The White Demon Fox

Humans in general are adaptable creatures. When they are presented with facts that goes against previously believed facts, now proven to be false, they switch gears and adapt to the new discoveries. However, when certain beliefs are intertwined with other personal beliefs, linked to strong emotions, the human natural adaptability is forcefully stopped by the challenged humans.

Kushina is now facing the same problem. Kushina had one idol, a role model in her life whom she loved dearly, the very last family member to die and leave her alone in this world. Mito Uzumaki, was a strong, incredibly intelligent and a wise woman. As wise as Mito was, she was even more stubborn like most Uzumaki. When she first met the Kyūbi no Yōko, he was being held down by Hashirama Senju, her beloved husband, using his famous wood release. Mito saw the crazed look in Kurama's eyes, the anger, the hatred, the sheer malice he was radiating. Mito instantly formed a solid stubborn belief that she was looking at this world evil incarnate. To some extent, she was not wrong, yet she did not bother to go further and judged the powerful fox from that very first impression as something that needed to be locked away forever. Mito like the rest of mankind did not give mighty Kyūbi a single considerate thought. Mito never once thought that what she saw from Kurama At that moment was the result of being enslaved by Madara Uchiha followed by being captured and forced down by Hashirama Senju.

That stubborn belief was passed down from Mito to Kushina before Kurama's transfer to Kushina. Mito passed down and taught Kushina so much, yet the one she kept repeating are the warnings about the demon, never trust him, never listen to anything he says, never allow him even the smallest room to move one of his tails, he could not be killed, so he must be held down with everything as tightly as possible, he was everything wrong with their world, evil manifestation.

Now Kushina, was in the presence of someone far greater than Mito ever was, their ancestor, the legendary Sage of Six Paths. The Sage is very clear, Mito was wrong, therefore Kushina too is wrong. To accept it is to accept that both of them committed a very heinous crime of enslaving and imprisoning an innocent soul regardless if that soul was the Kyūbi no Yōko. It is a very bitter pill to swallow, but the first step to rectify a mistake no matter how great is always admitting the mistake first, the first step.

"Six Paths Jiji, what should I do?" Asked Kushina as she was struggling with herself.

"You already know child, you are no fool. Let the good in your heart lead you forward, do not obstruct it and whatever happens next accept it and press forward. The past is the past, do not let it rule you or your future actions. I will go and check on him" Said the Sage as he disappeared and left Kushina to her own thoughts.

The Sage appeared near where Kurama was. Kurama was busy working on a new planet that housed nothing but a single ocean that span the whole planet. "Here goes nothing." Said Kurama as he closed his eyes in focus. Abruptly the planet started to shine and emit an incredible amount of life force, Kurama's life force.

"Linked and fully represented now." Said Kurama with a bit of pride in his voice at his work. "Say, father, you said I'm holding a Yin release connection to Kushina. Does that mean my mindscape is my Yin part?"

"Part of it yes, anyone accessing their mindscape are basically accessing the spiritual, imaginary part of themselves, Yin. However, you took it a bit further and linked it to your physical, Yang, part to have a complete representation of your life force here in your mindscape." Answered the Sage.

"Hmm. Does that mean that if I brought someone to my mindscape, scoped water from my life force planet in a cup and then had my guest drink it they would gain life force from me?" Asked Kurama.

"No, that would be Yin to Yin exchange, illusion to illusion. You lose nothing, and they gain nothing from your life force. However, if you were to take the same cup of water from your mindscape to the real world and had someone drink it in the real world then yes, they would gain life force from it, provided that you kept the life force contained in the cup and had a better delivery method than just letting the other party drink it." Said the Sage.

"How is that even possible? Nothing here is real, even when I linked some heavenly bodies to my physical body as a way of live feedback representation for my chakra and life force, all of it is still just in my mind, an illusion, my imagination, ,,,,," Kurama went silent in the end as he remembered something his father said a very long time ago.

"Banbutsu Sōzō no Jutsu (Creation of All Things Technique)." Said Kurama in bewilderment.

