Kurama

, more commonly known as the, is one of the nine tailed beasts. Centuries of being regarded as a mindless monster and sought after as a tool for war caused Kurama to hate humans. After being sealed into Naruto Uzumaki, Kurama attempts to maintain its negative opinions about the world, but with Naruto's insistence on treating it with respect, the fox overturns its hatred and willingly strives to use its power for the world's salvation.

Background
Kurama and the tailed beasts first came into being in the waning days of Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, who used his Creation of All Things Technique to divide the Ten-Tails' chakra into nine separate bodies and giving each a name. Some time after being created, the Sage explained to the young tailed beasts that a link existed between them despite their separation. He also foretold of a day when they would be brought together again - though not as they were - and that at that time someone would emerge to show them what true power is. In the anime, before his death, Hagoromo sent Kurama to live in a temple built for the purpose of protecting it in a forest region with mountains that would later become part of the Land of Fire. Over the centuries, Kurama has gained a reputation as an age-old natural disaster, appearing suddenly out of nowhere to attack areas that have been breeding grounds for the darkest aspects of human nature.

At one point during the time of the formation of the shinobi villages, the Gold and Silver Brothers of Kumogakure were assigned to capture Kurama, but were both swallowed whole by the fox. However, the two brothers managed to survive and gain some of its power by eating the flesh of its stomach for two weeks, forcing Kurama to regurgitate them.

After Madara Uchiha defected from Konoha, he used his Sharingan to control and use Kurama to help him fight against Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage, in order to exact his revenge. During their battle, Madara combined his Susanoo with Kurama, increasing the latter's offensive and defensive capabilities. However, Hashirama was able to remove Kurama from Susanoo and released the tailed beast from Madara's control, subduing it in the process. After his victory over Madara, Hashirama deemed Kurama too dangerous to be allowed to walk free and Mito Uzumaki sealed the fox within herself, becoming its first jinchūriki.

Over the period of time which included the first two Shinobi World Wars, Mito kept Kurama at bay except for one occasion when the seal had weakened as she was going through childbirth. Toward the end of her life, Mito passed on this status and responsibility to another member of her clan, Kushina Uzumaki, who later became the wife of Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage. Although Kushina was terrified with the responsibility of containing Kurama, Mito assured her successor that the fox's hatred was powerless against her love.

Twelve years before the start of the series, after the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Hokage and his wife made preparations to ensure that Kurama would remain sealed within Kushina as she gave birth to Naruto. However, despite keeping her childbirth a secret, a masked man discovered Kushina's location, killing her escorts and managing to break the seal, seizing control of Kurama. Since Kushina survived the extraction, the masked man tried to have Kurama kill her before Minato got her and their son to safety. Soon afterwards, the masked man summoned Kurama into Konoha and ordered it to destroy the village.

While Kurama was rampaging in the village and decimating the shinobi forces that tried to repel it, Minato managed to place a Contract Seal on the masked man during their fight to free the fox from the masked man's control. Despite that, Kurama still harboured a deep hatred for Konoha for sealing it away for decades and resolved to destroy the village without orders from the masked man. Before Kurama could annihilate Konoha, Minato summoned Gamabunta on top of the fox, and quickly teleporting it to Kushina and Naruto's location, while letting its Tailed Beast Ball detonate away from the village. Soon afterwards, Kushina used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to subdue Kurama, planning to seal it back inside her before she dies. However, Minato, knowing that Kurama would revive without a host, and how great a threat the masked man is, came up with a plan to give Naruto the means to combat the masked man in the future when he decides to attack again.

Since Kurama's chakra was too immense to be sealed within an infant like Naruto, Minato first used the Dead Demon Consuming Seal to separate and seal its Yin half within himself and then prepared the Eight Trigrams Seal to imprison the Yang half within Naruto. With the chains loosening from the fox's reduced size and Kushina weakened, it attempted to stop the sealing process by killing Naruto, but both of the parents sacrificed themselves to protect their newborn child and completed the sealing. Later, upon awakening within Naruto's subconscious and learning the situation behind Minato's intention, Yang-Kurama, though frustrated of being sealed again, decided to wait for the time to come when it would influence Naruto as much as it can to use its power to break the seal. Throughout the years, Kurama weakened the seal through the cracks of its formation by constantly leaking out small portions of its chakra, which had positive side-effects on Naruto such as amplifying his naturally large chakra reserves and healing ability, being able to heal from minor wounds within seconds to major injuries within a day.

In the anime, it was revealed that Kurama had left behind large amounts of its chakra during the attack. Kazuma collected and sealed the chakra within his own son, Sora, hoping to make use of its power for his own agenda.

Personality
Kurama is a cynical and shrewd individual, along with a somewhat twisted sense of humour. It uses when referring to itself, which is generally used by older men. Kurama expresses great pride in its power, believing itself to be the strongest of the tailed beasts due to its belief that their strength is determined by their number of tails, which earned Kurama nothing but disapproval from its brethren, especially Shukaku. Conversely, Kurama openly acknowledged the fact that it alone doesn't stand a chance against the Ten-Tails, and from its past experience with Madara, knew full well he is not an opponent to be underestimated, even though he was seemingly pushed into a corner at the time. However, it does easily get annoyed when Naruto uses a power other than its own, claiming its jinchūriki needs no other power than its own. It is also shown that Kurama deeply cares about Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, viewing him with great respect and even shed tears after the Sage had imparted his final words to them.

Long years of receiving humanity's negative treatment caused Kurama to develop intense hostility and distrust against them, even going as far as proclaiming itself to be the living embodiment of hatred. Ever since its sealing within Naruto, Kurama plotted to use the young shinobi's dependence on its power to gain control over him and break free from the seal, before it was bested in combat and stripped of most of its chakra. However, Kurama's attitude towards Naruto soon began to change during the Fourth Shinobi World War, when the young shinobi told the fox that he hoped to resolve its hatred someday. Despite Kurama reproaching him for making such a claim, the fox nevertheless had developed a level of respect for Naruto and his determination. It even noted that Naruto was different from the humans it had previously encountered, eventually allowing its jinchūriki to utilise the Nine-Tails Chakra Mode without consequence. Later, as Naruto told Son Gokū of his desire to save the tailed beasts and become friends with Kurama, the fox — having witnessed all of the challenges and endeavours Naruto had in his life — silently told the young shinobi that if he truly intended to help them, he would have to prove it through his actions. When Naruto successfully freed Son Gokū from Obito's control, Kurama finally became convinced of Naruto's word and offered to meld its chakra with his as a coalition, to which Naruto then removed the seal that restrained it and happily acknowledged the fox as his teammate and a member of Konoha.

