I couldn't stop crying. This whole ninja world is just unfair to the strong. When can we finally stand tall again?"

Naruto's face darkened. He was about to say something back to Kurama when he suddenly froze.

His eyes lit up. Naruto cleared his throat and began to mimic Kurama: "Hearing that made me so mad I started shaking. In this hot weather... uh... I forgot the rest."

"Zero points! Go back and memorize it again!" Kurama flipped a table.

You can't even remember it on the spot? Automatic fail!

"You made it too long," Naruto said, immediately blaming him.

Kurama was straight-up mad.

But that didn't matter much. Down below, Kisame didn't look too good either—actually, his face was full of confusion.

Hidan scratched the back of his head like a dope. "Hey, Kisame, what did that brat just say?"

"You're asking me? Who am I supposed to ask?" Kisame suddenly felt like Itachi-san.

He looked up at the sky. *Itachi-san, the cherry blossoms in the Leaf Village are blooming—can you see them?*

Oh, wait. It's not even that season. Never mind then.

Anyway, Kisame shook the weird thoughts from his head and decided to just keep quiet. Their goal was to stall for time. Whether they stalled or Naruto did, it didn't matter—as long as time passed.

Too bad things never go as planned. Just as he shut his mouth, Naruto and Kurama finished arguing.

And honestly, when it comes to arguing, even Naruto and Sasuke together can't beat Kurama.

Kurama smugly lifted his chin and stared at Naruto with a proud look. Naruto, having lost the argument, just stood there fuming and glaring at the two enemies below… or rather, two punching bags.

Naruto clenched his fists. "I don't care if you're ready or not—bottom line, I'm in a hurry!"

The moment he finished speaking, Naruto vanished on the spot.

Kisame's eyes shrank. His hands moved on reflex, no time to think. Chakra surged: "Water Style: Water Wall!"

A waterfall-like wall of water erupted around him, twisting the view inside so much it was impossible to see clearly.

A flash of golden light tore through the waterfall. In an instant, Naruto was in front of Kisame, holding a black Tailed Beast Bomb in his hand, his expression ice cold. "Kurama once told me—when taking down enemies, go for the brain first."

And Kisame was clearly smarter than Hidan. In a real fight, it made sense to take out the brains first.

With the bomb right in front of him, Kisame didn't have time to listen to anything. Instinct kicked in. He pulled out Samehada and held it up, hoping its chakra-absorbing ability would suck in the Tailed Beast Bomb...

Could it really?

Samehada's strong, but it's no Rinnegan.

It managed to absorb just a tiny bit of chakra before the bomb exploded in a deafening blast. Flames and thunderous noise swallowed Kisame, and the water wall around him hadn't even fully faded yet.

Hidan turned his head just in time to see Kisame completely engulfed in fire and smoke.

His eyes widened as he raised his scythe to block. But Naruto's punch landed right on the handle. With a loud metallic clang, the force was too much—Hidan couldn't hold onto the weapon.

The punch, with the blade still in it, slammed right into Hidan's chest.

A huge dent appeared in his chest, and with blood shooting from his mouth, Hidan flew backward with a stunned look, smashing into a massive stone wall behind him.

Dust and debris filled the air.

Naruto pulled his fist back, staring coldly at the two of them.

From the moment Naruto moved to now, only one second had passed.

In his head, Naruto replayed the argument and clenched his fists again in frustration. "I have a great memory! There's no way I got a zero! Kurama, you did that on purpose!"

Kurama: "…"

It's been half a chapter, and *now* you bring that up?

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