Chapter 85.2- One Thousand Hands

“Then I will do it myself. I’ll take Suna by storm, and make what the Raikage and I did here look like a warning shot” I said. I could feel it within me. I’d never tried to fire one before, but something told me that in two or three tailed beast bombs, Suna would have little left standing to contest me anymore.

“And you can use a tailed beast bomb with your power can you?” I heard Kurama’s voice in my head.

‘What?’

“You forget our agreement way too often, brat. I let you use my chakra to fight your enemies and then you fight my enemies when I decide I want you to”

‘Yes, I remember that being our deal. And Suna is my enemy’

“Maybe. Maybe that is so. But you will not use my chakra to slaughter thousands of civilians. Not when I will be able to to feel the pain of those lives being snuffed out. Killing some humans in the middle of combat is one thing, but setting out to kill thousands of them for vengeance against a single woman? Is that the peace in this world that you wondered about bringing?”

‘I never said I was all that interested in peace. I said it would be fun to fulfill the Sage’s dream, but peace isn’t really my business, Kurama;,

“So you won’t help me kill this monster that took my cousin from me?”

“The second we find this Chiyo woman, I will flood your body with enough of my chakra to light up a small village. But that is for when we find here. We shall not use the innocents of a village as leverage for that”

‘And since when did you care about humans or keeping them alive?’ I asked.

“My father, for whatever reason cared about your wretched species. Why do you think my siblings and I refrained from destroying you all the first dozen times you dared to cross the line? We’ve had more than enough chances to do it, trust me. We could allow you gather in your cities in your numbers and only a few tailed beast bombs would bring everything on this planet to its knees. And then who would poison the seas, who would flood my nose with the smell of negative emotions, who would create the art and beauty that your species does so effortlessly? Hagoromo believed in your kind, and I will do the same as he did. For better or worse, I will believe. And that belief means I will not permit my chakra to be used in senseless slaughter. And I will not permit you to engage in senseless slaughter while I remain within you as well.”

“Come on, man. Come on” I didn’t even know I’d spoken out loud until I saw the startled looks on my friend’s faces.

“Leave” I said, and to their credit, they wasted no time in doing so. I closed my eyes and opened them right in front of Kurama. We were at the beach. The same beach I’d met that woman what felt like a lifetime ago.