Within that short space of time, the two had begun to express trust in one another, even to the point where Naruto would allow Kurama to take control of his body without worry, and switch back without hesitation. Kurama later admitted that it had the utmost faith in Naruto being able to defeat Obito and to carry on the legacy Minato and Jiraiya had left him, which also means that it no longer holds a grudge against Minato for sealing it inside of Naruto. Kurama is also shown to be more caring about its comrades now as it put itself in harm's way to save B and Gyūki and even expressed concern for Naruto managing so many chakra cloaks at once. Kurama has also shown a more comical side of itself when it argued with Naruto about each other's stubbornness, teasing Naruto about his first kiss from Sasuke, and later when it nervously lashed out at a joyful Naruto after the tailed beasts were freed from Kaguya Ōtsutsuki while flipping him off. Ultimately, Kurama formed a strong bond with Naruto; even after its Yang half was freed from its seal in Naruto, the fox accepted Hagoromo's request for it to return within Naruto without argument, showing it had grown to like Naruto's companionship, despite refusing to admit it to others.

Appearance
Kurama is a kitsune with nine long swiping tails. It has red-orange fur with black fur around its eyes that stretches to its ears, red irises with black slits for pupils and the upper-body structure of a human, complete with opposable thumbs on its clawed hands. During the last remaining days of Hagoromo, Kurama was much smaller in size, but still dwarfing the Sage. Its overall appearance was leaner and softer while less-defined in shape with a rounder face, akin to a fox cub. Over time, Kurama's size increased tremendously, roughly equaling the Hokage Rock, and Gamabunta being only the size of Kurama's torso. Its pupil alone is bigger than a tall human. When Minato separated Kurama's Yin chakra and Yang chakra, it was split into two entities, both of which are shrunken more than half its original size, yet still roughly the size of other massive tailed beasts. While the two are basically identical to the other, Yang-Kurama retains its original colouring while Yin-Kurama is darker coloured.

While manifesting its Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, the fox's entire body takes on a golden colour, its whiskers are much thicker, and black circular markings appear on its shoulders, stomach, as well as the front and back of its paws. Black lines also run the length of its spine, arms, legs and tails. Additionally, while Naruto is in Sage Mode, Kurama gains similar thick dark patches circling around its eyes. Upon gaining Naruto's Six Paths Chakra, Kurama's Tailed Beast Mode avatar grew to tremendous proportions, roughly the same size as Sasuke Uchiha's Six Paths Chakra-enhanced Complete Body — Susanoo, with its tails becoming bushier. After both halves of Kurama were sealed into Naruto, the fox was restored to its original size.

Abilities
Kurama is widely known as the strongest of the nine tailed beasts. Hashirama Senju, who could subdue the fox, viewed it as too powerful and dangerous to be left roaming. Even with only half its power, Kurama remained strong enough to defeat five other tailed beasts at the same time. After the Fourth Shinobi World War, Kurama's full power was restored once its two halves reunited inside Naruto, which could defeat the Toneri's giant golem and Momoshiki Ōtsutsuki's elemental construct. Kurama later became able to manifest itself outside of Naruto, allowing the two to fight independently and away from each other.

Chakra and Physical Prowess
Even for a tailed beast, Kurama possesses massive reserves of powerful chakra, required to be sealed last into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to avoid overloading it. It can also accumulate a huge amount of chakra shortly after it has used up most of its own, enough to be passed on to the entire Allied Shinobi Forces and be felt countries away by non-sensors. Due to Naruto's compatibility with Kurama's chakra, any chakra it possesses is limited for its jinchūriki alone, unless it was moulded to fit the recipient's unique chakra signature. When used by others, the chakra becomes dense enough to be seen as a visible shroud than can further protect the wearer. Using its chakra, Kurama can shroud itself within its Nine-Tails Chakra Mode to increase its power. Like Naruto, Kurama's reserves of chakra were greatly enhanced by the Six Paths Chakra Naruto had gained from Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki.

Kurama has a great deal of brute force, reputedly able to raise tsunamis and flatten mountains with just a single swipe of a tail. Even with half its strength, it could overpower Obito's controlled tailed beasts, smash Madara's senjutsu-enhanced Susanoo with a tail, and with the Six Paths Chakra, battle Sasuke's Tailed Beast-enhanced Complete Body — Susanoo. Kurama is deceptively quite fast, able to catch Naruto in Sage Mode. The fox is also durable enough to withstand several senjutsu-enhanced attacks, and block a Tailed Beast Ball from the Ten-Tails' initial form. It was also the only tailed beast to briefly resist Sasuke's genjutsu, struggling to attack him even after it was cast.

Ninjutsu
As a tailed beast, Kurama can create a Tailed Beast Ball, able to fire it in various forms such as a continuous beam or rapid multiple spheres. Unlike most tailed beasts, Kurama can supercharge it, creating one many times its own size for much greater power, even on low chakra. One of these was powerful enough to counter a collaborated Tailed Beast Ball from five tailed beasts. At full power, Kurama's Tailed Beast Ball could blast Toneri's giant golem through the moon and into orbit.

Kurama can create destructive shockwaves, capable of dispersing a massive Rasengan and knocking back five tailed beasts at once. Even when limited through Naruto's Version 1 and 2 states, they were strong enough to destroy an entire bridge and repel Pain's Shinra Tensei respectively. Kurama also had adept sensor skills, able to detect chakra from great distances and uniquely able to sense negative emotions, as well as natural energy, which it can accumulate and transfer to Naruto. In the anime, it is shown using Wind and Fire Release nature transformations, being able to generate twisters and breathe fire.