The Sage smiled and said, "Smart. You are a long way from it as you only have control over your Yin part within yourself and virtually no understanding or control over Yang, you are on the right track. Do remember something very important, Yin do not command Yang and vice versa. It took me many decades to realize that simple fact, they oppose each other and naturally do not want to work with each other, matter of fact they thrive in the absence of the other. At the same time there can be no life without Yin and Yang linked together, in tandem of each other."

"Hmm, how does the Shinigami have the ability to split me into two perfect halves then? My Yin part would have no life then and my Yang part would have no form holding it." Asked Kurama as he recalled the fate he avoided so far.

"Shinigami is just an agent of the afterlife, not even he can alter the universe laws which chakra are part of. If he does split you in Yin and Yang part it would not be a perfect split, each part would hold enough Yin and Yang to exist, the very minimum the Shinigami can manage. 98% Yin and 2% Yang, while the other part is the opposite 98% Yang and 2% Yin. The numbers are not accurate as I'm not the Shinigami but you get the idea." Answered the Sage.

"Son, this is very difficult for me to talk about because it shows how inadequate of a father I was to you and your other 8 sibilings. However, it is something you must face. I'm sure deep down you already know it, you have shown great intelligence as of late. If you can't face it then you must stop what you are doing all together." Said the Sage with a lot of guilt in his voice.

Kurama looked at his father intently and said, "I'm…., tainted and so are my other 8 siblings. This is why you never gave us complete chakra bodies or even flesh and blood. You could not allow us to be part of this world ecosystem, part of the natural cycle. We can't interact directly with this world without spreading the mad One Eyed God evil, hatred, malice and above all the madness that consumed grandmother."

"Yes, I could separate Jūbi chakra from their body but I have absolutely no idea how to separate the malice out of the chakra itself. This was and still is something that is beyond me. My greatest failure as your father and my eternal shame was to force such burden on you nine. However, I'm confident that you will find a way, you will lift this curse from yourself and your siblings. I have faith in you son! Who knows, maybe the answer is love." Smirked the Sage as he looked at his son when he said the last part.

Kurama sneered and said, "Right, love is the answer and tanukis are better than foxes. Love worked wonderfully for Asura. No, the right answer is right here in my mindscape, what I need is to separate the chakra from the evil it carries, I can already separate them into two different heavenly bodies, two suns, but the problem my physical body don't respond to the changes I do here. My Yang is not responding to my Yin, if I can force whatever change I do here on my real self, my body, then I will have the key to move forward from my legacy. I would be able to teach my siblings to do the same, not sure how would I ever teach anything to worms for brain Shukaku but I will try when I succeed myself."

"Your convictions and beliefs in yourself are what will help you win in the end son. I very much look forward to that day. An old man like myself do need grandchildren in their lives to dote on. I need new ones after all my grandchildren passed away." Said the Sage as he imagined little Kuramas running around.

"I'm spending too much white chakra on the dome I constructed outside. I have a story to finish and a deal to make. Let us go back." Said Kurama as he started to head back towards Kushina.

Kushina saw the two approaching and coming to the floating giant platform she was on. She waited until both were standing in front of her, stood up and bowed her head deep down. "I'm sorry Kyūbi-sama for all the wrongs I have committed against you, please forgive me." Said Kushina with an apologetic tone and regret clearly itched on her bowed face.

Kurama scoffed and said, "Save it, your apologies are worthless and unwanted. Drop the honorific, I know you and you have never once in your life respected the authority of anyone above you. Furthermore, do not call me by my real name or tell anyone about it."

Kushina lifted her head and with usual Uzumaki stubbornness all over her face said, "It is not worthless, I really mean it!dattebane."

"Sit down, I have a story to finish and more to tell you after." Said Kurama.

Kushina did just that as she was looking at Kurama with the stink eyes and a childish pout on her face.

