Naruto is one of the most popular anime and manga franchises of all time, telling the story of a young ninja aspiring to become the Hokage of his village. The series has a variety of characters, shinobi clans, plot twists, backstories, tragedies and so on, and it starts with the narration of the events that took place in Konoha over a decade ago. Back then, Konoha was attacked by the legendary nine-tailed beast, resulting in numerous casualties. Even the fourth Hokage lost his life in the battle with the monster. As a result, the villagers were hostile toward the nine-tailed beast. Before he died, the fourth Hokage sealed away the beast inside the body of an infant who was later revealed to be Naruto, his son.
Not only that, but Naruto had to train extensively to stop Kurama from taking control of his body. It wasn’t until when the Fourth Great Shinobi War started that fans learned about Kurama’s past and his perception of humans. Naruto was shunned by the village because of that. The plot revolves around the character development of Naruto as he rises to the top in the face of criticism and ostracization. He becomes the village’s hero and eventually achieves his dream of becoming a Hokage. A lesser-known plot point is why exactly Kurama was perceived as a villain for most of the series.
Kurama’s Childhood: How His Tragedy Began
Kurama was born from the power of the ten-tailed beast. After the Sage of the Six Paths defeated the ten-tailed beast, he made himself its Jinchuruki and sealed the monster inside him. However, as he was about to die, he divided the power of the ten-tailed beast into nine separate beings, each with a different number of tails. The number of tails denotes their strength.
For example, the one-tailed beast would be the weakest, whereas the two-tailed beast would have double its power. As someone with the maximum number of tails, Kurama was the strongest among his peers. Like the other tailed beasts, he was emotionally attached to the Sage. Kurama’s tragedy began during the battle between Indra and Asura. Indra is the ancestor of the Uchiha clan, all of whom have the ability to control the tailed beasts and make them do their bidding. Indra forcefully made Kurama fight against Asura, and after a series of events, all the tailed beasts were scattered around the world.
How Was Kurama Sealed Inside Humans?
Kurama was not unsealed until the fight between Madara and Hashirama, although even then, he was not entirely free since he had to be controlled by the Uchihas. After Madara’s defeat, Hashirama took Kurama with him. His wife, Mito Uzumaki, volunteered to seal Kurama inside her body and restrain him from doing any damage. The Uzumaki clan was known to have more chakra and unique abilities than any other clan, making them suitable hosts for containing the power of the nine-tailed beast within their bodies.
Ever since then, Kurama’s powers were used to signify the power and stability of Konoha. Later, the other great shinobi nations all started using tailed beasts as their secret weapons, paranoid because of Kurama being kept in Konoha. Therefore, under their insistence, Hashirama agreed to make a pact for the sake of peace. Years went by and Mito became too old to carry on her duties as a Jinchuruki. Therefore, Naruto’s mother, Kushina, was chosen as the next Jinchuruki. Following her came Naruto, who had a legendary beast sealed inside his body without even knowing it.
The Mastermind Behind the Attack on Konoha
The attack on Konoha was a tragedy that went down in history. Kurama wreaked havoc in the village, not sparing even the children. Even the village’s strongest shinobi, the Hokage, sacrificed his life for the sake of his people. At that time, no human was capable of stopping the overwhelmingly terrifying creature who spilled hatred from his eyes. After a long battle, Kurama was forcefully sealed inside Naruto’s body. The village soon got back to its feet, with the Third Hokage being reappointed as Hokage after his retirement. The nightmare ended with the village being united as strong as ever.
However, what people didn’t know was that the attack wasn’t Kurama’s fault. He was taken out of Kushina’s body while she was giving birth to Naruto. A Jinchuruki is at their weakest while giving birth. Therefore, the villain Obito took this opportunity to extract Kurama from her. Obito had absolute control over Kurama, and under the manipulation of the Mangekyou Sharingan, Kurama was used as a weapon as part of an elaborate plot. Of course, extracting a tailed beast from a Jinchuruki would usually mean certain death. Kushina was already at death’s door, but because of her Uzumaki blood, she was able to hold on a while longer. Sadly, both she and Minato died together while trying to protect their newborn son.
Kurama Becomes the Embodiment of Hatred
Captured, controlled, used and chained, Kurama suffered all kinds of horrible treatment for centuries at the hands of humans. He couldn’t digest the fact that he had to serve humans who were much weaker than him. Kurama was aware of the treacherous nature of humans, who would always have new tricks to keep him in check.
He lost his father shortly after he was born and was then forced to fight a battle that had nothing to do with him. In particular, he hated the Uchiha and Uzumaki clans, who were mostly responsible for his suffering. At some point in his life, he started fostering a deep resentment toward humankind, once describing himself as the “embodiment of hatred.” His intense hostility and distrust toward shinobi only disappeared once he became friends with Naruto.
Was Kurama Ever Truly Evil?
Kurama’s every action in the series, whether it was the attack on the village or his attempts to take control of Naruto’s body, hints at the fact that he was evil. However, the fact that he became the embodiment of evil later in his life was the result of the human treatment of him. Because Kurama is not human, his tragic backstory is quite underrated. He was forced to do dirty deeds for others and then criticized for it. Of course, it doesn’t help that he is strong beyond compare and has an evil look in his eyes.
Even though his actions at the beginning weren’t exactly honorable, he was never once truly evil. Kurama was just one of the victims of this cruel world, while his friendship with Naruto was extremely deep. After the Fourth Great Shinobi war ended, all the tailed beasts decided to fulfill their dreams and live free from humanity. However, Kurama was the only one who decided to stay inside Naruto and watch over him for the rest of the latter’s life.