Intelligence
Kurama is very cunning and can formulate strategies in the midst of battle. Through Naruto's body, the fox tricked Obito into using Kamui to absorb Kakashi into Kamui's dimension, only for Obito to become vulnerable to Kakashi's attacks as he phased through Naruto's punch. Kurama has also shown remarkable leadership skills, being able to calmly and effectively instruct its allies on how best to engage the Ten-Tails. In the anime, it has enough knowledge of fūinjutsu to determine the natures and weaknesses of the Eight Trigrams Seal that bound it inside Naruto.

Prologue — Land of Waves
Naruto first made use of the Nine-Tails' chakra during his battle with Haku. Believing Haku to have killed Sasuke, Naruto gave into his anger and entered his initial jinchūriki form in order to defeat Haku. The Nine-Tails expressed great delight at Naruto finally making use of its power.

Chūnin Exams
During the Second Stage of the Chūnin Exams, the Nine-Tails' chakra emerged again while Naruto battled with a disguised Orochimaru in the Forest of Death. Although Naruto's strength abilities increased, Orochimaru recognised the Nine-Tails' power, and countered it with the Five Elements Seal. The seal blocked Naruto's access to the fox's chakra and rendered him unconscious.

Jiraiya, who the Nine-Tails quickly recognised as the Fourth Hokage's teacher, later appeared and removed Orochimaru's seal. Jiraiya explained to Naruto that he possessed two types of chakra. Naruto didn't realise that he was talking about the Nine-Tails until he was taught to take advantage of it. In order to induce Naruto to use the fox's chakra, Jiraiya pushed him off a cliff. In a desperate act to save his own life, Naruto entered his subconscious and met with the Nine-Tails for the first time. Although the Nine-Tails initially terrified its jinchūriki by revealing its strong desire to kill and devour him, Naruto boldly demanded the fox to give him its chakra as a form of "rent money" for living in his body. Realising that his death would result in its own, the Nine-Tails complied, giving Naruto enough chakra to summon Gamabunta. Delighted that Naruto finally became consciously aware of its presence, the Nine-Tails became convinced that it could influence Naruto even more to use its power.

The Nine-Tails kept quiet until Naruto faced Neji Hyūga in the first match of the final rounds of the Chūnin Exams. After Neji used his Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms technique to block Naruto's chakra points, Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for assistance. Without hesitating, it gave its jinchūriki enough chakra to force his chakra points open and defeat Neji.

Konoha Crush
During Sunagakure and Otogakure's Konoha Crush, Naruto and Gamabunta both did a Combination Transformation technique to take the form of a giant fox (the Nine-Tails itself in the anime), to battle against Gaara in his full Shukaku form. As the battle was near to its conclusion, Naruto once again called upon the Nine-Tails for chakra in order to defeat Gaara, and it complied again without hesitation.

Search for Tsunade
While on his search for Tsunade with Jiraiya, Naruto was confronted by Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki of Akatsuki. Naruto tried to use the Nine-Tails' chakra to help him fight against them, but Kisame quickly used his Samehada sword to absorb it all and attempted to cut off Naruto's arms. Luckily, Jiraiya arrived in time to block Kisame's attack with his toad summon and was able to force both Akatsuki members to retreat.

Later, before Naruto defeated Kabuto Yakushi with a completed Rasengan, Kabuto severed Naruto's heart muscles, and his neighbouring chakra system, to which the Nine-Tails was unable to heal its host. While Tsunade desperately tried to save Naruto, the Nine-Tails noticed that its power was fading as its surroundings grew darker and darker. It, like Naruto, had a near-death experience, something it was slow to recognise. Fortunately, Naruto and the Nine-Tails were able to survive this encounter through the help of Tsunade and her medical ninjutsu.

Sasuke Recovery Mission
During the first stage of Naruto's battle with Sasuke at the Valley of the End, Sasuke, in his first level of the Cursed Seal of Heaven, pierced a fatal wound in Naruto's right shoulder with his Chidori. Fortunately, the Nine-Tails quickly gave Naruto enough chakra to heal his large wound almost instantly and entered his initial jinchūriki form. With this Naruto was able to overwhelm Sasuke with his immense speed; however, as the fight continued, Sasuke was able to predict and overcome Naruto's attacks with his then fully matured Sharingan. The Nine-Tails berated the unconscious Naruto for being too weak and gave him more of its usual chakra to attain the one-tailed form, something the fox indicated that he should be grateful for.

Kaima Capture Mission
When Amachi and Umibōzu began overpowering Naruto, the Nine-Tails' chakra begin leaking out, giving Naruto the edge to win.

Interlude
During Naruto's three-year training under Jiraiya, the Sannin began training Naruto to gain better control of the Nine-Tails' chakra, soon helping Naruto to master wielding the chakra cloak up to two tails. Feeling he was ready to take it to the next level, Jiraiya had Gerotora tweak the seal enough for additional chakra to be unleashed. However, the Nine-Tails took advantage of this and began mocking Naruto for his failure to save Sasuke, able to use Naruto's negative emotions to overwhelm him with additional chakra. This ultimately caused Naruto to slip into a four-tailed "Version 2" state, which allowed the Nine-Tails to go on a rampage in Naruto's body. Jiraiya was narrowly able to reseal the fox's chakra, to which his passive methods of saving Naruto led to Jiraiya being severely injured.

Kazekage Rescue Mission
During the conclusion of his battle against the Akatsuki member Deidara, which turned out to be a clay clone, Naruto slipped into his two-tailed form out of anger about Gaara's death. Immediately, Kakashi placed Jiraiya's special seal tag on Naruto's forehead, restoring him back to normal.

Tenchi Bridge Reconnaissance Mission
When his three-tailed form was proven insufficient in his fight against Orochimaru, Naruto gave into the Nine-Tails and entered his four-tailed form. The Nine-Tails took control of his senses and began to attack everything that was around him, including both Orochimaru and Sakura Haruno. After its influence was suppressed by Yamato, he told Naruto that he was the cause of Sakura's injury, which greatly shocked Naruto and resolved not to rely on the Nine-Tails' power again.