"We were at the part where Kaguya Ōtsutsuki found out she was pregnant. The woman with all her new-found madness, loved her twins in her own twisted new ways. Now like every other mother that loved her babies, insane or not, she realized that her children were in danger of her own clan, she may be able to get away with consuming the fruit for herself but her two celestial hybrid humans would not, the human in them was enough to seal their fate. The Ōtsutsuki would suck her children dry of their chakra until they are rotten dead husks. In addition to the Ōtsutsuki, Kaguya and the rest of Kuna had another hidden problem that never crossed anyone's mind." Said Kurama, hoping Kushina is fully with him and thinking about all he has told her so far.

"What other problems?" Asked Kushina as she was recalling everything that she has been told so far.

"What did I initially tell you about God Trees, what is their most unique trait that set them apart from normal everyday trees?" Asked Kurama.

Kushina thought hard and found the answer Kurama was looking for, "They are sentient!"

"Good. Yes they are, they are hardly an inanimate object, some God Trees are intelligent and carry unique wisdom that no other living being can hold a candle to their wisdom. Our Kuna God Tree, unfortunately was anything but wise, yet sentient nevertheless. Someone dared and stole it fruit. Normally that would not matter but our God Tree like I said before was anything but normal, if it fruit can make someone a God then what is the God Tree itself that produced such fruit?" Said Kurama and asked rhetorically.

"It is in the name, the tree itself was an actual God!" Said Kushina.

Kurama nodded and said, "Yes, but it was still growing, still too young and Kaguya herself will soon unknowingly speed the process in her madness to protect her children from her clan. However, before we move on to what Kaguya did let us rewind back a little to what the Ōtsutsuki clan initially classified Kuna's God Tree, passive evil God Tree. They could not be more wrong, if they paid attention closely to Kuna and all living beings on it, they would have noticed the abnormal amount of chakra that permeated everything. Kuna's God Tree was actively pumping an o.b.s.c.e.n.e amount of chakra through the whole planet over a very long period of time. Humans are all born with a bit of chakra to power their lives, so where did the excess amount of chakra in today's and past Shinobi have come from? How did the summons animals gain their intelligence and wisdom? It is easy to figure out where the bloodline of Senju, Uchiha, Hyūga and Kaguya Clans came from but what about the rest of the Kekkei Genkai and Kekkei Tōta in the whole world, where did it all come from?"

"The God Tree? But why?" Asked Kushina.

"Yes the God Tree was supercharging the whole planet with chakra slowly over thousands of years to mutate all living beings on it. It started a new natural cycle, an evolution. As to why? Simple, more power for everything to kill and hate each other, providing a tastier meal to the God Tree in the process. The chakra that the Tree pumped into the planet was separate from itself, it was like an investment, a loan that the whole planet is expected to pay back with a massive interest compounded endlessly. Everyone and everything are to pay with their lives and every drop of chakra they hold within them." Said Kurama ominously.

A sinister aura suddenly was spread throughout Kurama's mindscape, a shadow started forming behind Kurama, a silhouette slowly becoming clearer and clearer.

Kushina's whole body was trembling as the silhouette behind Kurama became clearer slowly. The sinister aura got stronger and stronger until it was finally clear as day. A massive ten tailed white hideous beast with a single red eye is now staring at Kushina arrogantly and distastefully. In it single eye it held disdain and disregard for everything it looked at, there was clear insanity, hatred, malice, blood l.u.s.t and evil more than anything Kushina ever felt or could possibly imagine. The killing intent that it radiated at everything without even focusing it on Kushina was enough. That single eye caused Kushina to lose all blood from her face as her pink lips turned blue from fright. For the first time in her life, Kushina was truly and honestly frightened out of her mind.

The Sage sighed at what Kurama was showing Kushina, a small taste of what the real thing is really like as it was much more than Kurama is able to project here since Kurama only saw the real thing from what the Sage showed of his memories. He wishes he could forget it all, the tragedies that followed the beast awakening, the near planet wide destruction.

The Sage moved towards Kushina and hugged her to himself as he waved his hand to disperse what Kurama had projected.

"It is alright child, it is not real, just an ancient memory of a time long past." Said the Sage as he held Kushina close to himself and soothingly ran his hand on her back.

