Board Thread:Theories and Speculation/@comment-294840-20170617233752/@comment-3965545-20170619211423

Without Kurama he would currently have Sage Mode and Six Paths Sage Mode. So after the 4th War ended, going forward he really doesn't need Kurama.. but before that Kurama was his lifeline for a fact.

Kakashi, Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura have survived and won countless times due to plot alone. If there was no plot importance in keeping them around, they would have been killed many times over.