Soon afterwards, when Naruto encountered Sasuke again for the first time in almost three years, the Nine-Tails began to offer Naruto its chakra, but he firmly rejected its assistance. The fox became contemptuous at Naruto, mocking him that if it wasn't for its power, he would be nothing. It then tempted Naruto to break the seal so it can "grant" him all of its power, but he still refused. However, before their quarrel could escalate any further, Sasuke, with his active Sharingan, suddenly appeared within Naruto's subconscious, which surprised both Naruto and the Nine-Tails. The Nine-Tails became impressed with Sasuke's growth and ability, but as it stated that Sasuke's chakra was similar to Madara Uchiha, Sasuke effortlessly suppressed the fox's residual chakra with his Sharingan. Although angrily shocked by the display of his power, the Nine-Tails concluded that this might be its last meeting with Sasuke, so it warned him not to kill Naruto, because he would only end up regretting it.

Akatsuki Suppression Mission
During Naruto's nature transformation training, the Nine-Tails' chakra was surfacing within some of his shadow clones that had grown very frustrated with combining the Rasengan with his wind element. Fortunately, Yamato was able to suppress the chakra before it could cause serious damage.

Pain's Assault
During Naruto's training at Mount Myōboku, the Nine-Tails prevented Fukasaku from fusing with Naruto, making it impossible for him to mould senjutsu chakra for Naruto.

Later, during Naruto's battle with Pain, he slipped into his six-tailed form right after Pain appeared to have killed Hinata Hyūga. Despite the necklace's attempts to suppress it, the Nine-Tails quickly seized the necklace and crushed it. When Naruto was soon contained by Pain's Chibaku Tensei technique, the Nine-Tails tempted Naruto to entrust his heart to it so that it could destroy everything that was causing Naruto pain, thus distorting the seal to the point where the eight-tailed form was released. Before it could convince him to completely remove the seal, the spirit of Minato appeared in Naruto's subconscious and stopped him. Enraged, the Nine-Tails tried to dare Minato to come closer so it could rip him to shreds, but Minato simply ignored it and restored the seal to its original strength.

During Naruto's conversation with Nagato, the Nine-Tails became angry with Nagato's words and its chakra began to leak out while Naruto was in Sage Mode, allowing the two forms to synchronise.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Countdown
When Naruto was summoned back to Mount Myōboku, the Great Toad Sage gave Naruto Gerotora, along with the key to the seal. From this, Naruto was on a task to find a way to control the Nine-Tails' power, in order to fight a fated battle with Sasuke.

Later, at a remote island in the Land of Lightning, after Naruto completed the first step at the Falls of Truth, Killer B then led Naruto to a special room within the secret temple behind the waterfall, where Naruto would fight the Nine-Tails. When Naruto entered his subconscious, the Nine-Tails expressed surprise as it could no longer sense any hatred within him, and questioned Naruto about where the "real him" was, to which Naruto replied that the real him was right in front of it. After Naruto used the key to unlock the seal, the Nine-Tails pushed the cage's doors and fired a Tailed Beast Ball at him, but Killer B used the remaining bit of the Eight-Tails' power to contain the attack. While in Sage Mode, Naruto was able to weaken the Nine-Tails with the Wind Release: Rasenshuriken and started to drain out its chakra. However, the Nine-Tails planted its hatred within its drained chakra, and it suddenly began to consume Naruto, making him lose the control and forcing him out of Sage Mode. Just before Naruto completely succumbed, the chakra imprint of his mother Kushina Uzumaki appeared, halted his transformation, and used her Adamantine Sealing Chains to subdue the Nine-Tails, to which the fox reacted in anger and shock when it recognised her chakra.

After being comforted by Kushina, Naruto's positive emotions purged the Nine-Tails' hatred within its drained chakra. With Kushina holding the Nine-Tails at bay, Naruto quickly made a large number of shadow clones, entered Sage Mode, and bombarded the Nine-Tails with the combination of Sage Art: Many Ultra-Big Ball Spiralling Serial Spheres and the Rasenshuriken, weakening the Nine-Tails further and completely separating it from its large portion of chakra. When its chakra merged into Naruto, the enraged and emaciated Nine-Tails attempted to fire a much larger Tailed Beast Ball, but its attack was ultimately dissipated as Naruto used a new, stronger seal to imprison the fox once again. As the Nine-Tails disappeared into the darkness, it told Naruto that it would never forget this defeat.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Confrontation
During Naruto's training to control the Nine-Tails' chakra, the fox had been consuming a certain amount of Naruto's chakra while he was using its own, which recovered it from its emaciated state.

Later, as Naruto and Killer B continued their way toward the battlefield, the Nine-Tails pulled its jinchūriki into his subconscious, berating him for squandering its chakra and calling him naive for thinking he could stop the war and bear the hatred by himself. When the Nine-Tails failed to once again tempt Naruto with power, the fox then went off to claim that his attempt to put an end to hatred was futile, using his history with Sasuke as proof. In retaliation, Naruto pinned the fox down, refuting that it was the one who was being naive. As Naruto exclaimed with great confidence that he would find a way to deal with Sasuke and end the war, the Nine-Tails, recalling its jinchūriki's growth, condescendingly complimented him for finally learning how to stand up for himself, before being unnerved by Naruto's promise to someday resolve the fox's own hatred.

Fourth Shinobi World War: Climax
Later, after the reincarnated Madara Uchiha was fighting against one of Naruto's shadow clones and the Fourth Division, he attempted to summon the Nine-Tails. Even though the summoning failed, the fox angrily recognised Madara's chakra calling for it and resolved to lend Naruto its chakra. Naruto at first thought that it was going to attempt to take over his body like it used to, but the Nine-Tails explained that it would rather help Naruto than be manipulated by Madara again. The Nine-Tails then spurred Naruto on as he countered the Uchiha's attack.