With time in uncomfortable silence, and the Sage fatherly care, Kushina was able to calm down. The Sage let go of his descendant, so she can focus on the rest of the tale.

Kurama held his hand up to stop Kushina from asking questions.

"We have more to cover, your questions will get answered eventually as I finish. Kaguya thought she needed an army, a loyal army to fight her clan with when they come back to check on her and the God Tree. She knew she had plenty of time and was not in any kind of hurry. Though I personally don't know why she was not worried about the escort that was sent to watch her that arrived with her to Kuna in the beginning. Maybe she dealt with them and never bothered to record it down? There is also the question of why she needed an army in the first place when she was already so strong. However, we don't know what the Ōtsutsuki clan are capable of and maybe the mad woman was right in her thinking that she needed an army or maybe it was just her madness. It is what happened though and the mad woman started to look at her subjects as potential soldiers in her upcoming war against her clan. Unlike a normal ruler she did not prepare or empower her people, no she used them as a catalyst for a new creation, a weapon to battle her clan with.

Kaguya started a new yearly ritual for the whole planet to follow. Every year selected individuals would be guided towards the God Tree. No human knew what happens there, they all just knew no one returns from the trip. Over time the humans were like sheep, they believed in their Rabbit Goddess and followed her commands thinking it was an honor to be selected for such ritual to worship the God Tree.

Kaguya created a method to directly connect humans to the God Tree roots to be drained of their blood, and will over a long period of time. Morphing them into a new race that was completely loyal to her with unique abilities, White Zetsu. White Zetsu looked similar to each other and were without gender. Each of them had their own personality and individuality but all shared the same loyalty to the Rabbit Goddess. As you would have imagined this act was to the God Tree liking, while it was being used to create White Zetsu it was getting nutrition directly for it to m.a.t.u.r.e and grow faster from the offered humans.

The twins, Kaguya's children, eventually grew up. My father and uncle, Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki and Hamura Ōtsutsuki. Like everyone else on the planet they grew up worshiping their mother as the Rabbit Goddess and follow her commands to the letter. The twins knew their mother loved them in her own way even when she hardly ever showed it. They also had no idea that she was completely insane. How could they? The whole planet was tranquil under her rule, no wars and no conflict."

Kurama stopped talking and closed his eyes to organize his thoughts.

"Things stayed the same for many years to come. Hagoromo & Hamura like many twins grew up very close yet very different from each others. Hamura was focused on pleasing and serving his mother. He acted as her messenger, guardian and right hand. While Hagoromo was fascinated by chakra, he spent his days studying and trying to unlock as many of it secrets as he can. Until one day Hagoromo met someone, a human girl. She shared his fascination with chakra and the two became very close to each other. Kaguya was reminded of her traitorous and failure of a husband by Hagoromo and the human girl. In her infinite wisdom she had the girl get selected to be part of that year God Tree ritual, out of pure spite. Hagoromo, while he did not know what happens there since no one was allowed anywhere near the God Tree, knew, he will never see the girl again. However, the human girl assured him all will be well, she was honored to be selected not knowing the fate that awaited her.

The girl was sent away to the God Tree as part of the ritual regardless of Hagoromo objections and him begging his mother. Hamura felt sorry for his twin and tried to tell him the girl is going to a better place. Hagoromo ran out of patience and like every other horny young man followed the honey scent to the God Tree with Hamura following behind him. Hamura tried to dissuade his brother from disobeying their mother but to no avail and chose to follow him instead of fighting him, in his mind, it is better that both of them get in trouble than just one of them. When they arrived to the God Tree roots they saw a sight they did not understand. Deep underground laid down thousands of cocooned humans attached to the God Tree roots. Hagoromo being the chakra nut job immediately felt the girl chakra signature among the thousands of cocoons. He dug her out and brought her face out of the cocoon that tightly covered her, he saw a shell empty of life, all her blood drained and in the beginning process of morphing into a White Zetsu. The first pure Sharingan awoken at that moment and soon in a few short years the whole world will know the Sage of Six Paths."