As Killer B and the real Naruto were fighting against Tobi and the reincarnated jinchūriki, the Nine-Tails proceeded to feign sleep while it purposely stopped consuming Naruto's chakra, deciding to let its jinchūriki fight on his own. The Nine-Tails refused to listen to the Eight-Tails' request for its cooperation, as the fox remembered what Madara, Hashirama, Mito, and Kushina had said to it in the past. Their words made it conclude that no matter how the humans said it, it would always come down to the same thing, with the exception of Naruto, a thought which silenced it. The Nine-Tails quietly watched on as Naruto was speaking with Son Gokū, only expressing annoyance when its name was revealed to him.

While thinking back on the events in Naruto's life and watching the proceeds, Kurama silently noted that Naruto of all people should know that no matter what he said to the tailed beasts, his true intentions would only reach them through his own actions. After Naruto successfully removed Tobi's control over Son Gokū, Kurama silently celebrated the small victory and offered to lend him more of its chakra. Before accepting however, Naruto thanked Kurama for its help during his encounter with Madara, to which the flustered fox rebuffed him before offering to meld their chakra together. Naruto opened the seal's gate and acknowledged Kurama as his teammate from Konoha. As a result, Kurama enabled Naruto to enter a new form, in order to stop the other tailed beasts that were bearing down on Might Guy and Kakashi.

However, as this was their first time transforming into this mode, Kurama warned Naruto that they only had five minutes. They first started by grabbing Chōmei in mid-flight to pile-drive it into Isobu, but it rolled out of the way to counter-attack after Saiken quickly swallowed Kurama's hand prior to Gyūki joining the fray. When Matatabi attempted to pounce on Naruto and Kurama from behind, they fiercely swung Saiken right into the monster cat, throwing the two away from a distance. As the other tailed beasts gathered and performed a collaborative Tailed Beast Ball, Naruto and Kurama performed one of their own and cancelled the attack. Right after that, Naruto entered a deeper level of Kurama's subconscious, where he meets the other five tailed beasts and their respective jinchūriki, to which Kurama explained that this was somewhere not even Tobi could enter. As it remembered the Sage of the Six Paths, Kurama asked its brethren if they too believed that Naruto was the one the Sage had spoken of so long ago, to which they agreed before being resealed into the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.

While they were fighting against the Demonic Statue, Tobi summoned both the Benihisago and the Kohaku no Jōhei which contained the reincarnated Gold and Silver Brothers, who possessed a portion of Kurama's chakra. Right after the masked man made the giant statue devour them, Kurama, who had sensed its own chakra signature within those two items, requested Naruto to switch with it so it could explain the situation to the others, as well as about the Ten-Tails and what its revival would mean. Kurama also echoed Kakashi's words that something needed to be done before the Ten-Tails' revival was completed, afterwhich, on Naruto's request, Kurama switched back with him. Kurama was later seen smiling when Naruto opposed Tobi's ideals and told him that he was who he was today because he had heroes to look up to and to show him the way. After a brief fight, Tobi tried to instil doubt into Naruto by telling him what would Jiraiya and Minato say if he ended up neglecting the legacy they left him. Kurama, recalling what Minato said to Naruto during his battle with Nagato, requested Naruto to switch again and directly told Tobi that Naruto would never follow his ideals and that Minato sealed it into Naruto so that he could defeat Tobi. After melding their chakra together once more, Naruto entered his Tailed Beast Mode and Naruto began his assault on Tobi after being assured by Kurama that he would not fail.

As the battle raged on with Madara suddenly entering the fray, the reincarnated Uchiha summoned Hashirama's giant wooden dragon in order to restrain Naruto. While Naruto instantly manifested Kurama's body to fight against it, the wooden dragon eventually managed to bind Naruto and started draining Kurama's chakra, forcing his tailed beast form to falter. However, Naruto was able to quickly escape from its coils before it could absorb any more of Kurama's chakra and created a shadow clone to protect Kakashi from Obito. When Kurama noticed that Kakashi was low on chakra, it told Naruto to switch places with it, and, through Naruto's body, tossed Kakashi at Obito, who used Kamui to absorb him into Kamui's dimension. Despite Naruto initially berating it for what it did, Kurama assured him that he could now fight without worry. Naruto attacked Obito again and phased through him, but surprisingly Obito coughed up blood. Kurama revealed that it transferred some of its chakra to Kakashi, allowing him to attack Obito in the other world and come back to the real world with Kamui. Meanwhile, the original Naruto entered the full Tailed Beast Mode to create a giant Tailed Beast Ball with B and Gyūki and fired it at the Demonic Statue. This was all done in vain however, as after the resulting explosion, the Ten-Tails had been revived.

Naruto and the others quickly regroup while Kurama restored Kakashi and Guy's respective chakra, but the Ten-Tails, under the control of Obito and Madara, quickly overwhelmed them before they could finish devising a strategy. Kurama and Gyūki then fired a barrage of Tailed Beast Balls at the Ten-Tails, who easily deflected them with a single blast of its own. Kurama and Naruto were able to withstand the attack (losing six of its tails in exchange) and threw Kakashi and Naruto's Sage Mode shadow clone above the Ten-Tails, where Kakashi teleported Gyūki who prepared to launch a Tailed Beast Ball from the beast's blind-spot. However, the Ten-Tails simply flicked the attack back at Gyūki, leaving Naruto's shadow clone, and Kakashi open for an attack. Kurama and Naruto were able to rescue Kakashi, Gyūki, and B before the Tailed Beast Mode was deactivated, which Kurama noted to Naruto that it needed time to generate more chakra.

Later echoing Hinata's sentiments that Naruto's life was not his own, the fox reminded him that it was also here and that his parents had also died in a similar manner to protect him. After the words finally get through to the young shinobi, Naruto once again entered Tailed Beast Mode, and with Kurama's instruction, created shadow clones to distribute its chakra to the other remaining shinobi to help empower their respective abilities. Kurama then silently praised Naruto's ability to distribute his chakra to others despite how different they were, the fox noted that Naruto had surpassed his father, and mother. Continuing their attack on the Ten-Tails, Kurama warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was continuing to mature and to be careful about micro-managing all of the chakra he had given his allies, as it was exhausting him. Kurama also warned Naruto that the Ten-Tails was preparing its devastating attack, the Tenpenchii. After the attack injured Naruto and drained him all of Kurama's chakra, the fox proceeded to gather more chakra to prepare for another assault. After the reincarnated Hokage's arrival, Kurama was suddenly startled by Minato's use of its chakra. Naruto boasted about Minato's ability with the fox's chakra, only for Kurama to point out it already knew about Minato's skill, given he was the one to use such a complex technique to seal it into Naruto. Later, when Naruto's mantle disappeared and the young shinobi requested the fox to supply him with more chakra, Kurama advised him that he should stay in his normal form a bit longer if he wanted to enter Tailed Beast Mode.

Birth of the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki
Meanwhile, as their battle strategy unfolded, Kurama's Yin half within Minato noted that Naruto's actions and speech about his father was touching enough to move this half of it. Yin-Kurama also told Minato to disregard Obito's words as he was not responsible for any of those tragedies and that instead of leaving his son to do it, he should also act. Later, when Naruto and Minato bumped fists, Yin and Yang-Kurama came in contact with each other, with Yang-Kurama greeting its other half casually and asking it to share its chakra, which led Yin-Kurama to note that asking itself for chakra was an odd situation. Nonetheless, when the father-son duo prepared to deal with Obito, the two halves of Kurama also bumped fists as they prepared to initiate their strategy. As their chakra begin to meld, the two halves conversed about Minato and Naruto, leading Yin-Kurama to comment that Naruto must have had some upbringing to treat a tailed beast as a comrade.

As Naruto donned the Tailed Beast Mode shroud and prepared to attack Obito, only to be reminded that only senjutsu-based attacks would work, Yang-Kurama reminded Naruto of the time during Pain's invasion that the two modes had been combined and noted that while had resented Naruto's use of another power instead of its own, it would allow him to use Sage Mode while also using its own power. Yin-Kurama advised Minato to follow suit so that he could provide powerful support for his son. With this, both shinobi, shrouded in Kurama's form, created a giant, senjutsu-enhanced Rasengan and were teleported to Obito's location by Tobirama. However, the Uchiha anticipated the attack and was able to deflect it. Reassessing their strategy to destroy the mysterious black substance, Naruto and Minato formed a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, but Obito quickly created a full-blown replica of the Ten-Tails' tree form, and its roots started chasing and absorbing chakra from anyone in its path. As the Allied Shinobi Forces began to despair, Naruto, through Ino Yamanaka's telepathy, conveyed his memories and feelings to them, restoring their resolve to fight.

After Yin-Kurama transferred the majority of its chakra to its Yang half, Naruto joined Sasuke in their team assault against Obito. With a senjutsu-enhanced Tailed Beast Ball, as well as Sasuke firing a senjutsu-enhanced arrow with his Susanoo Bow, they cracked the sphere Obito had wrapped around himself as he pushed forward. The battle continued, resulting in Sasuke's Susanoo and Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode form being destroyed. However, Sasuke and Naruto got up on their feet again, their resolves untouched, and Sasuke then manifested his final Susanoo to encase Naruto's Tailed Beast Mode mantle. Using the telepathic link, Naruto called for his comrades who rallied to his side all donning Tailed Beast Mode mantles as they entered Kurama's tails. Using the Rasengan Naruto had created, they all attacked and broke through Obito's shield, allowing Naruto and Sasuke to deliver a devastating blow against Obito and forcing out the chakra of all the tailed beasts. Through the combined effort of the Allied Shinobi Forces, all of the sealed tailed beasts were extracted from Obito's body, reducing the Ten-Tails within him back to its empty shell. As Naruto and the rest of the Allied Shinobi Forces went to aid Hashirama against Madara, Yin-Kurama explained to Minato who was tending the defeated Obito that he was not in mortal danger from the extraction as the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was still filled with great amounts of life energy, but rendered immobilised for a while.

Naruto and Yang-Kurama re-entered Tailed Beast Mode to join the other tailed beasts in assaulting Madara, but the Uchiha survived their attacks and retreated to a safe distance. After he received his own right Rinnegan eye from a White Zetsu clone, Madara quickly summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path from Obito's body, and used the Rinnegan to repel the tailed beasts. With the tailed beasts stunned, Madara then proceeded to chain them up and prepared to remove Yang-Kurama and Gyūki from their jinchūriki. As Naruto failed to cancel the Tailed Beast Mode, Yang-Kurama contacted Gaara to transfer its Yin half from Minato to save Naruto, wishing him luck before it was extracted and sealed within the statue along with the other tailed beasts.

Unfortunately, Black Zetsu put himself between Naruto and Minato just as the latter was transferring Yin-Kurama, becoming its jinchūriki in the process. As Madara, now the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, arrived, Black Zetsu attempted to return to the Uchiha with his left Rinnegan eye and Yin-Kurama, only for Obito to overpower Black Zetsu and maintain their merger. Having decided to help the Allied Forces stop Madara, Obito worked with Kakashi to teleport Naruto to Kamui's dimension, and soon joined him. Once there, Obito proceeded to transfer Yin-Kurama into Naruto.

Within Naruto's subconscious, as he spoke to the spirit of Hagoromo, Yin-Kurama along with the chakra portions of the other tailed beasts, including Gyūki and Shukaku, which Obito stole from Madara and also sealed inside Naruto, manifested to join the meeting. They voiced their continued trust in the Sage and their belief that Naruto is the child of prophecy. Later, after Naruto returned to the battlefield, Madara managed to regain both his eyes. He then proceeded to perform the Chibaku Tensei to set up for the Infinite Tsukuyomi. Yin-Kurama then lent Naruto chakra for him to use Tailed Beast Ball Rasenshuriken against the Chibaku Tensei satellites.

Kaguya Ōtsutsuki Strikes
Later, Madara's ambitions were cut short by Black Zetsu, who revealed itself to be in fact the manifestation of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's will. It then used Madara's body as a medium to resurrect its true creator. After Kaguya managed to trap Sasuke in a separate dimension, Yin-Kurama granted Naruto more chakra, letting him create a massive army of shadow clones.

Yin-Kurama, alongside the chakra portions of its brethren, helped Naruto create an onslaught of Rasenshuriken that dealt a significant blow against Kaguya. After reacting to the chakra, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts within Kaguya tried to escape but caused Kaguya to morph into a rabbit form with a gigantic blob of the tailed beasts. After Kaguya was touched by Naruto and Sasuke's seals, Yang-Kurama and the other tailed beasts were extracted from Kaguya as she was sealed away. After escaping, Son Gokū praised Naruto's efforts, causing Yang-Kurama to grin. The tailed beasts then ran away from the new moon and joined the rest of Team 7. When Naruto joined them, he and Sakura were both shocked by the fact that they couldn't escape the dimension, causing Son to state that Naruto was still a bit dumb, making Yang-Kurama grunt. However, Hagoromo, who called upon the souls of all of the previous Kage, performed a massive summoning alongside the reincarnated Hokage in order to return the tailed beasts, Team 7, and Madara's body back to the real world. Having returned to the real world, Naruto, happy to see Yang-Kurama again, asked if it missed him, which lead the flustered fox to comically deny his claim, much to Son's entertainment.

After the past Kage return to the afterlife, plans for the future were discussed, to which the tailed beasts expressed their joy at finally being free. As Yang-Kurama was surprised to hear Gyūki's wish to return to B, Hagoromo insisted to the fox to return within Naruto to watch over the young ninja, who has become an important part of the tailed beasts' existence. While Yang-Kurama accepted Hagoromo's request, Sasuke made his own intentions known: removing as many people as possible who could get in the way of his own plans of leading the world through a revolution to do away with current shinobi systems, including killing all the current Kage and tailed beasts. Just as Sasuke swiftly subdued the tailed beasts with his Rinnegan and sealed them within his Chibaku Tensei, Naruto reassured Yang-Kurama that he would save them once again.

Soon after, Naruto and Sasuke finally have their long-awaited confrontation, ultimately leaving both ninja battered and exhausted. Yin-Kurama attempted to help Naruto by accumulating a little extra chakra for him, but it got absorbed by Sasuke. As it recalled Yang-Kurama's memories on Naruto's determination to save both Sasuke and Kurama, Yin-Kurama applauded Naruto for countering Sasuke's Chidori and noted that transferring the last of its chakra would put itself to sleep. After the battle, where Sasuke declared Naruto the victor, the two dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi and Sasuke released the tailed beasts from their prisons. Yang-Kurama would then return to Naruto and merged with its Yin half, finally restored into a complete state.

The Last: Naruto the Movie
When Naruto and his team saw the giant golem emerging from beneath Toneri Ōtsutsuki's castle within the moon, he activated his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode and summoned Kurama outside of his body. During their fight, Kurama was initially overwhelmed by its opponent, but eventually the fox was able to blast the golem away into space with a Tailed Beast Ball. Kurama then later wrote the "Mission Complete" symbol on the moon's crater so everyone on Earth knew they succeeded in their mission, but the fox complained to Naruto that its penmanship was terrible.

Sasuke Shinden: Book of Sunrise
Kurama appears in the novel.

New Era
Years later, on the day that Naruto was to be inaugurated as the Seventh Hokage, Kurama was knocked out along with Naruto when Himawari, having awakened her Byakugan, hit Naruto's tenketsu by accident while aiming at Boruto, due to his role in a tug-of-war that ripped off her stuffed toy. This caused both Naruto and Kurama to develop a strong fear of Himawari, even when she's her usual happy and sweet self.

Some time afterwards, where Naruto hosted a Kage Summit within Konoha, Kurama was present, and slept during the meeting.

Naruto Gaiden: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring
When Naruto went to meet with Sasuke about a mysterious young Uchiha, Naruto discovered the said boy attacking Sarada Uchiha and Chōchō Akimichi. As Naruto intervened and entered his Nine-Tails Chakra Mode, Kurama noted its excitement about getting to battle again after so long. However, Kurama's hopes were dashed as the mysterious boy retreated.

Later, as the boy — along with his father — battled Naruto and Sasuke, Kurama criticised its jinchūriki for being careless, commenting on how easily he was stabbed by the enemy's technique. Later, during the final battle with Shin, Naruto brought one of Shin's clones into his subconscious with Kurama glaring down at the boy, scaring him and his clones to surrender.

Versus Momoshiki Arc
After they defeated Killer B and absorbed a lot of Gyūki's chakra from him, Momoshiki and Kinshiki Ōtsutsuki decided to capture Naruto with the intent of extracting Kurama's chakra for their own use. They soon arrived at the arena where the Chūnin Exams were held and proceeded to attack, creating chaos. As Momoshiki created an amplified Tailed Beast Ball to obliterate everyone with it, Naruto entered Tailed Beast Mode in order to stop the attack, and warned Kurama he better not have gotten out of shape, to which Kurama refuted and declared he was going with all the power he had stored up. Ultimately, though Naruto stopped the attack, he allowed himself to be taken. Brought to another dimension, Naruto stubbornly resisted Momoshiki's attempt to effectively extract Kurama's chakra from him, as the other four Kage, Sasuke, and Naruto's son, Boruto, managed to arrive in the dimension and free him from his bounds. Naruto soon combined his Tailed Beast Mode with Sasuke's Susanoo, gaining the upper hand against the empowered Momoshiki.

Naruto the Movie: Ninja Clash in the Land of Snow
During the fight between Naruto and Dotō Kazahana, he managed to knock Naruto, who was at the disadvantage due to having the Chakra Negator on him, though the ice of the lake they were standing on, causing him to sink beneath the waters. However, as Naruto called upon the Nine-Tails for its chakra, which helped break the Chakra Negator, it allowed him to recover quickly and summon his shadow clones to overwhelm Dotō.

Naruto the Movie: Guardians of the Crescent Moon Kingdom
During an attempt to escape the Land of the Moon, the three ninja hired by Shabadaba attacked, disabling Naruto, Kakashi, Sakura, and Lee with poison mists that slowed their reactions. The prince Michiru Tsuki was captured, but the emergence of the Nine-Tails' chakra allowed Naruto to repel the attacking ninja before the prince's son could be taken.

Naruto Shippūden the Movie: Bonds
When Naruto fought against the Zero-Tails to free Amaru from its influence, the malevolent spirit sensed the Nine-Tails within Naruto and expressed desire to obtain its power. The Zero-Tails then taunted Naruto and coaxed him into using the fox's power by saying that he couldn't save anyone without it. That made Naruto remember his failure in saving Sasuke and became emotionally unstable, which caused him to eventually enter his four-tailed form. After fighting with the spirit for a while, he turned back to normal when a seal on Naruto given by Jiraiya came off and reminded him of how the tailed beast chakra hurt his friends in which he immediately turned back to normal.

Later, when Shinnō grabbed hold of both Naruto and Sasuke and began draining their chakra to empower the Zero-Tails, Sasuke activated the first level of his cursed seal, releasing its evil chakra, and Naruto, who had understood Sasuke's plan, sent a large amount of the Nine-Tails' chakra into the Zero-Tails, which was too much for the spirit to handle. They managed to break free and Naruto used the Tornado Rasengan to defeat it.

Road to Ninja: Naruto the Movie
In the alternate world that Naruto and Sakura ended up in, the Nine-Tails has a counterpart called the, who is sealed within the body of Naruto's alternate self, Menma. Menma's hatred has allowed him to bond with the Black Nine-Tails, and he is able to create and control living entities composed of its chakra, which are known as the Nine Masked Beasts. He doesn't display any kind of tailed beast transformations during the film, but he is able to completely unleash the black fox, using it in a manner similar to a summon.

At the climax of the film, Menma restored and summoned the Black Nine-Tails so he could finish Naruto off. The Nine-Tails berated Naruto for being overwhelmed by a fake, however, not wanting to be trapped into a world controlled by Tobi, it offered a truce with Naruto to work together. Having no other choice, Naruto opened the seal to summon the Nine-Tails in a similar matter to fight against its opposite. In the battle, Naruto was barely able to win, but Tobi revealed that this was his plan, to have Naruto and Menma fight, as doing so would cause the two foxes to fight and weaken the Nine-Tails. As he possessed Menma, the Nine-Tails warned Naruto to avoid eye contact with the Sharingan, as it would allow Tobi to extract the fox out of Naruto the same way he extracted it from Kushina.

Video Games
Kurama has some minor roles in some of the Naruto video games.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Dragon Blade Chronicles, Kurama appears as a boss when it tries to take control of Naruto.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Kizuna Drive, Gensui Amagiri creates a fake Naruto, who transforms into Kurama, "kills" Gensui and destroys Yumegakure, all to pin the blame on Konoha and the real Naruto. Gensui later transforms Ryuka Tenrō into a false replication of Kurama, but Konoha 11 soon defeated her.
 * Kurama also appears as a boss twice and a playable character in the story mode of Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3.
 * In Naruto Shippūden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Revolution, Naruto takes on Kurama's form as his awakening. In addition, Mecha-Naruto possesses most of Naruto and Kurama's abilities, such as the Rocket Rasengan and a mechanical variant of the Tailed Beast Ball. Additionally, it can also shoot rays with its "eyes", after targeting the opponent. It can also merge itself with a huge mechanism to form Mecha-Kurama.

Trivia

 * literally means 'nine lama'. Kishimoto was mainly inspired to create Kurama based on the character with the same name from the manga series Yū Yū Hakusho. The name may also reference, the sacred mountain said to be the home of Sōjōbō, a tengu who taught the arts of swordsmanship to Minamoto no Yoshitsune.
 * A is a popular animal yōkai in Japanese folklore, and is very well-known to be a cunning trickster with shape-shifting abilities, to which on occasions, use to transform itself into a beautiful woman in order to seduce men (possibly the inspiration for the Sexy Technique; Naruto even thought Kushina would be Kurama, when they first met). They are also said to be rivals to the tanuki, which created an old Japanese proverb:, meaning as much as two sly characters trying to outsmart one another. However, kitsune are known to keep their promises, a trait Naruto has; his nindō is to "never go back on his word". Stories often depict that a kitsune can grow additional tails as it ages, which increases its magical power and abilities; once a kitsune reaches 1,000 years of age and grows its ninth and final tail, its fur turns gold and becomes a , making it equivalent to a kami.
 * In the manga pilot, Kurama was actually Naruto's father, who attacked the ninja village and needed nine shinobi to defeat. Hiruzen was the only survivor and had taken pity on Naruto, who had taken human form, and allowed him to live in the village.

Quotes

 * (To Naruto) "I suppose I can't kill you, can I? After all, you die, I die. Your courage is impressive, little boy… Very well, as a reward for making it this far, I will loan you my chakra!"
 * (To Naruto) "You runt, you really are weak! You better be grateful to me… and to your beloved Fourth Hokage, who sealed me inside a twerp like you!"
 * (To Sasuke) "With that vision of yours and chakra more ominous than my own… You're the spitting image of Madara Uchiha from the elder days…"
 * (To Naruto) "Destroy everything… Erase everything that hurts you… Entrust your heart to me… I will save you from your pain…"
 * (To Naruto) "You don't have what it takes to control my power! You're nothing more than a mere fragment of my hatred!"
 * (To Naruto) "Are you stupid!? I am the Nine-Tails! I haven't fallen so far that a little child can influence me! I am hatred incarnate!"
 * (About Naruto) "Naruto… If you really want to do something for us… then do what you've always done… Prove it to us with your actions! That's who you are!"
 * (To Obito) "Sorry but… this guy doesn't suit your words. The Fourth Hokage entrusted me to Naruto… We became friends and now he's able to use my chakra!! The Fourth sealed me into Naruto… to take you down!!"